The next day started and went off as usual, their hunt not interrupted the least bit, Chiyo did notice they had a couple of stalkers now, though they kept their distance and stopped trailing once the party traveled far enough in the forest, the frequency and pack size of the hobs too large for said stalkers not to run into some on their own, resulting in their guaranteed deaths.
"Four stalkers to be precise. But the other two were eyeing the first to more than us, thus the larger distance." Jack added once Chiyo informed about them shaking said stalkers off.
"How could you know that if even I did not sense the latter two?" she asked a bit miffed.
"A skill that more or less tells me the size of my audience, direct or otherwise. Since I sensed four and you guys count as part of the performance, thus not included in the count, it was clear how many pursuers there were."
"That's some bulshit skill set you have, I have to admit. What can't you do?" Fumiko chimed in.
"Mental manipulation, extreme combat power without relying on gear, healing, support, tracking. Need I continue?"
"But you can solve most of said problems with appropriate gear, can you not?"
"And so can each and every one of you as well, no?" Jack asked back.
"Yes, but we can't make said gear, now can we?" Emi joined the conversation.
"And I can't farm for ingredients as effective and fast on my own. Not to mention the difficulty I will have to deal with to progress further. You think the gear I make is cool and strong? Imagine the stats and effect similar stuff at level twenty will provide. By my estimation, no less than plus five to a stat on uncommon bases. Let's not talk about rare or higher."
"What about level ten then?" Izumi asked, her interest piqued.
"Rares should be about the same as your stuff right now. Epics should have at least an extra attribute, maybe a bit better skill attached, but not by much I reckon."
"So, we are, more or less, weapon capped up to level twenty?" Chio asked, quite happy with her current gear, especially the self replenishing quiver.
"Unless you get epic quality or higher, I would say so. Though you never know. my gear might just be the best out there on the same level brackets." Jack grinned, keeping the extra experience earned as a secret. The leveling up would only become harder and harder, leaving even the most grind loving people miffed by the rates, making even the smallest buffs to experience rates a premium stat.
"Rise your nose higher, why don't you. Who knows, maybe you will catch some clouds? And maybe you can then use those to makes something even more outrageous." Fumiko joked as he sighed helplessly. Jack was quite arrogant if one looked at it from the side, though he also could back his talk up with deeds. And he was kinda nice, taking care of them and even helping them grow strong enough to survive in this harsh word. And the best part about it all? He did not even ask for much in return. That and the guy seemed to have the time of his life messing with Kaede and Kenji, but not in a mean way. No, he seemed like an older brother that was happy for his younger sibling having found someone special, thus making sure to mess around enough so that the youngster knows how lucky he is.
He could also be irritating sometimes, particularly so then Fumiko would try to mess around with him, acting all clingy and flirty. Sure, she was often brash and straight forward, but she knew enough about girly things as well, though acting that was did feel off. Still, the way he would 'bonk' her and tell her to knock it off, since he was not interested in kids was annoying, very much so. She knew her figure was quite appealing, the numerous guys nearly drooling over her looks and form back in their school an obvious proof. And yet, she was told off time and time again. And while also true that she was messing around, to be so blatantly told off was more than a little irritating.
After approximately half a day of tracking and near indiscriminate murder, their victims consisting of mostly hobgoblins, the party had once again reached the point of descent, or ascent if one looked from the side of monsters. It was a rather narrow passage with quite the steep decline. The group carefully explored their immediate surroundings and when they were sure it was clear, descended. Their task was simple- to explore the place around on the lower side and figure out the best path towards the camp, or if they should just bunker down and wait for the advance. Both plans had merit. Going down allowed them to focus more on trimming the numbers, no doubt their encounter rate would go up, so much so that it was quite likely new reinforcements could show up as they were still dealing with the first pack. Possible to handle? No doubt, but it would exhaust them more than probably necessary and if they were to be ambushed by those wishing them harm, it would be all too hard to resist without suffering heavy damage, perhaps even casualties.
The other choice would slow down their progress in thinning out the numbers, thus resulting in a much harder final confrontation as well as increase the likelihood of more parties showing up for said fight, no doubt having farmed enough experience and levels to patrol the same place their party did. And that final battle would be very dangerous indeed, the possibility of getting sabotaged would increase astronomically.
"In theory. we could search if there is another point of descent as well. The likelihood is not all that small, all things considered." Chiyo added as they considered their options.
"Would explain the smaller parties on other sides as well, yes, though it also would imply said descent points are quite far away." Izumi responded.
"Could we not just head down, and draw the groups we fight with back in this direction?" Kaede asked, proceeding to explain her own thought process.
"It does seem like the best strategy. If we could also mark this place so we could beeline here each morning, our progress would be significant. Who knows, in just a few days, maybee a week or two, we might have thinned the numbers out well enough so a direct assault on monster camp is possible?" Chiyo calculated.
"What do you think Jack? Does this sound feasible?" Kaede turned to Jack, waiting for his input, but seeing the approving smile on his face realized the man did not have to answer.
"This is what you wanted to hear, is it not? You already had the same idea in your mind. Why wait then?" she pouted.
"Because I need you guys to think ahead and plan. I am but a crafter remember, even if it looks like I am an actual monster right now, capable of destroying all obstacles in our way with sheer force. But yes, that was what I also thought of."
"So we are heading back now, right? The days too far gone for a proper descent, yes?" Kenji asked.
"Yes. That is the plan." Izumi nodded, not even waiting for Jack's input, though the man did nod in agreement all the same, happy they were taking charge and making good decisions. 'I will still deck them out so I can to ensure their growth continues unimpeded.' He though with a slight smile on his face. He did enjoy the company of the kids, more than he would have ever thought he would. 'This IS fun.'
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
With the plan worked out, the group headed back, once again going through whatever monster groups came into contact with them, leaving only some broken trees and numerous puddles of blood in their wake as proof that there had been any fighting whatsoever. Jack was meticulous like that, why waste a good, if low tier matter if you did not have to?
The second day started in a similar matter as the previous one, with them leaving the village and being trailed for a certain time before said stalkers once again stopped following, the same reasoning no doubt applied. Unlike before though, Jack had a clear direction for the party to head to, thus resulting in their arrival at the slope in a much more timely manner. With the first part of their plan successfully achieved, they proceeded with the rest, carefully descending and heading out in a direction away from the monster camp. It was important to figure out if they had constantly roaming groups down here as well.
As it turned out, there were indeed and much to their pleasant surprise, large enough to grind in a decent amount of matter for Jack. Each such group consisted of at least twenty hobgoblins, a number that would no doubt be quite a struggle for other parties to handle, but theirs was leveled high enough with incredibly good gear and teamwork to boot, resulting in quite the one sided slaughter. Still, Jack could see that their battles, while heavily in their favour, did whittle down his group, they did not have infinite stamina after all. Then again, with their magnificent shrine maiden in Kaedes form, who could restore said stamina, they were able to keep going and going.
Jack saw as the mostly naive kids were becoming trained adventurers with each each fight they had. Their movements and cooperation more and more coordinated, so much so that sometimes if felt as though they could read each other's minds. Though such moments were few and far between at the moment, he also saw their numbers increased with time. 'Good, good. All they need is a couple more front liners ideally to hold back and tank larger monster groups and they will be golden. I will let them figure it out though. At least for now.' he mused as his gundao was spun and sang a song of death as it cleaved through yet another two hobs. He made sure to draw enough of the monsters to himself as he culled them, making sure he himself did not feel like a part of their formation. There were no hard feelings either for he had explained thoroughly that he would not head out on adventures unless absolutely needed, focusing more on managing their home, whenever they acquired one, crafting and selling his creations. "Who knows, if I am lucky enough I might just stabilise and serve as the guildmaster of our very own little guild. Wouldn't that be fun?" Jack had said.
With the beelining towards the slope, the group had earned enough time to hunt on the lower side for almost three hours before the sun above was far enough in the sky to warrant their return, as so they did, happy they did not have to deal with an overflow- another monster pack reaching them before the one they had engaged was dealt with, though there was a single situation that felt close enough.
"It's fine for now. If needed I will go a little bit wild it looks like you guys are getting overwhelmed. Promise." Jack joked after said near encounter, earning a few suspicious gazes in his direction, followed by a bit of laughter as Jack had made overly exaggerated motion to cover his heart from the lack of trust in his artistically insane self. "Rude kids." he had said while seemingly pouting.
The third day was much the same. The party left early, was trailed by four people and again left alone once far enough. They then proceeded to descend and hunt for monster packs until it was time to head back and then they did precisely that, killing more monster packs on their way back. This time though, they could sense a stalker waiting for them on their way back, around the place that felt like the one where they were left to travel further alone. Once back in the village and their home respectively, Jack had a small conversation with the team.
The topic was simple- Jack concluded their stalkers, or at least one of the parties behind it, seemed ready to act. They spent a couple of hours into the night to plan of countermeasures and what possible ways could they be attacked in. Once done, they retired to their own rooms to get plenty of rest, the coming day would no doubt be hard, in more ways than one. Jack knew it better than the kids could ever imagine. No doubt they would be apprehensive about taking a humans life for the first time, some of them might even have nightmares about it for a short while, the system no doubt coming to assistance soon enough. Still, it was an experience that did not bring joy and satisfaction. 'I should probably try and help them to only heavily wound those bastards to begin with. Once we have dealt with the ambush Chiyo should be able to backtrack their path to their hideout where we will no doubt find some pretty horrible stuff that will show their true, monstrous form. That could elevate at least some of the guilt they might feel for what has to be done.' Jack thought as he too drifted to sleep.
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For three days Alexander had his men track the damn offender and his party. He had learned they would, almost like a damn well oiled machine, leave the village every single day, their route bringing them towards the most dangerous zone of this tutorial where they would, no doubt. spend the rest of the day hunting for monsters, farming experience and some crafting materials. How else would they have such good weapons if not for that damn Virtuoso making them.
It was all fine though. Alexander knew their route now and had his own group help him prepare a nice and special welcome for the offender. It mattered not how mentally unstable he was. He had dared to mess with Alexander's fun and entertainment and as such deserved the worst fate imaginable. Such a shame he did not have anyone in his group swinging that way, or he could think of quite a few more ways to torture the bastard once caught. 'It's all right. Wooden tools with plenty of splinters will just have to do the job.' He mused in his head, already planning out the whole day ahead.
'Have to break in his collection first though and in front of his eyes no less.' he damn near drooled, the sight of those pretty high school girls flashing before his eyes. It was quite the collection that bastard had. Alexander was half daydreaming, him and his group lying in wait along the path Jak's group had taken the last couple of days, seemingly having learned the fastest route to their destination.
"Boss, they are approaching." a silent whisper reached his ear, one of his forward scouts informed him, a slight heaviness of breath indicating the speed with which the man had rushed over.
It was about time to get the show on the road as it were. Alexander grinned and raised his hand, a signal prepared to inform his men to get in their positions and be ready to release the gas they had formed from the paralytic agent he had acquired. Their ambush spot was a small dell, clearly a place that had once served as a riverbed, the river in question having found a new path to flow through. Still, for their need it served perfectly, the gas that was heavier than air would stay in the dell, affecting their targets for sure. And as if on queue, the group of seven appeared, moving across the dale in a measured, yet somewhat decent speed, their scout still doing her job and observing their surroundings.
Alexander's men, already aware of their task, released the gas that was invisible to the eye and waited. The party in question was level ten without a doubt, how else could they travel the path they had chosen every day when most others still avoided this side of the village, the large packs of hobs too dangerous for most to handle, so it was only normal for them to take longer to not only feel anything wrong but also succumb to the effect of the gas. Still, as expected, it was clearly visible how the group slowed down, their breaths getting more and more ragged as they found it difficult to advance. In just a minute nice encountering the gas the party realized something was wrong, a call for quick retreat resounding, only for the first of the group to collapse moments after.
'Great, the healer is out. Now for the rest of them.' Alexander smirked, waiting patiently. The enemy group was too dangerous, especially the tank, as indicated by the now somewhat bulky frame of Kenji, and that damn Virtuoso, his set of rings bringing his endurance past ten no doubt as well. The next one to fall was another mage, or caster by the looks of her, the girl had a quill as her weapon of choice, obviously an item to gather mana faster. Then went the scout and a girl with sword and buckler, leaving only the last three remaining.
Then fell the last girl , holding a katana in her hands. The two guys tried their best to drag the girls along with them, only to succumb less than a minute later. The sight brought a smile to Alexander's face, the revenge was just moments away after all. Still, he glanced in the direction of one of his newest party members, a guy by the name of Hanzo. The dude had given them plenty of info about the girls and the dude, having been a part of that group previously. 'A shame I have to give that katana girl over to him from the start, but a deal is a deal. Hard to keep ones minions loyal and in check if they don't get fed often enough.' he clicked his tongue, but was smarter than to sabotage himself. Waiting for another minute, just to be sure, he signaled to his lackeys to descend once the gas had dissipated. It had only so much shelf life once released after all.
"Let's have fun fun, shall we?" Alexander grinned victoriously as he lead the pack forward, their prey clearly in sight. 'It was shaping out to be a great day!'
Jack Raja(?)
Age- 27
Species- human(?)
Level- 12
Class- Twin aspect of Creation and Destruction(EX)
Stats unassigned: +12
Attributes:
Strength- 24 (14+7+3)
Vitality- 21 (12+7+2)
Dexterity- 11 (5+6)
Intelligence-7
Spirit- 25 (20+5)
Skills- Wisdom of Creation and destruction(EX), Choice of the creator(EX), Eyes of procurer(EX), Matter storage(EX), Arukain language(C), Spark of inspiration(EX).
Spells- temporary spatial storage (shrinking)
Titles(unlocked): The real Monster, Big Game Hunter, The brilliant rookie, The insane Solo. The actor.
Gear: amulet +2 vit: weapon- Gundao+3 str.
