"Human, we have clearly warned you… if you are so intent on… what's that look for?"
I erased the sparkle from my eyes. "Nothing, just wanted to bring you guys out… all of you, hiding in the trees, you can come on out, I'm just a harmless human after all, with your skills in archery and spirit magic, I pose no threat."
I'm betting on you, [Imprint] It's been mostly dormant, I think? But, since it makes my impression bigger, if I add 'eloquence' like this, I should survive this encounter.
It looks like it's working, a collection of about a hundred elves crawled out from inside the trees.
"I can see that you all are struggling, and as a human… I cannot let it be. Especially because as I happen to have a class that can fix all your problems. 'Summoner' never heard of it." This was my big plan, Elves are a secluded race, with only a rare few choosing to leave the forest, but the ones who don't have practically no public info on them.
This is a gamble but, if that's the case they're likely sheltered. And that makes it so much easier… to fool them. Ah, don't drool, you're a gentleman right now.
The elf who stopped me, who now that I looked at it had a weirdly beefy physique, spoke, her voice was hesitant. "Summoner, what's that?"
I smirked. "Glad you asked, this class… allows me to summon monsters, monsters that have… meat."
That was the magic word.
[Totally Looking For a Job.
Somebody believes in your lie, 'summoner' class unlocked.
Spinning roulette…
[Basic Summoning] unlocked, congratulation *clap, clap*
]
Right before I could celebrate, the beefy elf suddenly asked. "Human, show us this summoning, we want to make sure you are not deceiving us."
I bowed, and stepped forward slightly. "Of course."
Putting my palm forward, I thought to myself [Basic Summoning!] And a seal appeared on the back of my hand, making a green light illuminate my face.
-Krk! Krk!
A small and adorable hoglin appeared, prancing around and stomping its adorable small feet. The elves began to drool, and I wanted to as well, for a different reason.
[Totally Looking For A Job
A group of people totally believe your lie that you are a 'summoner'
Spinning Roulette…
[Green-Thumb] unlocked, you're on a roll, *clap, clap, clap*
]
I've never heard of that before, so I decided to check the skill description.
[Green-Thumb]
Plants and animals will feel a deeper connection to you and you to them, but since its weaker, if you make them really angry they're more likely to rebel
]
Hm? Doesn't sound too bad. Now, back to the main event. Looking down at the hoglin, who seemed to look up to me like a son to their father, I knelt down and hugged the little guy. Turning back to the elves, I decided to introduce him. "Everybody, meet Meat."
After the buff elf, who happened to be the acting chief, introduced me to the rest of the elves. And overloaded my brain with names, I told her about the princess who was still sleeping at camp.
Camp as in, the floor.
Anyway, we went to pick her up. The whole time, I couldn't help but snicker. She always had such a stoic face. But even she'd be surprised when I randomly appear with a group of elves. Speaking of which, wow, they really are mobile.
Leaping onto thin branches and off, without making them sway. Sadly, 'elf' isn't a class, otherwise I would've tried to get that skill.
When I was able to see the clearing we set up camp in, I was surprised to see the princess, already standing, awake.
"Calvin, why did you suddenly get up…" Looking only at me, she begins to admonish me. But when the buff elf chief comes into view, she seemingly forgets all about me. "Um, who is this?"
"Princess, I'm sure you felt it, a presence? Well, I wanted to test it so on the walk I did some experimenting. Crunched leaves in my hands, I felt a small jump. It's when I randomly whacked a tree that I had a revelation. So I snuck off in the night, to test it alone, just so you wouldn't get caught up if it turned out to be something dangerous."
She nodded, placing her hand on her chin. "Indeed, so it was elves huh? But, why are they following you?"
The chief answered for her, pushing me back lightly with her huge arms. "This man has promised us something… a thing we need very deeply... A resource we cannot live without."
The princess frowned, gave me a quick glance and then back to the chief. "Wha-"
"Meat! He promised us meat, summoned a hoglin out of thin air. My girls are currently transporting it back to our village."
She facepalmed, yes! Her face didn't change but she was clearly getting tired of me. Ah, how fun.
"Calvin, since when were you a summoner? Aren't you a knight, and you… you probably think I didn't notice but you clearly used healing magic on me. I remember that desperate face you made as you squeezed all your mana out, so… even if it's bad, as long as you aren't a demon, I won't cut you down."
Weirdly, the suddenness didn't catch me off guard, maybe it was just me getting used to lying or… a growing fondness that stopped it. "Yeah, I can use many class skills. Multiple even…"
The elves were clearly confused, after all the concept of classes did not exist for them. But the princess was shocked. "Then, what are you? A demon, or a hero… I don't understand."
"No! Nothing like that… I'm actually the opposite, you know the hero, Marcus?"
The elf chief chimed in. "I know him, seems like a good guy."
The princess responded too. "Yes, we've met before… Why are you bringing him up?"
"We were actually in the same village, actually the whole hero party was born in my village, a priest came to endow us with our skills… had us line up in a neat row, down the line, powerful career after powerful career, when he finally got to me, 'Couch-Potato,' that's my job… it lets me obtain the skills of any job, as long as I can convince somebody I had it in the first place."
She was having a hard time processing this, but, after letting one secret out, the rest came spilling.
"I spent five long years studying… tricking old people into believing my party tricks and bone-cracking techniques were skills, five years of my life, spent on two skills. Compared to them , my growth right now is. Astronomical."
"All so I could show Marcus, my friends from the village, my parents, that I can be somebody too, even if my class is hard to use."
The princess stood frozen, an expression that was hard to read was on her face. At any moment I expected the Knight class to slip from my hands. But, the notification wasn't about that.
[Totally Looking For a Job
Somebody believes in 'you' congratulations *clap*
'Upgrade skill, Did I miss anything?'
>Yes >No
]
I thought to myself, 'yes.'
[Skill, 'Did I miss anything?' Upgraded to Lv.2
Relationship Board activated.
Marcus: 0/100
Madeline: 0/100
Valerie: 60/100
]
The hero… and the saint, and the princess? It's at sixty, what does this mean?
"Calvin, I'm so sorry, I didn't know you went through that. I'm sorry for prodding and… thanks, for being honest."
The mood went awkward. Despite being in a forest, I felt confined. My eyes feel puffy.
"Um… are you two having a lovers quarrel?"
"No… ahem, where were we. Ah yes, saving the elf kingdom."
"Thank you, recently monsters have been avoiding the forest. Usually you two would've died. Swarmed by monsters and stampeded, but since a masked man came and offered us some 'services' they haven't come by."
The princess jerked backwards, her pupils moving rapidly. "Did that mask have a crack on it, and was he wearing a dark robe?"
The chief nodded slowly.
We both had the same realization, the one who shot down our dragon, was the one who drove the monsters out of the forest.
Despite knowing this, the princess was dead calm. "Chief, please take us to the village."
"Sure, you'll be our first, who-man visitors."
Even in the dark it was as if she saw everything, stepping over protruding roots, making sure not to step too hard on leaves, we followed behind her. Half expecting the masked man to pop out and do… anything, but it was too late, as we were stopped in front of a giant… tree?
The chief poked at the bark, a practiced motion, me and the princess watched, fascinated.
-Tshh
A hatch opened under the ground with a hiss. A set of stairs surrounded by walls of rock. "Follow me humans, the path will be windy to you."
We followed behind her as she rattled off about elf history and the current state of the kingdom. Needless to say, it wasn't good, and the lack of food was only making it worse.
When we made it to the bottom, the stairway opened to a broad stone platform that allowed you to see everything. It was hard to grasp the scale. A hollowed out dome under the earth. Houses surrounded what looked like a giant metal forge which radiated heat even here. There were several businesses strewn about as well, a hotspring, a few restaurants which were out of business on account of the meat shortage.
The citizens didn't look good at all, particularly the men, as I learned on the walk down here. The women are the hunters, and thus get the spoils first. So they're mostly hung out to dry, unless they're married to a strong elven woman. Thanks to this I also know the chief type, small and cute. Good luck to that guy.
They gave us a few passing glances, but even the surprise of seeing a human suddenly wasn't enough to make their hunger go away.
The chief grabbed me by the hand suddenly, dragging me to the center of the housing area, the princess stumbled but followed. Where a well-designed circular platform, probably used to play shows on was. Everybody was already looking, but the chief took a deep breath.
"EVERYBODY, YOUR SAVIOR IS HERE, THIS IS…" she whispered in my ear. "what's your name again?"
"Calvin."
"CALVIN!"
Elves began to gather, and my heart started to beat rapidly…
"HE HAS SOMETHING THAT WILL SAVE US ALL, A POWER UNEXPLAINABLE BY SCIENCE."
Stop, please… chief.
"SHOW THEM CARLTON."
If you insist!
[Basic Summoning!]
-Oink!
A collective gasp, I shut my eyes. I already knew what I was about to see.
-Ding!
There it is… good…
[Totally Looking For a Job
You've convinced an entire race, you are a 'summoner'
[Basic Summoning] —-> [Intermediate Summoning]
[Green Thumb] has leveled up!
Congrats, *pop* *clap*
]
"No! I can't laugh yet, hold it in."
"NOW YOU'VE SEEN IT CITIZENS, THE POWER OF CARLOS! WE'LL EAT ALL THE MEAT WE WANT, INCLUDING THE MEN!"
The crowd erupted in cheers. Meanwhile, the princess who was watching from a roof shook her head. She must've noticed something, even though I suppressed most of it, my face might've twitched a little. I waved at her, which made her instantly look away.
That night was a feast, for everybody but me. I spent the whole time sitting in the kitchen constantly spawning more Hoglins. I felt like a fountain. A Hoglin fountain… how would that work, oh, like me.
Valerie stayed with me, or… the princess, for some reason I don't want to use her name, even though she told me it was okay, I looked up at her, a roasted hoglin leg bone sticking out of her mouth. "What?" She said,
But, maybe I should… she used to call me sir knight… a day ago, but now she just calls me Calvin. If I'm the only one using titles, it'll make traveling together awkward. In the middle of my thoughts, a word accidentally slipped out.
"Valerie…" I said it in a mutter, so I thought only I heard it, but. When I looked back up, I saw her, with her eyes open wide, and a faint shade of pink on her face.