Origin ARS 6 (6 page)

"Ok! Let's do this!" said Ero excitedly. She closed her eyes then made hand gestures toward the pelt. She spent a moment in total concentration then opened her eyes. "Without tools, the best I can do is turn this pelt into a simple clothing item. Is that OK?"

Rhea nodded then stuffed the cat meat into her loot sack. It was not a special bag with enhanced storage, merely something to lug items around in when the need arose. The cat parts were going to take up a great deal of space. They would need to return to town before heading out for another round of cat hunting. The lack of a dedicated inventory system was a bit of a pain, but some of the space issues would be ameliorated once they could acquire proper storage bags capable of holding a lot of items.

Ero began to move her hands in a cutting motion. She curled all but two fingers and performed a scissor-like motion with them. The pelt jerked and wriggled as she began her work. Her hand gestures changed from time to time. She made cutting motions, sewing motions, and smoothing motions. Five minutes later the pelt had shrunk considerably and took on the shape of bracers.

Rhea looked at them for a moment then nodded. "Not bad at all."

The fairy girl fluttered up and down in the air excitedly, though she bore a tired expression. "I did my fairy best. The tools are expensive, but I can do this much with my skill alone."

The elf girl picked the bracers up and gazed at them lightly for a moment. She nodded then said, "Good work. What do you want to do with them?"

"Well, I can't really wear them so I figured I would give them to you or Scott," said Ero with a smile.

The blue haired elf rubbed her chin for a moment. "Scott could probably use them more since I'll have to go soon. By the time we are all back together properly, we'll be able to get better gear overall."

"Sounds good," said Ero. "Let's go show him what we did."

"You did it. I just watched," said Rhea.

"Well, that's what a manager does." she Ero cheerfully.

Rhea laughed a little then held out her hand. The fairy girl fluttered over then alighted upon the elf girl's palm. They shared a soft smile for a moment then went to go see what Scott and Herbert were up to.

"Hey Scott! Herbert! See what we did," said Ero excitedly while she gestured toward the bracers that Rhea held up.

The blue haired man and his rodent companion stopped comparing cat heads and looked up to see what the girls were doing. Scott asked, "You found armor?"

"No. Ero made it from the pelt of the largest cat. Take a look at it," said Rhea before she tossed the bracers over to him.

Scott caught them easily then held one up to view it. His
analyze
skill was not high enough to allow him to see stats for items unless he purchased them with stats provided. However, he could tell certain things about an item. "Fur-lined leather, moderate quality, good construction, small defense boost..." He rattled off his feelings on the bracers then grinned and said, "Not bad. These would probably cost as much as some of the stuff that I'm wearing at the store. Though, I don't feel like there would be an enchantment on them anywhere."

Ero smiled brightly then giggled. A slight blush rose up on her cheeks. "Thank you. Do you like them? They're for you."

"Really? Thank you. I love them." he said with a smile of his own. Scott wasted no time in slipping them on his arms. They fit fairly well and he did not think that they would reduce his ability to fight at all, while they
would
increase his defense a little.

"I'll tell you the defense increase when we get to a sacred mirror," said Scott.

"OK," said Ero. She fluttered her wings a little then looked slightly embarrassed. "I'm glad that you like them, Scott."

"Of course I like them. They're a gift from my best friend." he said casually.

Ero made a cute noise then twisted his hips from side-to-side. She did not say anything else, however.

Herbert made an excited noise then rushed toward one of the dead cats. He jumped up and down then pointed at it with one of his paws.

"He says that he's found the skull he wanted," said Ero.

"Ok. Mind asking him why he wants one?" asked Scott curiously.

Herbert chittered a few times then mimed placing something on his head. Scott could guess what he wanted from the hand motions alone. Ero translated anyway. "He wants to turn one into a helmet for you."

"Wait. For me? Doesn't he want one?" asked Scott.

Herbert chittered at Ero for a moment. "They are all too big for his head. He needs to level up a few more times before he can grow big enough to start wearing the skulls of his enemies like a proper Grassdancer," said Ero.

"I never saw a Grassrat wearing a helmet," said Scott.

The Grassrat looked up to him then shrugged. He then chittered out a brief statement that Ero translated as, "You never met a true Grassdancer. The skull of an enemy grants the dancer the power of that enemy."

"I see. So, you want this cat's power?" asked Scott.

Herbert shook his head then pointed at Scott. Ero translated his chitters. "No, I want you to have this cat's power. I'm not old enough to wear it."

"Well, thank you for that. Will it fit my head though?" Scott tapped his noggin.

Herbert nodded and Ero translated for his next series of chitters. "He can use other materials to make it a little larger. He just can't shrink it enough to make it fit him at the moment."

"I appreciate it. Thank you," said Scott to Herbert.

The Grassrat walked over then patted Scott on the foot before he chittered a brief statement. "Family does, what family does," said Ero.

Herbert and the crew discussed what he would need to make his project happen. They had most of the materials already. The Grassdancer would need to find quality grass to go with the cat parts that he required. He was certain that he could find what he needed out in the field.

The team finished packing up their loot then went back to town to offload. Monster parts had to be sold in different places. Most of the meat was sold to a local restaurant for a little over ninety copper. The bones, claws, and various organs were sold to the local apothecary for just over one silver. The pelts fetched twelve copper each. All told, they earned a few silver from the deal.

Back in the field, they searched the hills for more cats to claim. They hunted for a few hours, but only discovered two smaller prides of wildland cats. They had a large hunting range, but they rarely came this close to town. Since it was nearly five o'clock in the afternoon, they opted to return to town and turn in their paws and finish the mission.

The guards tallied the paws then nodded. "Two hundred forty-four. Not a bad day's hunt. Did you get them all?" asked an older guard with a mustache that was too big for his face.

"We took care of all the ones we found," said Scott.

"Right then, good. We owe you six copper per paw, and you needed at least forty," said the guard thoughtfully. "That comes to one thousand four hundred sixty four copper."

Scott received the pay gladly then checked to see that the mission had been labeled as complete. They had done well that day. After that bit of business was completed, they finished selling off everything that they intended to sell. If they took the total hunting profits into account, they had earned over twenty silver that trip. They decided to keep three silver each and put the rest into their bank account.

That night, they went to watch the couples dance. Mrs. Kilman led the dancers through a beautiful array of romantic dances that seemed to make everyone happy. There were couples of all ages on the dance floor. No caterwauling cats arrived to disturb the enjoyment of the dancers.

They could not stay long, but they made plans to return there after everyone was together again. Dancing the night away seemed like it would be fun.

After they got cleaned up, they went to catch the train. There was a lot more ground to cover before the night was over. Tomorrow evening they would have to take Ero to see the fairy doctor.

***

The train ran as regularly as one could hope for during a time of national conflict. The Storm Tyrant had not attacked during the last few weeks. The disruption to the country had settled to some degree, and the foursome made their way cross country at a decent rate of speed. There was no time to take more jobs and fulfill their original goal, but that was not considered to be a problem. Soon they would have to go their separate ways for a time. Just being together was the important part.

After traveling to every major stop in the kingdom, they had spent most of the night and more than half of the next day riding the train. It was past noon when they hopped off the train at the small station a few miles southeast of their destination, Fairywood.

The Fairywood Commune was a small community of people who helped to watch over the nearby forest where the majority of the fairy population in the Valkovian kingdom lived. There was a shuttle available to take people there, but Scott and the crew opted to walk. Once they arrived, they would have to part with Ero for a time. The walk would allow them a little more time together.

On the way, a topic that had interested Scott for a while was brought up. He wanted to know how the leveling system could work the way that it did in this world.

"What do you mean?" asked Rhea.

"Well, if I can get blinding headaches just from training my skills and fighting, how come everyone isn't level fifty or something just from living their lives?"

Rhea blinked at him. "Oh, that. No, it's not a problem. Most people don't have to worry about that sort of thing since they are not out training like a mad man every day. Social experience does not cause headaches. Skill experience only causes headaches when it is gained quickly without a means to be absorbed."

"Still, don't they eventually reach a point where it's just too much for them?"

"Ah, no. They just go fight a little if it ever happens. Most people don't use their skills enough to worry about it, but the older someone is, the more likely they are to have a higher level. Also, most countries have mandatory military service and training drills."

"So, most people have at least a few levels?"

Rhea nodded. "Yes. Really, it's easy to get combat levels early on. Unless they take up a job like a soldier or a city guard, most people don't increase their skills fast enough for it to matter beyond the training drills most countries demand."

"That works?" asked Scott. He was still confused about the concept. He had developed quickly and the headaches had been intense. Rhea made it sound like common folk were lazy.

"They might have to gain a level every year or two early on, but common people who don't fight or adventure usually won't develop nearly as fast. Few people ever really need to go beyond level twelve or so if they don't lead violent lives."

Scott thought about that for a moment. His skills had taken a while to increase and he had been absolutely dedicated to training. Someone who simply lived their life without a significant focus on training their abilities would take longer to reach the critical amount of knowledge necessary to generate the headaches. "Ah, so like what Mid said about the way people trained is how it works for normal people."

"What did she say?" asked Ero. She had seen many of Scott's memories in the past, but recently she had not peeked.

"I don't remember exactly, it was a while ago. She did say something like one skill level is a given and four was the sweet spot for people who trained hard," said Scott.

"Oh," said Ero. She had hoped for more.

Rhea spoke up. "That's part of it. Most people only develop skills quickly early on. It becomes harder as the skill level increases, but the character level does not. After they gain a few character levels, the time it takes to increase skills both increases and decreases at the same time."

"That's confusing," said Ero. "How can it do both?"

Rhea smiled. "Well, the skill experience needed for the skill to grow will increase because the skill level has increased. The character level increase allows for more experience to be developed to an extent. Still, the total experience needed is higher."

"Ah, so you're saying that after a few character levels, it becomes harder for someone who is not actively training to develop enough different skills to a high enough point that it causes the headaches?" asked Ero.

"Pretty much. It takes a lot of time and effort to gain skill unless you are dedicated to training in a location where you can heal quickly and have room to use your skills," said Rhea.

"Like the beginner dungeon I was in before coming here?" asked Scott. He had used that place as much as he could. Weeks, perhaps months, had passed while he milked it for all that he could milk it. Even so, he had only gained around thirty skill levels in most skills. That was with a rapid healing safe room involved.

"Yes. Dungeons such as that are excellent opportunities. They are rare as well," said Rhea.

"You mean, the automatic level-matching dungeons?" asked Scott.

Rhea nodded. "They usually only pop up when the system determines that an auto-generated dungeon is needed in order to balance an area. That is infrequent nowadays, and the automatic matching only applies to the strongest person who first enters that new dungeon. There are a few exceptions, though."