Chapter 24: Hidden danger.
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As we continued our trip, Fiona had no intention of stopping from pestering me with a ton of questions. In a strange way, I started to get accustomed to it after a while and the fact that our relationship improved even more due to it wasn't a bad thing.

I still regretted a little bit the fact that I lied to her about some stuff... A really lot of stuff, but I could do nothing about that. What was done, was done, and I had to move on with it.

The environment started to show signs of changing as we moved forward. Not by much at first but as we advanced more and more, the trees stood more scarcely from one another, the terrain got a tad bit rockier, and judging by how the temperature dropped a bit every night, it was safe to assume that we got some altitude too.

It wasn't like there was a need to climb the really big mountain but we had to stay closer to its periphery so we could slip the border easier.

At least Fiona wasn't fixated on how I crossed that border by mistake. I definitely wasn't going to remind her of it either. 

’Border!? What border??? There was no border... Hahaha...’

The day went off like that and we started the night preparations. She threw some questionable glances at how fast I finished the campfire but she didn't ask anything about it.

As a side note, I definitely had to research about that ring of mine when I had the opportunity. To freeze things in time wasn't a small feat. Even I, the less than a month-old elf knew that.

Looking at it again for a little longer, the appraisal description popped in the corner of my field of view.

 

[Odder’s Black Ring]

  • [Odder’s lost ring. It was said that its magical power was unmatched and the craftsmanship without a peer.]
  • ???
  • ???
  • ???
  • ???
  • [Space Enchantment]
  • [Medium-Mythical grade]

 

Even with [Appraisal] at level 5, the question marks didn't change one bit. Maybe the ring was damaged as I assumed first? Or my Appraisal wasn't high enough...

*sigh*

The sighs of frustration became a common occurrence these days and that was signaling me that I needed a break. Not for my body which wasn't that exhausted even after that much walk but my mind was different.

My mind had been constantly flooded with problems which slowly but steadily accumulated a lot of stress.

While looking at the ring in contemplation, another thought came to me which made me raise my eyebrows.

I never tried that appraisal on other people. I didn't even know if that would work but I was so focused on what we had to do in that village that I ignored it completely.

I could see my status and that was true for other living beings even though all of them were monsters. There were chances to work on other people as well.

I looked at Fiona who for some reason was staring at a big boulder in the distance and muttered the magical word in my head to see if my theory was accurate. 

 
----------------------------
  • Name: Fiona
  • Level: ??
  • Race: Beastkin (WolfKin)
  • Sex: Female
  • Age:  ??
  • ----------
  • Vitality:  ???
  • Power:  ???
  • Dexterity:  ??
  • Spirit:  ??
  • Mana: ???

----------------------------

Holy crap, I was sure that she was strong but not that strong. While I was happy that the [Appraisal] was working with people as well, I couldn't help but be surprised by what I saw.
 
I experimented with it on the monsters when I lived at the temple, and I discovered some hidden aspects of this particular skill. Weren't particularly hidden but definitely harder to notice.
 
The higher the skill level, the better and accurate it was. But it wasn't explained in which way.
 
If the target was higher leveled, you couldn't see much of its status but because my [Appraisal ] was already level 5, I could see a vague approximation. 
 
One (?) was for one-digit status, two (??) was meant for two-digit status, and (???) was meant for three-digit status. I never saw (????) but then again, I most likely would have died on the spot against something like that.
 
In an easier way to put it, she was strong. She had Vitality and Power at three digits so I assumed that her race wasn't a magical oriented one like mine. I had to make a mental note to not make her angry in the future...
 
” Let's eat, Fio. ” I said distracting her from whatever she was doing.
 
” I'm coming. ” she said, turning toward me and slowly sitting down beside me. 
 
I took out the low-quality bread and some meat to prepare at the campfire. I wanted some spices for it or at least some salt but that was just wishful thinking. Most likely even salt was expensive around here, so we couldn't expect to find it in a poor village. 
 
” Lizza, I feel like something is wrong here. ” she said in a serious tone after some time.
 
I gave her a piece of newly cooked meat and prepared the next batch while looking at her. She hadn't been that active in the last period but I assumed that she chilled out and got back to her usual self. But it seemed that it wasn't the case.
 
” What do you mean? Is something wrong with this place? ” I asked, looking around for anything unusual... Even more unusual than the norm in my case. I was almost bitten by a flower just a few hours ago, so yeah...
 
” Hm, even though you worked to make it, I think we shouldn't keep that fire up for too long. There are traces of humanoids nearby. ”
 
That... was indeed a problem.
 
 I took back my meat portion even though it wasn't fully cooked and started to put out the fire. I didn't forget to take some more embers when Fiona turned around.
 
” In that case, let's eat fast and move from this place. If these humanoid monsters saw the smoke... Yeah, we weren't safe here anymore. ” I said taking a bite from the half-cooked meat.
 
She followed my example and we quickly eat our meal. Her race, unlike mine, had a racial skill called [Night Vision] so I let her in front to be the vanguard. 
 
We moved slowly with a slight detour toward the big boulder that Fiona was staring at before. We had to see what we might have to deal with. It was better for us to find the enemy before we were spotted first.
 
As we approached, we could see traces of humanoid footsteps on the ground. The problem was that these footsteps were too big for a goblin. 
 
I had an urge to leave the place immediately but we couldn't be sure if the place wasn't already full of them. That though reinforced the need to see with what we might have to confront.
 
” Lizza... ” she whispered in a quiet voice while pointing her finger at a large cave beside that big boulder.
 
But that wasn't all, I could also see other smaller cave entrances near the big one. Some of them seemed to be artificially made.
 
” There are a lot of bones and other remains in the surroundings... We better stop here. ” she muttered in an even quieter voice than before. 
 
I just nodded my head, not even wanting to make a sound anymore. I wasn't even troubled with how leisure she was speaking about that image. Like there wasn't anything unusual with it.
 
 A single monster was manageable, a group of them was troublesome to deal with but an entire horde full of them was way too much for us to handle. I didn't want to add two sets of humanoid bones to this grotesque scenery.
 
We nodded at each other and prepared to turn around and get the hell out of that this place, but before we could do that we heard a noise coming from one of the smaller caves. Shortly after, an ugly brown creature stepped outside of it. 
 
The creature was human-shaped but with long, bulky, and hairy hands. If I looked a little closer, he was almost entirely covered with hair and his face... 
 
*shiver*
 
I... I wasn't sure if you could call that malformation a face in the first place... And as if that wasn't enough, he had big and dangerous-looking fangs protruding from his mouth.
 
” Lizza... ” Fiona called to me as she tapped with her hand on my shoulder.
 
I could see the worry on her face as she noticed that thing. She was even more eager to leave this place than me. If she was that worried, then it meant that this thing wasn't a small fry at all.
 
I took a last glance at him and an idea came to my mind. Some additional information wouldn't harm.
 
  • Level: ??
  • Race: -
  • Age: ?
  • ----------
  • Vitality:  ???
  • Power:  ???
  • Dexterity:  ??
  • Spirit:  ??
  • Mana: ??

Well, I should have expected it. I hoped for it to be lower level than me, but that wasn't the case. Two statuses in three digits as well and because I didn't know anything about it, not even the race was revealed. 

If you know that a wolf was a wolf, sometimes the skill was kind enough to tell you what kind of wolf that was. But with no information at all... that was the result.

Three-digit statuses for Vitality and Power. That thing was comparable with Fiona at least in raw strength. There were skills on our side and we had a thing called brain, which these monsters weren't that eager to use. As such, I didn't think Fiona would lose to one or two of them, but more than that wouldn't be possible even for her.

” Lizza, we really need to go... Right now! ” she said waking me up from my thoughts. Even more of these things started to make their way out of the main cave. 

I didn't even reply to her and started to head back from this place in the quickest and quietest manner I was capable of.

But we didn't even make it half the way back and we started to hear roars from our abandoned camp. 

’Great, the situation just worsened to a whole new level.’

 
 
 
 
 
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