I can’t describe the joy I feel, seeing the first rays of sunlight puncturing through the forest’s canopy.
It had been a long sleepless night left alone in the dark. Thankfully, what Tabitha told about hostile magic beasts avoiding where an elental has been turned out to be true.
I went the night without seeing anything other than the usual star dragonflies. In fact, there were more beautiful insects than usual because I guess blood bats were considered aggressive beasts and were nowhere to be seen.
Last night was the quietest night I’ve had since entering the Endless Forest proper, and lucky , I couldn’t enjoy it in the slightest. Mainly because lying next to was the unmoving form of Tabitha. She hasn't stirred much since passing out the other day. I checked her multiple tis to ensure she was still breathing and thanked the annoying gods every ti she was.
Tabitha had been asleep for almost twelve hours, and I was praying she would wake up soon. I was nearly at the end of my rope here. For the first ti in my life, I learned what happens when you push your body beyond what it's capable of.
I had dragged Tabitha and our gear for almost a mile before I was forced to give up and claim this little divot as our ergency campground. We were positioned up against a large tree root that had grown out of the ground, it offered little cover, but it was better than nothing.
After that, I stumbled around in the quickly fading light, trying to set up a makeshift camp. I managed to wrap Tabitha in my canvas and force down so dried jerky, but at that point, it was becoming harder and harder to move. It was then I settled in next to Tabitha and waited for her to wake up.
At least I had managed to drag us far enough away from the battlefield that I wasn’t subjected to the stink of rotting goblin flesh all night. Admittedly, it wasn’t much of a win, but I was trying to focus on any good news I could.
I could barely move my body; it was so sore. If I had gotten a chance to rest after our fight with the goblins, I might have been ok; but because I pushed to get our gear, move Tabitha, and stay up all night, I had nothing left. So for the last three hours, I've been leaning against the root, unable to move.
Things were so bad that my Stamina pool refused to go over 15%.
The only thing I could do to stay awake was scan our surroundings with Sense Mana and repeatedly check my Status Page:
LV: 75 Experience: 499,970/ 1,054,850
Health: 1,984.58/2,530
Stamina 229.73/1,697
Mana: 476.61/1,030
Vitality: 253.00
Endurance: 100.31
Strength: 156.00
Dexterity: 156.00
Senses: 62.66
Mind: 65.53
Magic: 103.27
Clarity: 79.19
Status Points: 0
Skills:
Tier 1:
ditation (LV80), Running (LV79), Blacksmithing (LV75), Hamr Skills (LV70), Axe Skills (LV60), Cleaning (LV53), Mining (LV51), Chanting (LV51), Drawing (LV48), Trading (LV48), Cooking (LV43), Sword Skills (LV40), Dagger Skills (LV34), Acting (LV35), Wood Carving (LV32), Sewing (LV32), Dancing (LV26), Alchemy (LV15), Pugilist Skills (LV11), Spear Skills (LV2)
Tier 2:
Sense Mana (LV80), Double Step (LV67), Charm (LV50), Hamr Arts (LV50),asurent (LV49), Axe Arts (LV39), Intimidating Shout (LV34), Writing (LV32), Steady Hands (LV33), Mathematics (LV31), Increase Price (LV22), Lower Price (LV20), Sword Arts (LV17), Dagger Arts (LV13), Gourt (LV10), Marching (LV5), Shout of Valor (LV3),
Tier 3:
Expel Mana (LV63), Mana Manipulation (LV63), Double Strike (LV45), Weighted Strike (LV45), Precise Strike (LV44), Flash Step (LV36), Contract (LV22), Enchanting (LV10)
Tier 4:
ntal Resistance (LV61), Mana Skin (LV60), Inject Mana (LV54), Extract Mana (LV39), Magic Blacksmithing (LV36), Magic Threads (LV24), Air Walk (LV21), Empowered Spell (LV16), Ironclad Agreent (LV8), Appealing Deal (LV3), Multi-Strike (LV1)
Tier 5:
Sense Soul (LV40), Soul Manipulation (LV19)
Tier 6:
Soul Devourer (LV10)
Increased Skill Levels
ditation (LV80) 4,000exp
Running (LV79) 3,950exp
Hamr Skills (LV69-70) 6,950exp
Chanting (LV51) 2,550exp
Cooking (LV43) 2,150exp
Acting (LV34-35) 3,450exp
Dancing (LV24-26) 3,750exp
Pugilist Skills (LV10-11) 1,050exp
Sense Mana (LV80) 8,000exp
Double Step (LV67) 6,700exp
Hamr Arts (LV50) 5,000exp
Intimidating Shout (LV33-34) 6,700exp
Steady Hands (LV33) 3,300exp
Gourt (LV10) 1,000exp
Weighted Strike (LV45) 6,750exp
Precise Strike (LV44) 6,600exp
Double Strike (LV44-45) 13,350exp
Flash Step (LV35-36) 10,650exp
ntal Resistance (LV61) 15,250exp
Mana Skin (LV60) 15,000exp
Magic Threads (LV22-24) 17,250exp
Air Walk (LV21) 5,250exp
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Empowered Spell (LV15-16) 7,750exp
Multi-Strike (LV1) 250exp
Soul Devourer (LV8-10) 27,000exp
Skill Experience: 195,350exp
Crafting Experience: 1,247exp
Fighting Experience: 393,551exp
Total experience Gained: 590,148
I knew staring at my Status Page wouldn’t help my Health, Stamina, or Mana recover any faster, but it was either that or I went over my gains in my head for the thirteenth ti.
Ah, hell, I might as well make it lucky number thirteen; I had nothing else I could do. And there was a lot to go through; of my fifty-eight skills, twenty-five leveled up, not including the new tier 4 skill I unlocked.
While a few of my skills only leveled up because they were relatively low leveled, and it had been a long ti since I used them, most of the increased skills were the most important ones I used daily. I've been struggling to improve so of them for months, and our run-in with the goblins was just the catalyst I needed to break through.
So much changed that the only way I could process everything was to go through each tier individually.
For tier 1, there were so many skills I was happy to see level. ditation, Running, and Hamr Skills were the big three, but the most incredible skill to level was, in fact, Chanting. Surprisingly, I hadn’t noticed when it broke through the first bottleneck, but it probably happened when I learned and recited the tier 3 spell fla javelin in under an hour.
The Acting, cooking, and Pugilist skills levels were excellent, but I was more interested in the levels I got in Dancing. According to Tabitha, my footwork was the biggest thing I still needed to work on, so seeing it shoot up three whole levels was more than welco.
Usually, I'd be happy with just those skills improving, but things got even better when I looked at the tier 2 ones. All the skills were essential in combat, except for Gourt, which leveled thanks to all the magic beast at I’ve been cooking.
But again, there was one skill that drew a majority of my attention, Sense Mana. It leveled when I pushed through the overwhelming mana radiating off the elental, and since it was one of the only skills I could still use in this situation, I had plenty of ti to test it out.
It was hard to determine the exact distance without Tabitha’s help, but it was apparent the broad range I could sense things had increased across the board. The mana signatures of everything around were clearer, and when I activated ditation to boost my range, I could see almost 500 feet further than I could when it was at level 79. Of course, ditation’s rising level must have played a part in that, but that still gave a considerable boost in the area I could cover.
Doing the math in my head takes a minute, but after calculating it out, I used to be able to cover 8,346,898 square feet. Now with the help of ditation, I can scan 14,132,898 square feet. Saying that was a massive difference would be putting it lightly, and that was only half of the skills that leveled up!
All my tier 3 strike skills went up; Flash Step leveled twice after using it so much, and things only got better in tier 4.
ntal Resistance, like Chanting, was another skill I was surprised to see go up. I’d been trying to break past its second bottleneck for what felt like an eternity, and again, it leveled without my realizing it. It could have been the stress of dealing with the goblins, or I overca it by pushing Sense Mana to its limits so many tis.
Both could've done it, but I was reasonably sure it only leveled again, thanks to the elental. Like with Sense Mana, I'm 99% sure ntal Resistance leveled up when it felt like my brain was about to leak out of my ears. Either way, it broke through, which ant when we left the forest, and I was safely back ho, I could try and break through Sense Soul, which had also been stuck at a bottleneck for just as long.
And while ntal Resistance leveling was massive, it didn't take away from the other tier 4 skills. Mana Skin had officially reached its second bottleneck, which I would also need to work on. Then there were Magic Threads, Air Walk, and Empower Spell, all crucial skills centered around mana manipulation.
Each ti I looked at my status page, it felt like I found sothing else to be excited about. The second to last skill was one such reason for this. Naturally, I wanted nothing more than to try it out, but as I am, I could only speculate on how Multi-Strike would co in handy in my everyday life. From fighting to crafting, the possibilities were endless.
There was so much to be happy for, so much excitent! If I could get up and dance with joy, I would!
And then I looked at the last skill that leveled, and all the joy I felt was tempered down. I was still happy about my success, but seeing how Soul Devourer leveled three tis in only an hour sent shivers up my spine. No skill should level that fast, especially a tier 6 one.
I didn't regret using it against the goblins; I was just afraid of how addicting it was. It was so easy to level. Too easy.
It was like I was standing on the edge of a cliff. The danger was exhilarating and enticing, yet one wrong step…. A single lapse in judgnt, and I would plumt to my doom.
I struggle to swallow a nervous lump in my throat. Fuck, even doing that was hard in my current state.
Just then, I feel a shift in Tabitha’s mana. Her highly enchanted gear acts as a shield and makes it difficult to focus on her mana current, but because she’s so close to , I’m able to pierce through it, so I notice when her mana subtly starts circulating faster.
Struggling to turn my head, I look down at my unconscious ally just in ti to watch her eyes snap open. I would've flinched backward, but I was too tired even to do that. Tabitha's eyes dart in every direction, taking in everything around her before zeroing in on .
Under the canvas, I can see her hand shift to her side where her sword would usually be, and for a split second, she looks concerned when she realizes her weapon isn't there.
Her expression quickly returns to a neutral one, but I imdiately recognize her discomfort at not having her weapon. Tabitha slowly sits up and moves out from under my canvas, again scanning our surroundings, this ti specifically looking for her sword.
"Your sword is on the other side of ," I explain in a tired voice before she really starts to worry. “Sorry, but I didn’t know how you’d wake up after falling unconscious.”
Tabitha slowly stands up before looking over with a critical eye. “Understandable," she remarks, to my relief. "How long was I out for?” She asks as she grabs her sword and reattaches it to her side.
I want to laugh at her cavalier attitude, seeing how she woke up in a new location after passing out, but I can’t muster up the energy to do so. “Twelve hours,” I inform her.
“Oh?” Tabitha focuses on after securing her weapon. "I thought it would've been longer," she off handy comnts like it wasn’t a big deal.
“What do you rember?” I ask, wondering if she forgot anything due to the concussion.
“I rember telling you about elentals. Then I tried warning you that I might be out for a few days, but you didn’t answer before I passed out.” Tabitha cocks her head to the side and looks at like I’m the one with brain damage.
Of course, she would rember everything because why not? At least I no longer had to worry about that. “Sorry about that; I was engrossed in scanning our surroundings for hostiles, and when I was done, you were already asleep. But wait, a few days?”
“Yeah,” she confirms like it was obvious. “You watched over all night?” Tabitha glances around us while rolling her shoulders. "In that condition?"
“What else was I supposed to do? You were unconscious; soone had to keep watch,” I tiredly grumble. "And how were you expecting to stay up for three days?"
"I didn't." Tabitha moves directly in front of and proudly smiles. “I'm proud of you; I expected you to pass out alongside . But you not only got our gear but moved to a better spot and kept watch by yourself, not knowing when I would wake up. It’s impressive.”
To my growing embarrassnt, Tabitha continues. “I figured we would be safe for at least a day after the elental's rampage. I thought we would both be out, but I figured you'd wake up sooner than and would be able to handle things while I recovered. Again, thank you. As your senior sister, I should’ve been watching over you, and yet you were the one to care for ."
“It’s not like I could’ve done anything if we were attacked,” I try to downplay my contribution so Tabitha would stop looking at with that satisfied smile of hers.
I wanted nothing more than to turn my head to the side to hide my increasingly reddening cheeks. It was tis like this I missed Tabitha's previous stony expression because when she hit you with a complint, she bashes you over the head with it.
“Regardless,” Tabitha casually brushes off my attempt to downplay what I did, and seeing how I couldn't move, I could only dodge her smiling visage by closing my eyes. I know it's childish, but it was my only option.
"You're right; you should get so sleep," I hear Tabitha say right in front of . Good, not only could I dodge her excessive praise, but I'll finally get so much-needed sleep.
Almost imdiately, I start to feel my conciseness start to drift away…. That is until I feel my world shift as two arms scoop up in a princess carry.
"What the hell!" I shout as my eyes snap back open and co face to face with a still-smiling Tabitha. "Why are you carrying ?" Again, I snap, half from anger, half from embarrassnt.
"You can't move on your own," Tabitha replies like that magically explains everything.
“Yeah, and?” I fu.
“How else was I supposed to shift you to your canvas?" Tabitha twirls in place and softly sets down where she was initially sleeping.
“Sorry, I didn’t realize what you were doing,” I awkwardly cough to try and hide how embarrassed I was.
I think my Acting skill might have leveled too much because Tabitha mistakes my fake cough for a real one. "Hold on, give a second," Tabitha moves over to her bag, grabs her waterskin, and brings it over to . "Here, drink this."
I stick out my tongue in disgust. “Yeah, thanks, but I’m not that thirsty," I lie. I hadn't drunk anything since midday yesterday, and I was incredibly thirsty after the jerky I had last night. Just not for toad eggs.
Tabitha looks confused by my refusal until her face lights up in understanding, and I’m treated to one of the few tis I’ve ever heard her snicker. “It’s regular water,” she uncorks the top and holds the waterskin to my lips.
As soon as the cool water touched my lips, I greedily started to guzzle all I could. Eventually, I had to co up for air, and when I did, I confronted Tabitha. "I thought you filled both our canteens up with toad eggs?"
“Correction, I filled your canteen up with toad eggs. As for the water still in your waterskin, I poured it into mine before I contaminated it. So what, did you think I’d poison both our waterskins?” Tabitha asks with a straight face.
“Wa…. I….. Kind of,” I stamr.
“Would you like more?” Tabitha holds up the waterskin again.
I wanted to say yes but knew I shouldn't drink what was left of it all in one go. "I'm good, thank you."
Tabitha nods and puts the stopper back on her waterskin. “Feeling better.”
“Yeeessss,” I let out a long yawn. Now that I was no longer parched and lying down, staying awake was becoming increasingly challenging. "Is it ok if I rest my eyes?" I tiredly mumble.
“Of course,” I hear Tabitha say, my eyes having fallen shut.
"You faithfully watched over ; now I'll do the sa for you," was the last thing I heard before I slipped into blissful sleep.
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