09 – Randall T. Noxy

Martin found himself surrounded before he could react to it. There were two boys who had appeared out of the brush without a sound, and before he could say a word they had drawn their sword and pointed it at his neck.

Then another boy, younger than even them, came out of the forest panting and heaving. Martin felt the pressure on his neck lessen slightly, and saw that the taller boy was turning around to hand the newcomer his sword. He inhaled. He had one shot at this.

Rudd felt that something was wrong. Before even turning he knew that he had just fucked up. The sound of glass breaking told him that the person they had chosen to kill and rob had done something, used magic perhaps, as quicky as the time it took him to turn. He tensed and moved before even a scream came out of his mouth. But, despite his lightning quick reflexes, he didn’t react in time. He jumped backwards but was not far enough away, not before the still materializing sword nicked an artery close to his heart. It disappeared and he fell clutching his gaping chest.

Martin had activated his newly acquired skill, Attribute Theft. A spiderweb of cracks expanded outwards from him, reality itself splitting at the seams to reveal an unfathomable darkness of stars and energies beyond the cracked veil of the world. Searching, scanning and feeling he reached out and found a myriad of things he could take for himself. There was one that called to him: Speed. And he took it. Suddenly the world was slow, so so slow. And with all the time to carefully calculate his moves, Martin materialized his sword.

Martin stared at the dead body for a long second. The cracks retracted back into his body, the sky stitching itself back together in a spotless blue of no clouds. The other two boys were immobile. Then he snapped his fingers and a ball of blue fire appeared out of thin air. One of the boys was immediately shaken out of his stupor by the move and ran, disappearing into the forest. The other stood frozen.

“Don’t move or I will kill you.” Martin spat.

“Answer these questions. Do you have a system? Do you have quests? Do you level up? How does magic work?”

***

>Level up!

Martin kicked the two piles of ash to the side, looking around to see if anybody had witnessed what had just happened. There was nobody. If the boy is any smart, he will have fled town by the time I get back.

“Damn. A whole level at the price of just two human lives… speaking of which, what the fuck did those punks want with me?” he shook his head. Their mistake trying to… rob him, maybe? Now they were dead.

He felt the adrenaline, and the dopamine that came with the pleasure of a new level. And this was still nothing, because the best part was not gaining the level, rather it was doing the upgrade to his powers.

Plus, he now knew for sure how special he was. Before going over the level up process, he took a look at the quest he had active in his token. Randall T. Noxy, it was the name of the person who signed the quest, with a little shield as an insignia where the letter had been sealed with a few drops of wax. The system was being more specific than usual with this quest, meaning that it was probably important. It said Martin needed to walk 2600 more meters towards north-northeast.

He would do that, sure. But first:

>Choose one:

>Improve random skill (1 point)
>Improve chosen skill (2 points)
>Improve Blueflame (1 point)
>Generate new random skill (1 point)

He had one point to spend, coming from his latest level up. And yet he was not satisfied: during the fight earlier, even though it barely lasted a few seconds, he got a taste of his own limitations. He was out of mana after he did his full rotation of spells, a thing that reminded him of how little power he actually had until he increased his magic reserves. Even now, several minutes after said fight, he wasn’t sure he could cast the fireball twice yet.

The system had given him no new quests either. After he read the custom request he got, the system was quick to add a little extra reward to it, but no new quests. Randall T. Noxy.

Martin shrugged.

“Generate… wait. No, yeah, generate random.”

>Generating new random skill…
>Skill: Acquamancy 1 generated!

• Acquamancy 1
  • Activate to gain control over masses of water. Low control and precision.

Suddenly Martin found himself feeling something. It was the water, all around him, in the soil and in the trees. In his own body. He could faintly perceive it like a far away echo, and he felt that he could reach out to that water, touch it, pull it…

He ran out of mana.

“Great,” he said shaking his head, “a useless skill.”

He kicked the dust, scattering the leftover ash. Maybe it was going to get good once he raised its level enough.

He walked towards the meeting place. The road was a small winding path that took him all the way to the top of a small hill, covered in oaks. Then it plunged back down into the forest proper, and the peak of the mountain disappeared behind the tall trees. It was hot and sunny, and he was at a lower elevation than the city and then where he had spawned when he appeared in this world, and the forest changed accordingly. New plants and scents dominated the underbrush, and the wind was still and the air humid. It felt nice. He was still on the same side of Topguard as where he had always ventured so far, on a small plateau on the side of the mountain. Martin wondered if he should just take up and go, venture down the valley and see other places, or stay in Topguard where he could grind power and guild reputation both relatively safely.

He sighed. If killing was the price to pay to gain levels and feel that pleasure again, would he be willing to pay it? His face contorted as he exhaled, mouth twitching a few times. No, he would not. But with every new level came the sensation again, like a new shot of substance right at the pleasure centers of his brain. He wondered.

His legs carried him to the clearing where Randall was waiting for him. The compass showed the marker he left at Topguard to be almost right behind him. And ahead, he saw them. Two people, one very short and slightly plump boy covered head to toe in expensive armor. The other tall, slender and lean, barely clothed. He was leaning against a tree, huge sword propped up beside him, looming over the sitting figure of the diminutive noble.

“Guy looks strong.” Martin waved at them as he came out of the brushes.

“He is!” Randall clumsily got up. “He’s a C-ranker.”

Martin’s eyes went to the man’s guild token. It shone under the midday sun.

“Wow.” He laughed nervously, but did his best to hide how he felt. “You hired a C-ranker? Must have cost a pretty penny to do that.”

Randall waved a hand. “Nah. In the city where I come from there’s so many they are basic.”

Martin nodded.

“And what rank are you?” he asked.

“F, same as you.”

“Even if they are cheap, how does an F-ranker afford a C-ranker escort all the way here?”

Randall puffed up his chest. With the armor he was wearing, the action made him look fatter than he already was.

“I’m a noble. I have means.”

Martin crossed his arms. “What’s a noble doing out here then?”

“I was… sent on a mission. I could choose an escort and chose him. Happy?”

“Happy. Now, onto the actual business.”

With a thought, a slip of paper materialized from Martin’s guild token.

“This. You had me come all the way here just to meet me?”

The noble boy nodded. “Of course, couldn’t have met you at the guild like peasant.”

Martin felt that the overly easygoing attitude was getting to him. “Of course not…” he smiled. “Why the fuck not?”

The noble smiled and shrugged. “Couldn’t.”

“Alright, whatever. This is it?” he turned around.

“This is it. However… will you listen to my offer?”

Martin stopped. “Maybe.”

“I’ll say it to you straight. I think you might appreciate it more. We work together, as a team. I provide the muscle and you…”

As Randall trailed off, the C-ranker perked up. He picked up his sword. “And you make sure he doesn’t get himself killed, or worse.”

Randall nodded. “Yeah… that. We split everything in half.”

Martin scratched his chin. “Why me?”

“You looked like an easy mark.” Said Randall.

Martin frowned, but let the comment slide. “You already have a bodyguard. He’s much better than I can ever be.”

“I won’t be here forever,” the adventurer said, “and it’s not in the wild that he’s most in danger. Please.”

Martin looked at the two. The way the adventurer talked, he was almost pleading. Those weren’t the words of a hired sword. He shook his head.

“Okay, fine. But I keep my special loot.”

Randall nodded to himself in satisfaction. He made no comments on the special loot, probably assuming it was something Martin wasn’t willing to divulge yet. Then he turned to look at Martin for a long while.

“This easy? You say yes to this deal without even having to think about it?”

“You have money, knowledge and a powerful adventurer on your side, although temporarily. And you offer to share all this with me. I can’t refuse and, of course, I would never win or even outrun a C-ranker if you chose to force me to cooperate. So, why not hope the deal is actually good?”

Having said that, Martin felt his heart beat in his throat. He was almost proud he managed to say it all without stuttering or his throat going dry. In the back of his mind he thought about the kids he killed, and how they all amounted to barely nothing in the face of actual power. He grit his teeth, and cleared his head. At least those kills had been easy.

“Well then, a deal is a deal.” Randall said, then offered his hand. Martin shook it.

>>Quest complete!<<

>Handing bonus rewards:
1 Silver coin, 3 Medium health potions, 1 Small mana potion, 1 Cerulean crystal

The items popped into existence before the three men’s eyes, on a small patch of grass at Martin’s feet. Randall stared at them with his mouth open.

“W-what was that?” he asked.

“Special loot.”

The C-ranker shook his head, hiding a half smile. Martin made the silver coin disappear into his token, and gathered up the rest close to the campfire where Randall had been sitting prior to the meetup. He sat down and began to idly examine the azure crystal, and the noble sat opposite to him while the adventurer returned to rest in the shade of the large tree he was leaning against.

What a strange encounter… “Okay Randall… now that we are officially a team, what shall we do?”

The boy laughed. “Whatever you want. The only important thing is that we do something!”

>>New Quest!<<
>You have a manor, remember? Enter the manor for the first time as an owner.
>Reward: 1 Turquoise shard

Martin blinked. “Alright then, I just so happen to have a quest to do.”