Crossroad of Life

I decided to spread out the quest clearings a little, doing no more than one subjugation a week. That in itself would be pretty extraordinary for most adventurers in this world, but I was too impatient to do any less than that.

The main reason for my decision was to reduce the attention that I might get, and few would stay in the village for a week, so I felt that it was enough. If word would spread about me before I'm strong enough to ignore nobility, it would be troublesome. The status of a Local Hero is supposed to protect me, but I did not have faith that it would do much without having power to back it up.

Between the quests I continued my training, focusing on self-harm outside the woods, while Naming and Inventory Control inside the woods. Because the system didn't have equipment durability, I could light my whole body, turning myself into a human torch, without worrying about my clothes or ending up naked.

The "out of combat" aspect of the system really helped me with my training. Even while on fire, since there was no foe, I wasn't considered to be in combat. That meant that I would constantly regenerate health and mana. Since the restoration of health wasn't as fast without the effects of Rest, I would have plenty of breathing room to use Life magic to heal myself, training both skills.

My Fire and Life magic skills reached level 11 almost at the same time, and I gained the Mage name thanks to that, no longer being a novice.

Inventory Control had a stable growth, but Naming started slowing down. Wildlife was no longer enough, so I ended up naming the unawakened monsters before killing them, which seemed to cause Naming to level up faster.

Once my Fire and Life magics hit the half-tier level, I tried to combine the skills in various ways. Something akin to Holy Flame did not happen, but I could create fire elementals that would follow my will. Their size and strength depended on how much mana I allocated to their creation, but it rose exponentially, so I was still fairly limited. The current one would reach my knees, which wasn't impressive considering that even though I was 11, my body didn't grow since I was 5.

Then there were the subjugation quests, where I focused on training Double Slash. There were a few differences between the different targets of the subjugation, so I also studied those aspects.

The kobolds were alike the goblins, plentiful and all leveled 1 except the leader, with the exception of living inside a cave instead of the goblins' village. The orcs lived in a village made of poorly constructed huts similar to the goblins, but they were fewer in numbers. In exchange, they were almost all level 2, with a few level 3 and the leader being level 4. The leader's health was at 30, but a single strike was still enough to wipe him out.

The lizardman had a similar level distribution to the orcs, but they lived in some marshlands further inland towards the west. I wasn't too worried about getting dirty or the lizards having some form of advantage in the bogs, but they did have a Slow effect on me when I entered, so I decided to practice offensive magic against them.

In that case, I also decided to check the Dimension magic's targeting spell. Once one of the lizards was marked, a soft glow that the others didn't seem to notice covered him. When I cast a wind blade spell, it seemed to correct itself and aimed directly at the targeted lizardman even after it moved. Casting the Mark didn't level up my Dimension magic, but once the lizard died, it did.

I ended up binding Mark to a few more of my spells, creating various macros so that I have several elemental homing attacks without needing to consciously cast both spells. I wasn't too worried about missing without the assistance of the mark, but it still helped the Dimensional magic skill to experience a period of growth.

With the extermination of the four monster groups, I was just short of reaching level 4. It was nearly a month, and the goblin village didn't respawn yet, so I wasn't left with much to do in that department.

On the other hand, my Double Slash reached level 11, giving me something long awaited while I switched to training Slash instead.

As with my magic, once I had a physical skill reaching the half-tier stage, I obtained the Fighter name. Having both Fighter and Mage is probably what caused the next exchange: I've also obtained the Spellblade name. Not exactly the name I expected, but I was happy about it nonetheless.

During the extermination I was concerned and very self-conscious about my emotions and behavior. Seeing how heartless I was during the first time, I felt like I needed to reflect. Even if I don't change myself, I at least need to be aware of where I'm headed.

I considered how most Isekai protagonists behaved. Some of them were good people and used their cheats to help, save and support people around them. I thought that it would be the direction that I'm going for, but I couldn't be certain anymore.

Even without considering how heartless I was in combat, that heroic personality was not for me. Perhaps I've accepted Mother and Father Villagers as my parents in this world, but it would be a lie to say that I felt that close to them. If I pick this route, I would simply choose people to pretend that I care about in order to have the heroic motivation. I did not see myself cherishing anyone in this world, though I did hope that I'm wrong.

Neither the revenge or self-preservation motivations worked for me, at least not at the moment. I also felt that I will be too bored to live a slice-of-life type of Isekai. Even if I could stand the daily grind, it was tolerable because it led to numbers growing bigger. Bigger numbers was good!

I couldn't decide on my motive for adventure, especially since I had no main quest yet. I could only decide on my attitude. In front of monsters, I'll be cold and heartless as I was, while in front of people… I'll have a heroic disposition, but I doubted how high my tolerance would be towards abusive, treacherous or greedy people.

It took several months before the goblin village reappeared and I could attack it once more. I kept checking the forest for any signs, but nothing was there until one day, a notice appeared on the task board. Suddenly, the village appeared in a place where I was certain that I have visited recently.

This world really did work according to MMORPG rules, but time everything took was stretched out considerably. Things progressed so slowly that if I had a choice, I would pick a different game. The grind is real.

At this point, I really considered the premium store. That's how they get you! Make progression so intolerable that you have to buy their stuff! Usually, you could still advance for free, though you wouldn't find it enjoyable, in order to keep you playing. But I had no choice! I was in the system, and they got me good.

However considering how little Ursa I had, I wasn't even able to buy the cheapest of cash items. What is this cruel joke? I still had the 65 crystals, but I didn't even have 20 gold yet! I need 10 platinum in order to buy 100 crystals, and 100 is the cheapest of items. Though I wasn't able to see what the items were until I could pay for them, but I wasn't too hopeful regarding their usefulness.

I knew that the reason for my progress stagnating was due to me staying in this village. It barely had anything to offer to a beginner, let alone help me advance to the next stage. If I hadn't promised Mother to stay for a while longer, I would have left long ago.

As I've said before, I don't really care about that woman that much anyway. I simply didn't want to break my promise and be a liar. I appreciated her feelings towards me, but that was the extent of it. But as I decided that I want to repay those that are good to me in kind, I couldn't leave simply because I was bored.

It would be a different case if I had feelings of urgency…

DUN DUN DUN!

I wished for something to happen at those fate provoking thoughts, but I ended up being disappointed.

Spellblade, level 3

Titles: Local Hero (+1 to all skills while protecting)

HP: 126 MP: 163 SP:80

Stats:

Strength 26, Dexterity 21, Constitution 24, Intelligence 22, Wisdom 16, Charisma 5

Luck 2, Speed 9, Stealth 2, Magic 28, Martial Prowess 18

Physical Skills:

Basic Attack (Blunt – Lv3, Blade – Lv6, Thrown – Lv2, Unarmed – Lv1)

Slash Lv3

Double Slash Lv11

Magical Skills:

Fire Magic Lv11

Wind Magic Lv6

Earth Magic Lv6

Water Magic Lv6

Enchantment Magic Lv6

Life Magic Lv11

Dimension Magic Lv4

Manipulation Magic Lv1

Negation Magic Lv1

General Skills:

Awakening Potential

Dash Lv2

Rest Lv1

Fire Resistance Lv6

Blessings:

Inventory Control Lv10

Naming Lv8

Weapon: Rusty Short Sword – 3-5 Attack

170650 Ursa

Attribute Points: 58

Skill Points: 11.8

Crystals: 65