[NR] Hidden Growth - Chapter 756

Over the rest of their trip, subsequent encounters with the local flora and fauna quickly fell into two categories for the four. Wildlife and Escalation. The first was simple enough. Whatever creatures had made their home near the road? Well, that was what they met. And this wasn’t always combat.

In fact, many times the encounters were simply that. The two sides would see each other and go on their way. Whether it was the small family of deer that, upon noticing the group, bounded away. Or the large bush with legs that continued walking without even indicating it saw them. Which maybe it didn’t, but they weren’t going to test it.

Though there are also the opportunistic sorts. A snake that tried to bite Jason’s ankle before slipping into the brush after failing to do so. The small songbird that looked to be made of quartz which tried to knock them out with sound magic before ignoring them. Or the deer that wasn’t, which the group put down after it stood up on two legs and charged at them. Yeah, they didn’t take any meat from that last one. Didn’t seem wise to eat something that felt so unnatural.

But that all was normal. You walk through the woods and across fields of grass, you’re going to meet some wildlife. An inevitability. It was the escalation encounters that broke that mold. Because even monsters don’t blindly charge at players to death, so you know something is up when that is happening.

Except Courtney did some research. “This seems to be normal, and to be fair, we did sort of face this already. Whether it was the undead or whatever else, we tended to end up in fights all the time.”

Rosha shrugs, “The undead make sense. Even some of the others have logic behind them. Right now? I’m getting tired of wolf packs and squads of goblins throwing themselves at us.”

Courtney, “You make do with what you have. Which might be why so many areas have an obvious aggressor. If an area has a known threat that will attack you on sight, it doesn’t feel odd when it happens. Here? We’re far away from a starter town and the ecology is, of a bit warped, normal enough.”

Jason, “I doubt we’ll be facing wolves and goblins soon enough. We’re almost at our destination and the difficulty of our escalation fights have done their namesake.”

Courtney nods, “Which is odd in and of itself. The toughest fights should in theory be between locations, not on one side or another. Well, barring locations known to already be in the middle of a danger zone. But that isn’t this.”

Rosha, “And at this point, the wolves most certainly aren’t local. I won’t claim they’re being spawned in behind our backs, but they can’t be naturally from this area or all the regular prey animals would be dead. Nature isn’t kind for such obvious overpopulation. Though I guess technically, the System could provide power such that they don’t have to eat, I don’t think I’ve heard of it doing so.”

Courtney, “It would be hard to check. After all, the System would only do this out of sight.”

Jason, “Meh, the System is just pulling in monsters and animals from the surrounding area. It has more dangerous creatures at the end, because it has had the most time to pull them in. It wouldn’t ever let someone see it, but I wouldn’t be surprised if some monsters we’ve been fighting were actually running ahead of us until the System wanted us to fight them.”

Rosha shudders, “It feels wrong now. Like, I understand this was how it always worked? But now that I notice it! And the System can’t be doing this for everyone! Can it?”

Jason shrugs, “At least for NeoRealm, the System is the God of gods, as it were.”

Courtney looks between the two and snorts. “Ignoring the fact that we very much are not the average player. Jason literally just had his prayers answered in person by an angel equivalent. And you, Rosha! Well, I’m not going to go over this again. The both of you seem dead set on ignoring how you aren’t just playing the game like any other person.

“If I had to guess, the System is trying to calibrate our strength as it stands. Jason, how much has your stats gone up since we’ve been out here and not training for a talent?”

Jason pulls up the simplified view of his basic and auxiliary stats.

{

Normal Stats

• ☆Strength 276 > 284

• ☆Toughness 237 > 251

• ☆Agility 215 > 232

• Control 360 > 367

Auxiliary Stats

• Defense 87 > 91

• Stamina 243 > 262

• HP 422 > 478

• Energy 42

}

Courtney snaps her fingers, “Jason. Jason, what’s your stats look like?”

Jason shakes his head, “Really good! And I don’t know why!? Why did almost everything besides my Energy go up! Even Control gained seven! This is not how it is supposed to work!”

Courtney nods, “We have really been in the Deep Wilds too long.”

Jason holds his finger up, “No. That is not how that works. The System would not magically hold my stats again in some word escrow purgatory until I’m in NeoRealm for long enough.”

Courtney, “And it didn’t, but think of everything you’ve done and how little you’ve gained. We were in there for Months. And sure, you weren’t fighting most of the time, but the work you did do wasn’t easy either.

“So while it isn’t like we lost touch with the System, some things didn’t keep up. Especially when it comes to your physical abilities.”

Rosha laughs, “How long have you been suspecting this?”

Courtney nods at her, “About a quarter of the way here.”

Jason, “But we didn’t even agree that the fights were escalating at that point?”

Courtney shrugs, “I wasn’t certain that they were at that point either. However, I could clearly see we were being tested. You don’t just send the most generic of beginner mobs against someone over and over in slightly different scenarios unless you are.”