บท 60: Chapter 59: Stewart...?
The quiet of the Mines was soothing. Save for the occasional droplets of water, or soft shuffling of Natto now and then as she grabbed a piece of food from her bag.
It was calm, serine even for Drake, as he focused on his breathing.
In and out.
In and out.
It had been several hours of this as he tried to find his center, his new skill an indomitable foe who would not be pacified so quickly.
Drake finally opened his eyes and felt them snap open as they broke the crust of dried sweat that had sealed them. His body held the remnants of his struggle with the skill all over his body in the form of steaming condensation.
"Uhh that's just gross…" he sighed.
Drake plucked one of the four spells that hovered over him, his Water Shot from the four and had it pour over him to clean his filth ridden body.
With a gasp of relief he began drying himself, his control over his spells better than before, even with the limitations of the debuff still in effect.
Divine Frailty [F Rank]
Lasts 37 Minutes 52 Seconds.
"I will be so overjoyed when I'm rid of this annoying ass debuff… I still have a few slots open, can't we try for a specific debuff resistance skill?" Drake asked, finishing the drying of his clothes.
Natto shook her head instead of replying, a roasted nut occupying her mouth. After she had polished off the food she elaborated, "Your skill slots are dwindling and we can not waste a single one. Unless another incident, like with that… oaf, happens again you are to reserve them for Rare or better stones, or the shop after the tutorial."
Drake was slightly unsatisfied with the answer, but it made sense. Why gamble on skills that he might not get when he could have better stones that were slightly more specific to fill the gaps later on.
I had the worst time with Bjorn but he's the exception to the rule right now so there's no sense in getting greedy and filling the slots when I don't have to. He thought.
Brushing and fiddling with his clothes Drake gave himself another once over feeling slightly more clean than before. His Black and golden embroidered garb fit loosely but snug over his body, his pants were in a sorry state of being half torn.
The boots he wore, dented but usable. And the ever growing number of rings on his fingers made him give a wry chuckle.
Yet another green shine adorned his hand, for a total of 5 rings on his hands. A benefit of his Hoarder skill growing.
Drake walked over to Natto, "I think it's about time we go out. Don't want Theo waiting for too long when he gets here, if he isn't already. Should be around 15 or so minutes left on the debuff when we exit and I'm already feeling better by the second now that it's counting down."
Natto rubbed her eyes and nodded, Drake scooping her up in a cradle.
Ah that's right. It would be pretty dark out right now. My sense of time in here is a little funky with no sun huh. Surprised yet again that I'm not even tired. The power of stats. Drake gave a slight grin at the thought.
Walking to the exit Drake continued to cycle through his skills and magic, but making far less headway on his Proficiency 2 skills. It would seem that every skill up was a cliff fall of jump in experience needed.
Drake wasn't too upset over it, although the numerical visualization went up steadily increasing, albeit slowly. He could still feel that he was improving and growing accustomed to his stats, skills, and new body limits. He could only imagine how it would feel when he had the time to practice at full strength again.
Growing closer to the exit, Drake felt the world in a new sense again with the addition of his Aura skill. It was a very foreign feeling.
He was able to tell what was happening within a certain sphere of influence around him, but it was also more than that. He could feel his Aura tugging at the world around him, taking what it wanted from the surroundings and pushing down anything unwanted. And even more, there was something that felt like it was lurking within him, ready to squash anything that came to defy him.
It was a heavy feeling that Drake couldn't make heads or tails of, he had never felt something so instinctual before. Was it the skill changing him, or was that a feeling that was always there just held so deep it hadn't surfaced until now?
There were surprisingly so many new variations of his spells he could now use with just the addition of his Confluence skill stone, and even more possibilities for his fighting style now that he could use his Tyrannical Aura. The latter being extremely tricky and needed far more practice to be used correctly. As it stood he had to put a tight clamp on the ability or it would affect anyone or anything indiscriminately.
Drake sighed, the lack of time he currently had made him slightly regretful but making a promise to himself to properly train his abilities and spells after the current problems were taken care of.
It's like I don't even have a few hours before something new happens now, and there's still 3 more months until we're out of here. He thought, looking down at the now sleeping Natto as she breathed lightly in his arms, Drake making sure to 'toggle off' his Weak Point and Of the Apex.
Drake continued on towards the exit as both large and small manifestations of his spells swirled around him, taxing his mana in various ways as he noted them in detail.
It hurts but I simply don't have enough mana at the moment to perform some of the spells I want… At least not all at once. My new skills that give such a boost of regeneration are helping, even with the 50% cut from the debuff, but there's no way I can pull off bigger spells in succession. Drake thought while walking, reminding him just how dire it was for him to find someone to teach him properly for both spells and fighting technique.
His own practice was not enough to cut the learning curve to his satisfaction and having a mentor or even proper sparring partners would help him improve exponentially. Drake continued to practice on his short walk out, eyeing the debuff timer, new tutorial wide quest and the total remaining time for the tutorial.
Current Time Remaining in Tutorial: 109 Days 1 Hour 19 Minutes 41 Seconds
[Tutorial Wide Urgent Quest. Defeat the Goblin King's Invasion]
[The Goblin King has roused the goblin tribes, uniting a force few have seen before. The Goblin force of the King grows by the day. Defeat the summoned force before it becomes insurmountable, or suffer capture or death.]
[Reward: Experience based on contribution. TP based on contribution. Titles based on Contribution. Selection of 1 Rare Piece of Equipment.]
[Requirement: Kill the Goblin King and his 10 Generals]
[Bonus Requirement: Kill 5,000, 10,000, or 20,000 Goblins of any kind]
[Bonus Reward: 10 Uncommon Quality Mana Pills, 10 Uncommon Quality Strength Pills]
Drake eyed another quest that was ticking down.
[Subjugate 15 Goblin Treasure Hoarders [F Rank]
[Reward: Goblin King's Hoard Key.]
[Quest Time Limit: 123 Hours, 19 Minutes, 41 seconds.]
"Hey sir…. This guy still isn't talking," said the man.
Kohoo looked back over his shoulder, spotting the dirty blonde haired man in a butler uniform, "Well isn't that surprising. He's still alive right?" he asked, turning around.
"Yup, still breathing. We've been giving him potions on the hour like you asked. But the guy just won't spill the beans. All we know is his name and that's just from intensification skills. He ain't sayin nothin on the other level 10 that's here," answered a woman.
Kohoo clicked his tongue grumbling, "Useless morons…"
Walking over to the slumped man against the outpost wall, his black suit a more dark red now.
Kohoo grabbed him by the collar, Theodore's monocle swaying with the motion against his chest, dangling back and forth. Kohoo produced a knife from his side, placing the tip across Theodore's cheek, "Very resilient arn't you? Reminds me of some cockroach back in the day that didn't know how to just roll over and die… Come on now Colonel Sanders, just tell me where the other low level prize is, and I promise we'll let you go."
Theodore sat there slumped, not a word uttering from his mouth. His eyes, a hazy mess.
Kohoo's expression turned to one of frustration as he stood up grinding his teeth. Looking down at the man again he spat. Winding up his right leg and with a loud crack his heel connected with Theodore's head forcing him to double over.
"Fucking loser just won't cooperate!" he yelled.
"What should we do, keep at it?" one man asked, a slight grin on his face.
Unamused and simply agitated, Kohoo crossed his arms, "Do whatever you want, just don't kill him. I want him alive so I can do it myself in front of whoever decides to show up."
Walking back over to his comfy chair by the fire, Kohoo sat back down, turned to face the Mine Entrance they were denied entrance to, "It's always more fun to see the anger and despair on their faces before they go beggin n' crying anyway," he hummed.
Drake finally reached the exit of the Mines, the closed door's outline illuminated by a fire on the outside.
That's weird…? I don't think the fire we had would last over 12 hours. Is Theodore back? He thought.
He was reluctant but Drake was concerned. He knew that it was dark out because of the timing, and though Theodore could have just scaled the wall given enough time, he wasn't so sure he would do that instead of just waiting and doing his LARPing thing. It was another opportunity to do his whole 'sire, liege' thing after all.
Looking down, Drake shook Natto lightly to rouse her from her sleep. "Hey, sleeping beauty. It's Defcon 3."
Natto slowly woke, both hands finding an eye to rub the drowsiness, "Huh…? What is a Defcon, does it taste good?" she asked.
"No you food maniac, wake up. There might be monsters or people in the outpost. I need you to uhh, get inside me just in case," he said, slightly uncomfortable at his own words.
Natto snapped fully awake upon hearing his reasoning. She looked over at the orange, yellow outlined door and nodded. Climbing to his shoulder she merged herself with him, "Do you think it is the people the oaf talked of?" she asked.
I have no idea, I'm just being careful. I still have around 5 minutes give or take before the debuff is up so if it's anything bad we will just pop back into the mines and wait out the debuff. Drake thought.
He received a mental nod from Natto, and made his way to the door, slowly inching it open.
What Drake saw was the fire they had used to make food, lit, but there was no one there. An ostentatious looking chair was next to the fire, empty.
Very slowly Drake peeked his head out of the crack in the door, looking everywhere with his enhanced vision for anything out of the ordinary, but found nothing.
When are my ocular skills going to do more than just identify…? Magic Sight is nice for a lot of things but it seems to flop when I need to pick up invisible things. Drake said internally, a slight tinge of irritation in it.
"It will take time. The skill is only strong enough to detect those who are under your rank or proficiency. But as I said, it will take time for your skills to grow," Natto replied, her voice a little groggy.
Yeah well it would be nice if I had it right now… I can tell there are people nearby but I can't see them and only vaguely pinpoint them with my Aura. Drake thought, grumbling.
"All good things take time."
Oh you don't say…. Drake answered back sarcastically.
Drake retreated back into the crack in the door, taking a deep breath. His palms had already begun to sweat in anticipation of possibly having to fight another human being.
It was not something he was excited to do. He had just fought Bjorn, sure, but he never had the intention of killing him. And this fight, if Drake's inkling was correct, would end very differently.
Wiping his hands on his garb, steeling himself, he swung the door open and walked out. His Tattoos on full display as he readied himself, a small ball of air and earth at his side, prepared for at a moment's notice to change his Endowment so he could dash back into the mines.
"I can tell where you are!" Drake shouted, his eyes flaring between yellow, blue and green as he pointed to the general direction of one of the invisible people, "If you are here for a fight I'll have to decline, but my receptionist can take a rain check at the gate on your way out."
Drake could feel the person jerk back at being pointed out, but the feeling was still vague.
After his declaration, space near the fire shimmered. Revealing a man clad in pure black, a mask over his face.
"Drake…? Drake Wallen? No fucking way, is that you?" the man said, sliding his mask down, revealing a mousey face. His nose pointed and his eyes just a tad too close together, even his unkempt beard almost looked like a mess of whiskers.
Drake froze. The feeling of blood draining from his face made it as if he was hit again with Bjorn's debuff anew. Drake felt his body go cold at the familiar face of his Art Director from the company he was fired from. His memories flooding back.
"Drake? Drake! What is wrong?! Dra-" Natto shouted inside his head, but it turned to white noise as Drake took a shaky step forward, not sure if he was in some surreal dream..
"Stewart..?"
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