‘Come on Basi, let’s get a drink and head out.’ He let his spear return to his inventory and then returned to the riverbank. He could feel the murlocs presence, he could tell they were far enough away that they weren’t likely to be a problem. ‘They must have a village down the bank somewhere. I’m not sure why I can’t see it. Some sort of magic? Oh well, not my problem…’
He drank his fill and then turned back toward the trail, continuing along it with Basi by his side. This part was almost worse than the battle. Despite his strength increase - According to the stats, he was well over twice as strong as he had been when he arrived - It still took a lot of effort to climb the steep trail. Before long, beads of sweat were rolling down his face, his arms and legs saturated despite the cool air.
After he’d been hiking for a few hours, Saul looked up at the sky to check how much daylight was left - It seemed like it was sometime in the mid afternoon. Up ahead, he saw a spot in the trail that seemed wider than the rest. He was more than ready for some rest, breathing heavily and sweating more than a little. He moved over there and took a seat on the smoothest looking rock. He looked up and down the trail for anyone else, and not seeing anyone, he reached into his inventory and withdrew some rations.
He had some travel rations from the Slime Villagers left over. They were fairly small, about half the size of a sandwich, and nutrient dense. They tasted like chalk, but they went down quick and easy. He felt full afterward, so he couldn’t complain.
He waited there for about ten minutes, and he was almost done with his rest when he saw an adventurer making their way up the trail. They were walking alone, holding a large wooden staff that seemed to scream “I’m a wizard!” Right now, though, it just seemed like a pragmatic choice, the staff being used as a walking stick to help reduce the knee strain the trail would cause on an inexperienced hiker.
The stranger wore a large gray cloak that covered most of their body, and had a hood that was currently up. At the current hour, the sun was descending over the other side of the mountain range, so the shadows were growing longer. That made it impossible to see their face.
Not quite ready to move on, Saul decided to give a friendly greeting, “Hello, friend! Have you come from the Dwarf village?” The person seemed to start, their hood moving upwards slightly as they apparently changed their focus and saw him sitting there. “Oh, hi there! I didn’t see you. I always watch every step when I’m on a trail, never know when you might trip and fall off. There aren’t exactly guard rails here, and I’d hate to be the first guy who falls to death in the dungeon.”
Saul blinked. That was quite the chatty barrage. Not quite what he’d been expecting. “Yes, well, that wouldn’t be good. It’s probably a good idea to watch your step. I’m from the city and don’t have much experience with mountains, these trails have been brutal for me.”
The Adventurer nodded as if in understanding, though he really didn’t seem to be having much, if any, trouble with the trail. “I’m on my way to the next level. The dwarves mentioned that the gateway was somewhere along this pass. I feel like I may have passed it, but who knows, really?” Saul nodded and started to respond, before the man continued, “Of course I found this level kind of strange. Not nearly enough monsters here, if you ask me. On the prairie I feel like there were monsters all over the place, but here… I saw a few corpses back by the river, but up here? What sort of beast could attack?”
Before Saul could respond, a screeching cry rang out from above as if in answer to the man’s question. Two large creatures descended from the sky, bat-like wings flapping powerfully to keep them hovering. They screeched in challenge as a health bar appeared overhead. ‘Hellbat, Level 7’. Saul had to admit, the name seemed to fit. They were roughly the size of a man, with giant talons at the ends of their wings, and they did resemble a bat. He stood and summoned his bow, preparing to fire at the monsters
While Saul processed everything, the Adventurer was busy grumbling under his breath, “Of course, the second I say anything they…” Saul couldn’t hear the rest, but he assumed it was further complaints. The man lifted his staff and seemed to concentrate for a moment, before a bright red beam of light shot forth and engulfed the bat on the left. It seemed to scream, and then a moment later it vanished, totally vaporized.
‘Whoa!’ Saul thought. He drew an arrow from his quiver and let loose. Before his arrow hit the beast, the wizard had let loose another beam of destruction, this one causing a tremendous amount of damage to the monster but not quite killing it. Its health bar was critical when Saul’s arrow took it in the chest, killing it.
‘Exp gained! Your contribution: 4%’ Saul let his weapon vanish from his hands, ‘That’s interesting. I guess I only get full experience for a shared kill if we’re partied up.’ The Adventurer spoke up at that moment, “I guess there are bats here. Thanks for the help, by the way. I’m Ishan.” He ambled in Saul’s direction, hand extended in greeting.
“Saul, pleasure to meet you. That was a pretty handy spell!” He grasped Ishan’s hand in a firm shake. The wizard laughed softly, “Yes, it’s powerful. I don’t have a ton of mana at the moment, though. I only have a few good shots without a mana pill or potion.”
‘His spells seem much stronger than Edwin’s, but he can’t cast as many. Good thing I didn’t go with a caster class. I’d hate to worry about mana.’ Speaking up, he said, “Well, we’re both heading the same way. How would you like to team up until we reach the gate or possibly even beyond it?”
The man nodded, “I’d like that.” At that, Saul spoke up, “Party invite: Ishan!” Ishan’s health and mana bars became visible to Saul, who could see the mana bar was about half empty but filling at a fairly fast pace. They set off down the trail, encountering a few more of the flying monsters here and there, but between Saul’s bow and Ishan’s beam of destruction they weren’t much of a threat.
Before long, they turned the last corner in the mountain pass and saw the end of the canyon ahead. Across from them, they could see the vague impression of a great forest with massive trees. The trees couldn't be made out with any real detail, but they were larger than anything Saul had seen before.
'A forest level or something like it. Interesting.' As they got closer to the gate, the level of detail behind it didn't increase much at all. Just like before, it was like the gate was the only passageway through which the forest could be accessed. The gate stood in the middle of the path, without any way to go to the left or right.
Before long, they arrived in front of the gate. Without any hesitation, they stepped through the portal to Level III.
