Chapter 40: 8.2 Combat System?

"G-get off me, Shizu," I chuckled as I wrestled my arms out of her iron grip. "We're not done yet."

"But that was so cool!" she cooed, her eyes sparkling with wonder. "I've never seen or heard a crossbow acting like that."

Wriggling off her hug, I quickly established a small bit of distance away from the clingy princess as I raised my pistols up at the ready again. "Well, now you have," I scoffed. "Now let's complete this quest. We won't get something harder than these Forest Wolves anyway."

"Eh? But they're still formidable though!"

I grimaced, "I highly doubt that."

Letting out a sigh, I shook my head before walking forward again. I still had four more wolves to kill, and if they're this weak, then I might as well power through them and get this thing over with.

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"Well, that was disappointing..."

I let out a chuckle as I heard Shizu pout in utter dismay. I quickly made short work of whatever Forest Wolf that came at my way with a few well-placed shots, and none of them even managed to get close enough to take a few health points away from me. Overall, it was a learning experience in basic combat and accuracy.

"What did you expect? I told you you're plenty strong already."

And wasn't that the most hilarious thing to see... At some point, I let Shizu get her hands on a Forest Wolf herself. I could still remember how excited she was in trying out her fighting stances, only for her to cry out in disappointment as the wolf exploded at the slightest punch that she delivered.

"But the guards always said that they were strong," the princess whined. "I really thought that it'd be more challenging than this..."

Rolling my eyes, I led us back to the entrance of the city. The proverbial day didn't look like much time had passed, which meant I could probably squeeze in another quest or two and make some progress.

"Well, too bad," I shook my head in mirth. "Anyway, can you get into position so that I can turn this quest in?"

Giving me a pout, Shizu let out a sigh before making her way to her designated spot underneath the arch. We went through the usual motions, not a lot of story beats really being given out by her as she spouted out lines that sounded a bit more robotic than her standard fare. And sure enough...

"Thank you, adventurer," she beamed.

{CHIME!}

[Main Quest: The Basics COMPLETE]

[REWARD: 150 [EXP] 65 Kattleynan Leafs]

Blinking at my rewards, I immediately noticed that I was only 50 shy away from another level up. Now that was easily doable.

"So, I guess you want to do another quest?" Shizu pouted.

I nodded, "Yep. I'm close to leveling up."

"Can we please do something more interesting?"

My shoulders dropped in commiseration. "I'm sure we'll get something better the more quests we do. That's the nature of the beast, after all."

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{CHIME!}

[Main Quest Accepted: A Disturbance?]

[Investigate part of the Northern Forest]

"Huh... That sounds promising," I shrugged as I read out the next objective. Having tuned out Guidance's script again. "Shizu?"

"From what I can tell, there should be something there..." she mused aloud. "I can't remember what exactly though."

Huh...

Twirling my pistols on each hand, I raised an eyebrow as I thought about that particular caveat of Shizu's power. Apparently, her future sight was far from perfect. Kind of understandable, seeing as any prolonged use of it made her brain melt. And even if she could power through it, any knowledge she acquired almost immediately evaporated out of her memories.

Truly, there was balance in all things.

"Don't worry about it," I assured her with another shrug. "I'm sure it's nothing we can't handle."

And wasn't that the truth... There was no way that Guidance would put in some kind of raid boss in the beginning quests of the game. We were technically still in the tutorial part, and I was just sure that the complexities of the systems would explode once I really get rolling.

"Yeah, Stranger," Shizu excitingly smiled. "You have a [Manifest]. Surely you can take care of them if need be."

A sweatdrop immediately formed at her supposed assurance. She was over a hundred times more powerful than me right now. Had she not realized that yet?

Eh.. whatever...

Leading her back into the forest, we assumed our usual position with me in the lead and with her by my side. There weren't any sort of monsters around, but it was only a matter of time until something popped up in this world. Hopefully, it'd give me some sweet [EXP] and let me progress.

"So... I suppose you already know what we're going to find?" I asked.

"Somewhat," Shizu responded. "I have a vague recollection of it being big and scary. Though I'm sure it'll be nothing when you go up against it."

Well, that was a decent enough reassurance.

As we walked deeper into the forest, the trees around us seemed to change in color and general structure. What was once verdant and firm vegetation now seemed wicked and dark; leafless trees giving the area a bleak aura of malice the further we followed our chosen path.

"Y-you know, I never saw myself being here in my vision," Shizu muttered out, a hint of shakiness coloring her tone. "Should I go back and wait for you at the arch?"

I raised an eyebrow as I turned to look at her. Her fists were actually shaking, her previous confidence replaced with a small hint of anxiety as her eyes darted all around us.

"Are you seriously afraid?" I genuinely asked.

"N-No! Of course, not!" the princess stammered out, her voice cracking from the forcefulness of her response. "This is exciting!"

Somehow, I doubted that was the case for her. It might've been earlier, but it was definitely wasn't what her body language was giving off now. And this was coming from a level 80. Not that I'd fault her for her utter lack of experience, but it was kind of pathetic, really.