Chapter 25- Carrying

Arthur stood in the clearing of the forest that had once been the home of the wolf pack he’d recently exterminated. With him were Rachel, Frank and Mira, all of them standing awkwardly in the unfamiliar environment.

Frank had brought a wickedly sharp machete with him and Mira and Rachel both carried state of the art modern hunting bows. Firearms that still had an effect on higher leveled beasts were almost impossible to come by nowadays, most of them having been monopolised by the government and the rich, and the rest stolen and looted on the first day of humanity's return to Earth.

Whether or not the ladies could use their respective weapons was a different question altogether and would be left unknown until the group encountered their first monster.

“So you all know what the plan is, don't you,” Arthur asked for the umpteenth time. He couldn’t help it; something told him that things might go very wrong today and it had Mira’s name written all over it.

The problem woman in question just moaned, “You’ve told us so many times already.”

Rachel, who was thankfully taking this outing much more seriously, gravely nodded her head and repeated his commands in parrot fashion like he was some sort of drill sergeant.

“Yes, stand back until you’ve knocked the monster unconscious with your water bubble skill you’ve told us about, wait for your signal and then move in for the kill.”

Arthur smiled at the woman, glad that at least someone was taking this seriously. But then Rachel again she had to. Any old monster in the forest could probably kill her easily with how weak the healer was, and the responsibility to keep her safe weighed heavily on Arthur.

He doubted Mira would wait around to help anyone if the situation got truly dangerous, which left the responsibility of their safety on his shoulders. Arthur hadn’t replaced his broken axe for this short adventure, preferring to now use his bare hands in combat now that his strength was so high instead of a weapon he  was unfamiliar with. It also helped that he’d practiced Muay Thai for years, but if things went according to plan, he wouldn’t have to get physical.

“It’s weird, you know,” Frank began. “I’m surprised that no monsters have taken up residence near this lake. It's a perfect spot to make a home.”

Arthur smiled involuntarily when he heard that, deciding to not reveal the part he’d played in the monster’s avoidance of this place. The strangest wolf pack in the area suddenly dying would most certainly warn other predators to be weary of the lake.

But Arthur was counting on the fact that no matter how high a beast had levelled yet, they would still need the most important liquid of life. They would still need to drink water.

That was why he had decided to stay and wait by the lake, the largest water source around, for his prey to come to him instead of going out to hunt them. This method was easier, and also posed significantly less risk to the other members of his group as they wouldn't have to follow him through a dangerous forest but instead remain within his sight at all times.

It was the thought process behind his actions, but Arthur knew from experience that things were rarely ever so simple. ‘What was that famous quote again. No plan survives first contact with the enemy.’

Well, as strong as Arthur was now, he knew he hardly needed a plan to fight the monsters in this forest, but it was always better to be on the safe-side. Especially when he was responsible for the lives of two vulnerable people.

The group had been waiting for ten minutes already, and it took another fifteen for the first monster to show up. It seemed like a deer- cat hybrid of sorts, with great antlers sparkling with electricity and the clawed paws of a carnivore instead of the hooves the former plant eater should have possessed.

The electricity crackling between the rack on its head told Arthur that the monster had a lightning affinity, which was unfortunately a terrible match up for the water magic he’d be using to take it down, but after Arthur had identified the beast, he didn't think he’d have any trouble dealing with it.

Elemental deer level 37 - This beast possesses devastating long range attacks and has a high damage output compared to its weaker defences

Frank and Rachel had become pale at the monster's appearance whilst Mira just looked bored.

“Don't worry, everything will go to plan.” Arthur tried to reassure them. They nodded their heads but didn't speak. It almost surprised him how terrified the red-heads were, but then he remembered that everyone didn’t have absurd health like him. A single attack from the beast would literally kill them.

Arthur turned back to look at the monster and saw that it had begun to drink from the water of the lake, the action revealing the sharp fangs within its mouth. The scene was almost serene, an animal relieving its thirst in the beautiful woodlands, completely at peace with its surroundings.

It made Arthur almost feel bad for what he was about to do, but he cast away any hesitation he felt and firmed his resolve. ‘Think of this like an abortion,’ he told himself. Whilst it didn’t make it any better, he could almost rationalise his actions.

Killing a being with the potential of sapience might’ve been wrong, but Arthur wasn’t going to take chances. ‘Just how many evolutions will it take to become intelligent, and how many people will it kill before then.’ Once again, it wasn’t a perfect argument, but Arthur had learned to ignore the truth when he started selling drugs all those years ago. Morality might help you get to sleep at night, but it didn't put food on the plate.

Waiting for the perfect moment, Arthur sprang his trap. Spending 500 ether in one go, more than he ever had before, he willed a portion of the lake water to surround the beast, using it to lift the elemental deer into the air so that it no longer had any purchase on the ground.

No matter how much speed or agility the beast possessed, it would mean nothing if it couldn’t find any purchase to leverage it. The fight devolved into a waiting game after that.

The deer struggled against its unseen attacker, shooting electricity in a wide arc around it. The ether infused water absorbed much of the blast, vaporising instantly, and Arthur tanked the little that came through by standing in front of his teammates.

Health 3160/3200.

The tiny decrease in health was a pleasant surprise. Arthur remembered reading somewhere that lightning was five times hotter than the surface temperature of the sun, and whilst the beast's attack was nowhere near the level of mother nature’s fury, it was nothing to scoff at.

With his insane investments into constitution, the attack had barely even damaged him, and all he felt was a slight tingle like he’d just bathed in freezing waters instead of facing the devastating destruction of a beast fighting for its life.

It helped put into perspective just how crazy his inflated stats made him for his level, and it almost scared him to think of the unkillable monsters he might one day become. He was more excited than afraid, though. ‘I knew investing in physicality was the better choice earlier on.’

The others in their group of four, even Mira, looked at him in shock.

‘Did he just take that lightning straight on. No that can’t be, he probably used a skill to defend himself. Except I... I didn't sense any ether usage. What the fuck is wrong with his constitution!’

These thoughts raced through Mira’s head, as she reevaluated everything she knew about the strange young man in front of her. She’d known he was stronger than his level suggested, from his absurd tyrannical aura that was always leaking like a tap, but never had she expected this.

‘How the hell is he only level 39,’ she thought.

It scared her to think that she had once considered antagonising him to get him to reveal all his powers. ‘That probably wouldn’t have gone well, unless I somehow managed to poison him before the fight started.’

Arthur meanwhile was counting the seconds it took the deer to lose consciousness.

One-hundred-and-seventy-eight.

That's how long it managed to stay awake in the bubble of water without any oxygen. Arthur waited for another twenty seconds just to be on the safe side, before setting the animal back down onto the ground.

He was afraid that he had accidentally killed the monster when he saw that it wasn't moving at all but then breathed out a sigh of relief when its leg twitched.

“Now, quick. We’ve probably only got a minute before it wakes back up.” Arthur whispered before running towards the sleeping deer, his three companions trailing behind him at a much slower pace.

Once they reached the animal, Arthur quickly clambered onto it to hold it down just in case the animal woke up during its execution. He swallowed the bile in his throat when he felt its warm flesh under his hands.

Its beating heart.

Like they had already discussed, the three remaining members of their group all struck at the same time, Rachel and Mira with their bows, and Frank with his machete, in the hopes that they would all benefit equally from killing the monster.

Their plan seemed to have worked as Arthur saw both Frank and Rachel shoot up in levels, Frank going from level 17 to level 22 and Rachel adding a whopping 13 levels from the single kill to her meagre level 9.

Mira of course had no visible change in her status, but then again, she was at level 73 and a fight against something half her strength would not give her much. Her veil status did however shoot up by nine levels to reach level 20, so it seemed she wanted to keep her facade of weakness up for a little longer.

Arthur smiled. Everything had gone perfectly, and now they were perhaps ready to hunt bigger prey. Maybe Arthur could finish this task much sooner than he’d expected.

~Rachel Cromwell~

Rachel was exhausted. In the past eight hours, she had managed to over quadruple her level. She was both shocked and excited. Her body almost felt like it belonged to a different person; faster, stronger, better. It was scary, how a few level ups could change her so much. This had probably been the most productive day of her life and her status could attest to that fact.

Rachel Cromwell

Level 47

Unallocated Stat point: 0

Strength- 31

Vitality- 60

Endurance- 40

Constitution- 29

Agility- 30

Intelligence- 140

Willpower- 40

Charisma- 15

Health-600/600 (60/hour)

Ether- 1400/1400 (140/hour)

Stamina- 400/400 (40/minute)

Rachel smiled when she saw how much she’d grown and then she looked towards Arthur. This had all been possible because of him. She had barely even known the broody young man before the system’s arrival, except as the antisocial attractive boy that only came to class when he seemed to feel like it.

She’d later found out that the reason for his absence was the fact that his sister died recently. After that Rachel had begun to feel sorry for him, and made allowances for any of the weird quirks he had.

Standing in the now darkening clearing, she realised just how little she actually knew of Arthur. ‘Just who- no, what is he?’

The man she had come to know in the past few days was completely different from the awkward classmate she had once had. Rachel sighed. None of that really mattered anyway.

Arthur had delivered on his promise and she, unlike the other two members of their party, had no skill that she could teach Arthur. Rachel felt like a leech, a spare tire in the car that would never be used.

She could only hope that one day she’d be able to do something to repay this massive favour.

~Arthur Ward~

Arthur was happy with how the day had gone. There had been a few close encounters when a monster at a far greater level than they had expected turned up, but Arthur had just waited for those beasts to finish feeding and leave. If he was alone, there’d have been no risk, but the presence of his weaker group stayed his hand.

The rest of the day had gone much like he had expected, with more and more monsters making an appearance on the scene as the scent of blood began to spread from their little hunting zone.

Now all he had to do was learn the skills that were promised for him, and he’d be done with healing magic training for a long time, and finally move on to more interesting things.

He knew he’d stagnated in his more combat oriented magics, and he’d yet to even use his soul infusion skill. No matter how he approached it, nothing worked. It felt like there was a barrier blocking him off or something.

Looking at his teammates and their exhausted expressions, he realised it was time to call it a day. He’d already fulfilled his promise to Frank who was now sitting at a comfortable level 52 and Rachel wasn’t far off.

With his careful hunting methods, Arthur had managed to remain at level 39, which had of course brought him a whole slew of questions from Rachel as to why he didn't want to level.

Reluctantly, he had decided to tell the group about the formation of classes at level 100 and how prior preparation could make all the difference in how good it would be.

The two cousins were shocked by this new piece of information whilst Mira just looked as bored as she had since they’d first entered the forest. It made him wonder why she had even wanted to come in the first place.

Something, it turned out, he would be finding out very soon.

“Hey, I think we should call it a day. We’ve all achieved our goals, and it's probably too dangerous to carry on hunting when it's night time.”

Frank and Rachel both looked grateful that they could finally get some rest, and they both nodded their heads in assent.

Mira however looked like she had something she wanted to say. “Actually. Arthur, could we wait here a little longer whilst the others head back,” Mira asked him.

She looked imploringly at Arthur, her eyes wide and gleaming with hope. Arthur was immediately cautious at the sight. Nothing good would ever come out of being alone with a woman like Mira in a dangerous forest at night. It was plain stupid.

He was just about to say no, before Rachel cut in.

“Yes, it’ll be perfectly fine. Me and Frank are capable of getting out of here on our own now since leveling so much.”

“Good luck!”

She quickly left after saying that, directing her last words at Mira with a pointed look, dragging an envious looking Frank away.

Arthur sighed in exasperation. It seemed like everyone had somehow gotten the wrong idea about what was about to happen. Unless he was the one being oblivious, he highly doubted that Mira had fallen for him. When two minutes had passed in awkward silence, and Mira still didn't seem to want to say anything, Arthur finally asked, “So what did you want to talk about?”

Mira looked up at Arthur and smiled mischievously with a glint in her eyes.

“Actually, I wanted to tell you that I’ve started to like -” she began before being interrupted by Arthur.

“No, stop with your bullshit, what did you actually want to talk about?” He really couldn’t be bothered with her weird act right now.

Mira just sighed before saying, “You're no fun.”

She seemed to muse over something for a moment before coming to a decision. Her voice when she next spoke was low and contained traces of exhaustion.

“Actually, I want to make a deal, kid.”

Gone was the flirting girly personality, suddenly replaced by the cold disposition of a world weary adult. The change was so drastic that it threw Arthur off for a second and he stood there, blinking dumbly in the cold air, unable to respond.

“Hello, anyone there.” Mira drawled, waving her hand in front of him.

“Wait, wait, wait.”

“Did you, did you just say you want to make a deal with me?” Arthur asked, still very much in shock with the strange question.

“Yes,” Mira snapped.

“Are you deaf as well as dumb.”

Arthur  was astounded by the sheer spite contained in her voice. It was almost like he had wronged her.

“Okay. Okay. There's no need to start being a bitch now.” Arthur replied.

He’d met Miras’ type before and he absolutely loathed interacting with them, finding that the best way to treat their shitty attitude was by reciprocating it in turn. Perhaps it wasn't the wisest decision when it came to a woman with an affinity for poison magic, and maybe it was childish, but very few things pissed off Arthur as much as being talked down to.

Mira rubbed her forehead in frustration, before she surprised him once again.

“You're right. I’m sorry for acting like that.”

She had actually apologised!

“The thing is, I have very, very less time to sort out a problem that I caused and it’s starting to creep up on me. Except I don't think I’m strong enough to deal with it myself.”

She paused for breath, pupils darting to the left for the barest of instances. A lie?

“I need your help, or I’ll be dead within the month. Or worse.”

Arthur was shocked with Mira’s blunt statement and immediately thought that she was lying to him. ‘What does she mean she’s going to die.’ Arthur thought to himself, curious as to what could kill such a capable woman. It was so absurd that he couldn’t help not believing in it. And that was exactly why he felt it might contain a shred of truth. Just not the entire truth.

‘She would have come up with a better story, or maybe it's all a part of her ploy to get me to lower my guard.’

Deciding to entertain her proposition, he asked.

“And what's in it for me if I help you?”

Mira felt tension drain out of her when she heard Arthur say that. She’d been worried that he would say no after her earlier outburst. ‘With him on my side, I might actually be able to pull this off and not resort to using the item I received in the tutorial. He doesn’t need to know about that though.’

“Well, I’m actually a poison alchemist.” She explained.

“It's how I was able to reach such a high level in the tutorial island. By poisoning the monster's water source. And everyone else's.”

Mira paused for a moment to let all her statement's implications sink in.

“They deserved it” She mumbled before continuing.

“I can teach you the skill. Actually teach it to you, not like those half-arsed promises you extracted from us earlier, except you’ll probably get a variant of healing alchemy instead. At least that’s what I think” she said.

Arthur didn’t say anything, opting to remain silent and see if Mira would say anything else. 'So she has a way to actually teach me her skills.' He filed away that piece of information for later analysis. She looked nervous, and was starting to babble. Arthur didn't mind letting her stew for a little longer.

“Look, I wasn’t going to tell you any of this, but I saw how you tanked all those attacks earlier. You're a fucking monster.” Her usual smirk returned to her face, except this time it didn't look like she was putting on an act.

Taking a deep breath, Mira hoped her next question wouldn't throw Arthur off.

“But, before I tell you anything else, you’ll have to tell me who, no- what even are you?”

She paused for a moment.

"You can't blame me for being a little suspicious after your earlier display, and whilst you may be strong right now, you WILL need allies to survive in this new world of ours."

She paused again.

“What secrets are you hiding?”