17
“Motherfucker!” Sam screamed, clutching at his hand, as the dwarf slumped to the ground in an unconscious heap.
It felt like he’d just punched a brick wall. Not a creature made of flesh and bone.
Shaking his hand and cursing, Sam turned his attention to Milly and Gordon, both of whom seemed to be doing just fine. Milly was scratching Gordon behind the ears, and judging by the dog’s half-lidded gaze and the way his tail was thumping against the ground, he was enjoying himself immensely.
“How are the two of you doing?” he asked, fishing the rope from his pack.
“We’re doing just fine. Aren’t we, Gordon?” Milly asked, increasing her scratching speed and making the dog’s tail wag even faster.
“Yes, I do believe that we are doing fine. Please do not interrupt this woman, she really knows how to treat a dog right!” Gordon exclaimed, tongue now lolling out of his mouth and a low, appreciative growl sounding from his throat.
Chuckling to himself, Sam walked over to the unconscious dwarf and clumsily tied her hands behind her back. There were two things that had stopped him from killing her. The first was obviously the day’s rule, but the second was because she’d most likely saved Milly’s life, and he didn’t want to feel like he owed her anything.
Rising from his crouched position over the dwarf, he nodded to himself in satisfaction, then went about looting all of the bandit’s corpses.
They were dead. It wasn’t like they would be needing it from now on.
ITEMS FOUND!
Name: Rusty Iron Sickle
Durability: 14/40
Rarity: Common
Quality: Shoddy
Damage: +1-3 Slashing
Name: Rusty Iron Sword
Durability: 7/22
Rarity: Common
Quality: Poor
Damage: +0-2 Slashing
Name: Steel Dagger
Durability: 38/40
Rarity: Uncommon
Quality: Good
Damage: +5-7 Slashing
Name: Heavy Steel Mace
Durability: 88/100
Rarity: Rare
Quality: Sturdy
Damage: +10-15 (Blunt)
Requirements: 15 Strength
Name: Ring of Agility
Durability: 87/88
Rarity: Rare
Quality: Enhanced
Effect: +4 to Agility attribute
Sam also found a total of 1 gold, 63 silver and 118 copper between all five of them. He was surprised at the quality of the items he’d found on the score dwarf but figured that a dwarf would have some good equipment.
He quickly slipped the Ring of Agility onto his finger and felt an immediate difference. His body suddenly felt about 30 pounds lighter and he felt as though he could run a mile in less than a minute.
Okay, maybe that was exaggerating a bit. But the ring did make one hell of a difference!
Sam quickly stashed the weapons in his bag, shocked that they even fit in. He tried to lift the mace up as well, but staggered under the weight before being forced to drop it.
What the hell?
He glared down at the mace for a few moments, before it finally dawned on him.
The Strength requirement! Of course he couldn’t lift this thing, with the pitiful score he had.
Sam blew out a disappointed breath, but decided that it was probably for the best. His bag was now completely out of space, so he would have had to physically carry it. He wasn’t entirely sure, but he felt as though the bag might be reducing the weight of his items, and not just by a little bit. The bag was full and some of the items in there were quite heavy, but he didn’t even feel the slightest strain, despite his meager Strength attribute.
Turning his attention back to his traveling companions, Sam saw that Milly had snuggled up against Gordon and was fast asleep. Gordon, to Sam’s utter amazement, was out cold as well.
What the hell, dog?
He stared at them, debating walking over and kicking them both awake, but decided to leave them be. At least for the next few minutes. He still had a level’s worth of attribute points to assign, and new skills to check out. Opening his status, Sam immediately assigned his new points, and as always, left one just in case.
CHARACTER STATUS
Name: Sam
Race: Human
Level: 6
XP: 101/2,500
AP: 1
Class: None
HP: 100/100 (Regen 1.0 Per Second)
MP: 252/260 (Regen 2.4 Per Second)
STA: 78/80 (Regen 0.8 Per Second)
ATTRIBUTES
Strength: 5 (6)
Constitution: 10
Agility: 6 (10)
Endurance: 7 (8)
Intelligence: 26 +4
Wisdom: 20 (24) +1
Charisma: 16
Luck: 10 (20)
ABILITIES
Mana Shot: Novice LV - 9 (98%)
Mana Burn: Beginner LV - 11 (7%)
Mana Flare: Novice LV - 4 (17%)
Mana Cloak: Novice LV - 3 (44%)
SKILLS
Sprint: Novice LV - 7 (82%)
Stalker: Novice LV - 3 (27%)
Inspect: Beginner LV - 11 (19%)
Mind Over Body: Novice LV - 6 (35%)
Mental Manipulation: Novice LV - 4 (67%)
TITLES
Butcherer of Bunnies
EQUIPPED ITEMS
Clothing
Farmer’s Canvas Shirt
Farmer’s Canvas Pants
Farmer’s Leather Boots
Total Armor Rating: 7
Set Bonus: +1 Strength & Endurance
Other Items
Basic Leather Bag
Carry Capacity: 10/10 Slots filled
Basic Wand
Damage: +3-5
Lucky Rabbit’s Foot
Effect: +10 Luck
Ring of Wisdom
Effect: +4 Wisdom
Ring of Agility
Effect: +4 Agility
RULE OF THE DAY
Do not kill any female dwarves
So, it looked like experience gain was the previous level’s XP, plus the new level, times 100.
Sam was happy to have finally figured it out. He’d always been terrible at math, so it had taken him a few levels.
Closing his status, Sam was pleased with his progress.
At this rate, level 10 was just a few days away and he’d finally be able to get his class.
Looking back to his still sleeping companions, Sam decided that he didn’t have the heart to wake them. Well, Milly at least. He couldn’t care less about Gordon.
Slumping down on the side of the road, Sam leaned back against a tree and let out a long sigh.
***
“Let me go, you sons of bitches! I’ll fucking kill you all!”
Sam jerked awake at the sound of someone screaming wildly and was up on his feet before he even knew what was happening. Quickly looking around, he spotted Gordon already up on his feet, and Milly blinking bleary-eyed on the ground next to him. His confusion cleared up as his eyes alighted on the dwarf, who was still tied up and looking angrier than a bunny who locked eyes with him.
“Shut up!” Sam yelled as the dwarf began cursing their mothers.
In Aoife’s defense, she was right about his mother. He wasn’t about to take an insult lying down, though.
Aoife glared at him and opened her mouth to begin yelling again.
“I said, shut the fuck up!” Sam yelled again, making the score dwarf wince and lower her eyes.
CONGRATULATIONS!
Through your intimidation of others, you have gained a new skill!
Browbeat: If you’re intimidating enough, you can get away with anything
Effect: +10% Increased chance to make people do what you want
“Damn it!” Sam yelled, throwing his arms in the air and stalking angrily away from the dwarf.
With the collection of skills he’d acquired so far, people would think he was some kind of creep. Stalker, Mental Manipulation, and now Browbeat. He may as well just hand himself over to the cops now to save them the trouble.
This behavior only seemed to cow the dwarf even further and Sam blew out a long breath.
“Come on, you two. We’re leaving,” he said, turning his back to the dwarf and going back to his companions.
“Very well. That would be prudent, as it appears that we may have fallen asleep and may arrive at the city after dark,” Gordon said.
“No, we did fall asleep,” Sam replied, checking his clock and wincing.
It was nearly 4, which meant that they’d been asleep for over 2 hours.
He inwardly berated himself for being so careless and not setting a watch. Anyone could have come along and simply butchered them all.
Milly was up on her feet by now and was looking at the dwarf dubiously.
“Are you really just going to leave her here?”
Sam felt a moment of uncertainty.
Could he do it? Leave someone tied up on the side of the road, knowing that they would most likely be killed? If he had been asked this question last week, he would have said no. Now, however…
“Yes. I won’t kill her because she saved your life, but I won’t let her free, because she was the one to put it in danger in the first place.”
“A wise compromise,” Gordon agreed.
Now he was really having second thoughts. The dog actually agreed with him?
Milly bit her lip for a moment, eyes flicking between the score dwarf and Sam, before nodding.
“If that’s what you think is best, then I’ll go along with it.”
He nodded, feeling relieved that she wasn’t going to argue and the three of them set off walking down the road.
“Wait! You can’t just leave me here!”
Sam gritted his teeth as the dwarf started calling out after them, but didn’t turn back around. Thankfully, her pleas faded after only a few minutes and Sam was finally able to relax. Gordon had miraculously retrieved his stick from somewhere and was now chewing on it as they walked. Milly seemed to be somewhat forlorn, so Sam decided to try and distract her.
Besides, there were still some questions that he needed answered.
“You mentioned earlier that you’re not that much older than I am,” he said, getting the elf’s attention.
“Yes,” she replied, brows knitting together in confusion.
“So I’m guessing that time works a little differently here. Tell me, how many days are in a year?”
“I forgot that you’re not from here,” Milly said, finally cracking a half smile. “In Somerset, there are 5 days in a week and 25 weeks in a year.”
Now he could see how he and Milly would be around the same age.
Sam tried to figure that out for himself, but terrible as he was at math, this was an effort in futility.
“Back in my home world, there were 365 days in a year and I’m 19 by those standards. How old would that make you if you were to go by that time?” he asked, hoping she was better at math than he was.
Milly’s nodded, brows scrunching together for a moment in concentration.
“If we were going by your Earth years, I’d be 20.”
So she really was his age. Holy crap, just how long had she been selling herself for?
Sam wondered what the legal age for consent was here, but decided he wouldn’t ask, as he was sure he would not like the answer.
“Well, now it makes a bit more sense. I know you said that star elves retain a youthful appearance, but you didn’t exactly strike me as someone that much older than me from our conversations.”
Milly nodded, flashing her brilliant smile and Sam felt fuzzy all over. He flushed and quickly turned his face away, then abruptly stopped as a new notification popped up before his eyes.
SKILL RANK UP!
Congratulations! Your Mind Over Body skill has advanced from Novice to Beginner!
Mind Over Body: You are stronger than your base urges
Level: Beginner 11 (13%)
Effect: 60% Resistance against psychic based attacks, +15% chance to become aware of psychic based skills
Sam blinked the notification away, confused for a few moments as to why this skill had ranked up. Then Milly turned to him and flashed him another smile. Suddenly, he became aware of something passing through the air between them. A moment later, he felt the effect that her smile normally had on him, but this time, he knew it wasn’t purely a physical reaction on his part.
She’d been fucking with his mind this entire time! Same as that damn siren!
Sam’s hand plunged into his bag and emerged a moment later with his wand.
Milly’s eyes widened and she began fearfully looking around for an attack. When she didn’t spot anything out of the ordinary, she turned to Sam with a confused look.
“How long?” Sam asked, eyes narrowed, and preparing to use Mana Burn at the first sign of an attack.
She was gorgeous, but the siren had been as well, and he’d almost paid for that mistake with his life. He wasn’t going to fall for this shit again.
“How long, what?” Milly asked, brows knitting together in confusion.
Gordon, noticing that they’d stopped, turned around and padded back to them.
“What is the matter? Why have we stopped, and why do you have your wand leveled against the elf girl?” he asked, cocking his head to the side.
“She’s been fucking with my brain. I’m guessing she was doing so from the first time we met, since my Mind Over Body skill has been rapidly increasing. For some reason, I didn’t think it was strange. At least, not until it just ranked up and I received an additional effect. Now tell me why!” His voice had grown cold and he was staring at the elf with a steely gaze.
If the next words out of her mouth weren’t an explanation, he would kill her and be done with her.
“Sam, wait!” she said, raising her hands and looking distraught. “Just please listen to me. I can explain everything. Just, lower the wand, okay?” She tried to crack a smile and looked so helpless that Sam was tempted to do so, until he noticed that same something, a kind of misty substance, passing in the air between them.
“No, I don’t think I will. Now you have ten seconds to explain before I kill you.”
Milly’s expression now changed to one of fear and she nodded, face pale and eyes wide.
“As you know, I’ve been in a certain line of work for the past 12 or so years. When one does what I did for so long, you pick up certain skills. The ones I have, when combined, have a certain effect on those who have the capacity to be attracted to me.”
She held out a hand as Sam’s eyes narrowed, and was quick to continue her explanation.
“I didn’t do it on purpose, I promise! I don’t have a choice, which was why I felt so guilty when I found out how nice you were. Normally, I wouldn’t have minded brainwashing someone to escort me to the city, but you’re different. You’re nice to me, and…” She bit her lip, cheeks going a little pink with embarrassment. “… I think I might actually like you.”
Sam noticed that the mist was practically oozing out of her in waves, but there now seemed to be some sort of barrier between him and it. Some of the mist was still getting through, but a good deal of it was being blocked. He could still feel that same giddiness he had every time he saw her smile, but it was muted. Staring at her, Sam decided that he would try using his Inspect skill on her to see if she really was what she seemed.
After all, if she’d been fucking with his head, maybe she could mess with his perception of her as well.
He figured that if this world was like a video game, then there would be skills that could counteract his own and feed him false information.
STAR ELF
Name: Milly
Gender: Female
Level: 6 - HP: 130/130 - MP: 150/150 - STA: 190/190
Status: Infatuated
Star elves are a sub-race of the elf race, and receive bonuses to both Endurance and Charisma, with each new level. They also, however, receive penalties to Strength and Agility.
So, he had gotten false information on her before. She was level 6?
That wasn’t the most shocking discovery. What shocked him was the Infatuated status.
Could she really be interested in him, or was this more false information?
“Gordon, what do you think?” Sam asked.
Gordon was a dog, and therefore, didn’t have the capacity to be attracted to her the same way he did. Maybe he could shed some light on his predicament.
“I believe that our young Miss Milly has had a very hard life and did the best she could, given her circumstances. Our illustrious Overlord provides the skills needed, so she is not to blame for the skills she has acquired, just as you are not,” he finished, giving Sam a knowing look.
“I promise I never meant to hurt you,” Milly said, attempting another smile, but failing miserably.
Sam surreptitiously checked his Mind Over Body skill and was shocked to see that it had advanced to Novice 13, and was nearly at 14 !
If anything, continuing to travel with Milly would at least raise his skill.
Slowly, he lowered his wand, and nodded.
“Fine, but Gordon will be sticking close to us the entire time. Any sign of funny business, and he’ll tear you apart.”
“I never agreed to…” Gordon trailed off as Sam gave him a venomous glare, then slowly nodded.
“On second thought, I think I will stick close, just as Samuel said.”
Sam glared at him again, but Gordon just turned his nose up at him and he suddenly understood what had just happened.
He’d just used his Browbeat skill to cow the dog into listening to him. No wonder he was annoyed enough to use his full name.
“That sounds fine,” Milly said, a shadow of her earlier cheer returning, as they resumed their journey to the city.