Not even half an hour into their trek beneath the dense canopy, Bonehead had gone from half-dead alchemist to fully restored chaotic loot goblin, scampering up tree trunks like a squirrel, slithering around logs for mushrooms, and practically teleporting towards various alchemical herbs that dotted their surroundings.
He vaulted from branch to branch with the reckless enthusiasm, muttering excitedly to everyone as he spotted herbs, strange fungi, glittering clusters of mineralised pollen, and hundreds of other alchemical ingredients and raved on about their properties.
Esmerelda, Sam, and Jass had stopped questioning him around the seventh time he'd shrieked at the sight of a herb he did not already have in his collection.
Truth be told, none of them minded. This was just how Bonehead acted on expeditions where he could find ingredients — which, realistically, was every expedition. They'd gotten used to it quickly after their first outing together back in the academy, once they realised their team's healthcare budget was basically tied to however many herbs and alchemical materials Bonehead managed to scoop up.
A little annoyance was a small price to pay; visiting other alchemists, apothecaries, or healers was expensive, and usually inconvenient. And if they needed medical help, it was guaranteed to be in the middle of combat anyway. From what they could gather, all alchemists were a bit… unhinged when it came to ingredients, but Ravenlight had pretty much agreed that Bonehead sat near the top of that spectrum, given how he acted around them.
Besides, the more ingredients he gathered, the more he could experiment — and the better he could brew and concoct. Better ingredients meant better items: potions, poisons, antidotes, elixirs, salves, bombs, and whatever else that would catch his fancy.
So, when the first wave of creatures attacked them, they weren't surprised that he focused mainly on gathering herbs rather than combat, especially after noticing that the number of their attackers was quite small and weak.
About an hour into their trek, six Pine Wolves burst out from a thicket to their right, with their quills raised and fangs bared at them.
Though that was quickly corrected when Deacon met the closest one with a clean downward strike with Echoform Reliquary in its Ulfberht form and beheaded it before moving on to the next wolf.
As Deacon beheaded three of the seven wolves, Sam finished his spell — slamming his staff into the ground and sending a row of Earth Spikes tearing up through the soil. The spikes ripped through the hides and paws of the wolves, trying to rush past Deacon, pinning them in place. Wordlessly following up on Sam's assistance, Deacon quickly beheaded the rest of the wolves.
During this whole exchange, under the watchful eyes of Esmerelda and Jass, Bonehead crouched beside a tiny patch of mushrooms that grew on a dead log, happily humming to himself as he plucked them and tucked each one gently into a jar before dropping it into his Spatial Satchel — as if nothing at all was happening around him.
***
"We should set up camp," Deacon said as he and the rest of the Ravenlight Party finally broke through the last stretch of winding underbrush and arrived at the base of the Jagged Spires.
The moment they stepped into the clearing, the sheer magnitude of the mountains they were meant to climb was revealed. The mountain spires rose like colossal stone teeth, jagged and uneven, their peaks were high enough that they could see them piercing through the clouds.
"Sounds good," Sam muttered before he let his legs buckle and allow himself to fall backward — only to catch himself with a cushion of air from a quick wind spell that slowed his drop until he settled softly atop the grass, arms spread, face twisted into pure exhaustion. "I did not sign up for eight hours of trekking through a forest while being attacked every ten seconds in the last stretch."
"You say that," Deacon said, a grin tugging at the corner of his mouth as he crouched over a bare patch of dirt, "but we would've gotten here in two hours if you all had listened to my suggestion after the first hour." He hovered his hand over the ground and cast Gouge Ground, causing the earth to shiver before it separated and created a deep fire pit.
Without missing a beat, he reached into his Spatial Sling Bag, pulled out the bundle of dried wood he had picked up throughout their trek, and began stacking it in the pit.
"After that wagon ride?" Bonehead scoffed, dragging a foldable camping chair out of his Spatial Satchel and snapping it open with a flick of his wrist.
Easing into it with a sigh, he said, "No one in their right mind was going to get on your back or Jass's and be dragged through the forest. We would've been vomiting our guts out halfway here — or my core, in my case."
Esmerelda let out a hum of agreement as she brushed loose leaves away from the ground near Sam's head. "Besides, we wouldn't have gotten nearly as many levels as we did," she said, glancing at the makeshift fire pit where Deacon sprinkled kindling above and between the dried logs.
Deacon smirked at her words as he glanced at his own notifications, cast Spark and set the campfire alight.
*[Pine Wolf Lv 16] has been slain – XP has been given.*
***
*[Bullet Wasp Lv 18] has been slain – XP has been given.*
*Your Race has reached Lv 18 – Points allocated, +1 Free Point*
*Your Class has reached Lv 17 – Points allocated, +1 Free Point*
*Your Class has reached Lv 18 – Points allocated, +1 Free Point*
Nice, Deacon mused as he tossed the empty parchment into the flames of the campfire.
Sam hissed softly as Esmerelda pressed a chilled can against the side of his face, the cold metal prickling his sweat-slick skin.
"Bless your soul," he said, taking the drink with both hands and easing himself upright with a groan that carried the weight of the entire forest trek in it. The campfire crackled to life a few meters in front of him, throwing warm light across the clearing and casting long, moving shadows across their faces.
Catching his Status Page that shot out of the flames of the campfire, Deacon gave it a good look over.
Skill Upgrade: [One-Handed Weapon Mastery (Uncommon+ → Rare)]
Skill Gained: [Two-Handed Melee Weapon Mastery (Initiate)]
Skill Upgrade: [Two-Handed Melee Weapon Mastery (Initiate → Common)]
Skill Gained: [Basic Archery (Initiate)]
Skill Evolution: [Basic Archery (Initiate) → Apprentice's Archery (Common)]
Skill Upgrade: [Shield Mastery (Uncommon → Uncommon+)]
Deacon Surtr Hayes
Race: Jötunn Lv 18
Class: Warrior Lv 18
Health: 1460/1460
Mana: 600/600
Stamina: 1239/1239
Stats:
Vitality: 146
Strength: 155 (162)
Endurance: 118 (123)
Agility: 89
Intelligence: 57
Wisdom: 60
Willpower: 84
Perception: 53 (55)
Free Points: 4
Racial Traits:
General Skills: Identify (Initiate), Meditation (Initiate)
Class Skills: [One-Handed Weapon Mastery (Rare)], Shield Mastery (Uncommon+), Academy of Beginnings Sword Style (Rare), Blistering Flames (Rare), Two-Handed Melee Weapon Mastery (Common), Apprentice's Archery (Common)
Spell Masteries: Fire [Spark (Initiate), Ignis (Uncommon), Flame Armament (Uncommon), Flame Mine (Rare), Flame Art: Flame Steps (Uncommon)], Water [Water Ball (Initiate), Cleanse (Common)], Earth [Gouge Ground (Common)], Blood: [Blood Sense(Common)], BloodFlame: [Ignis Sanguinis: BloodFlame Armament (Epic)]
Affinity: Fire (High) – Innate skill: Undying Flame, Blood (High) – Innate skill: Locked
Achievements: Finder of the Hidden II [+10 All Stats], Saga Walker I [+10 All Stats & 5% to Perception]
Two-Handed Melee Weapon Mastery (Common):
True strength reveals itself the moment you commit both hands to a single, decisive strike. Unlocks baseline proficiency with most two-handed melee weaponry. Provides a lesser bonus to stamina efficiency and a lesser boost to Strength when attacking with a two-handed melee weapon in hand.
Apprentice's Archery (Common):
Steady aim begins with learning patience and listening to the wind. Unlocks baseline proficiency with most bows. Provides a lesser bonus to stamina efficiency and a lesser boost to Agility when attacking with a bow in hand.
Nice, Deacon repeated to himself as he looked over the updates to his Status Page. After the wyverns, I should be able to get my second Class Skill – hopefully it'll be either Power Strike or something similar.
"I'll be back, alright?" Deacon said as he rose to his feet and tucked away his Status Page into his Spatial Sling Bag after assigning 2 Free Points into Perception and a single point in both Agility and Intelligence.
Everyone around the campfire gave him some form of half-distracted acknowledgment — Bonehead gave him a raise of his closed beer, Sam answered him with a loud burp, Jass gave a lazy thumbs-up before face-planting into the grass, and Esmerelda wished him a speedy return as she hauled out a large pot, three gallons of water, and enough ramen packets to that would cause a hippo's stomach to explode.
With that, Deacon kicked off from his crouch beside the fire and sprinted back into the section of the forest they had emerged from minutes ago.
"…System, how much Endurance does he have?" Bonehead complained as he cracked open his own chilled beer with the tired resignation. "Even I'm exhausted — and I don't even have Stamina."
"I mean, he did gain like ten levels worth of stats from eating that apple," Sam said after taking a long, appreciative drink from his own can, letting out a quiet, satisfied grunt as the cold liquid settled in his stomach. "Lucky bastard. I wish I could get my hands on a consumable that gives that much of a perm stat boost all at once."
"You're rich," Jass reminded him pointedly, tossing her blank, mana-imbued parchment into the flames so she could pull up her own Status Page. "You get more than enough credits from your allowance to max out your Tier One consumable limits three times over."
"I mean, yeah. But, we all do after Floor Three," Sam admitted with a shrug, "but he just had to eat one apple, while for us to get the same number of points we'd have to down like… at least ten potions. Minimum."
"Eh, true," Bonehead conceded as he leaned back in his chair. "But honestly? I've never heard of consumables having race-specific efficiency before, which, frankly, is something I am now very excited to test how that could work."
Esmerelda shot him a tired look that translated cleanly to No.
Bonehead waved her off as if she were swatting a fly. "Relax, I'm not gonna test anything on you – I'm gonna test it on Sam."
"Like hell you are," Sam grumbled, scooping up a rock beside him and flinging it at Bonehead
"Mhmm," Bonehead smirked, ducking under the rock that was thrown at him. "That's what you think."
"…Bonehead," Esmerelda said softly.
"… Okay, mom," Bonehead sighed loudly.
Jass, now done assigning her Free Points and lowered her parchment with a huff. "Speaking of things to test — has there really been zero info about the location of the Statue of the Warrior?"
Unfortunately for her, no one in the group had heard heads or tails of the location of the Statue of the Warrior.
After a few passing minutes of silence, Jass sighed loudly as she got onto her feet and began manipulating the surrounding earth, pressing her palms outward to raise a simple set of Earth Walls around their camp to give them some shelter through the night.
"It's been three hundred and twenty-seven years," Sam said after finishing his drink and tossing the empty aluminium can into the campfire, "and nobody has found it. Ever."
"Which just reinforces the fact that the Warrior Class pales in comparison with the Mage Class," he smirked. "Meanwhile, all a mage has to do is reach Floor Fifteen, greet the Statue of the Mage, and enjoy our guaranteed boost in spell comprehension and mana capacity."
Deacon's voice cut through the air before Jass could snarkily retort.
"Then we just have to find it."
They all turned left as Deacon emerged from between the trees, carrying a massive, limp boar on his shoulders.
[Iron-back Boar – Elite Lv 18]
Sam blinked. "…What's with the boar?"
"Refreshing my Lesser Heart-Fire Ritual buff," Deacon said with a smirk as he shrugged the massive corpse off his shoulder and let it slam onto the ground beside the fire. "Cooldown ended a long ass time ago, and I figured I should reapply it before we start climbing the Spires and fighting wyverns. You guys wanna join in? I got enough ritual chalk for all of us."
"You're off cooldown already?" Jass asked, eyebrows rising as she glanced between him and the boar. "I still have to wait another two weeks before I can use that ritual again."
"Same," Sam, Esmerelda, and Bonehead echoed in unison.
Deacon paused, brows knitting in confusion. "Weird. Really weird, actually. I guess that connection with Hummingbird-Fuck does have its uses."
"Probably gave me a hidden buff for rituals or something," he said with a shrug, nudging the boar with his foot. "'Cause I feel totally fine."