Chapter 12: Elves are Weird...

Florence saw the winged creature ferociously scaw and pull at the caravan's top, its eyes holding little mercy as instincts ranked supreme in the bird's world. The man kept waving the torch like the flames that barely rose high enough to lick at the creature's talons was even enough to actually hurt the bird. Florence sighed and peered over, one hundred meters give or take but it was still a bit away as he pulled back the arrow and took a breath. He knew that killing this beast wasn't going to get him anywhere as the system had notified him that actually progressing in any actual levels was apprehended by the large power devoured by his seed. It seemed that this was a sort of limiter that the Devs had put in place in order to keep someone like himself from rising to the top of the leaderboards or even sweeping through this game like it was set on easy or he had hacked.

"Until then user IllFang will be restricted and advancement will require larger lengths than what recently was required"

Those words rang silently through his head like bad news as he let the arrow loose. This time the arrow was silent, splitting through the air and sound with ease as it gave a dull thud, embedding itself into the bird's feathered hide. If Florence had to guess he didn't pierce anything important, space between organs, a pocket in the body. Florence got a little lost in thought as he notched another arrow and pulled back. He noticed a distinct lack of enemy health bars, in fact, he hadn't noticed any at the time being even for the bird. Rifling through the past events he couldn't happen upon health bars on the wolves either, was actual anatomy taken into consideration when engineering the game so that there was no need to actually search for one? If a player was able to decapitate a wolf there is no reason to include a bar, the same goes for piercing a heart or maybe it was Dave-Sama. He'd have to figure it out later as his main target was not figuring out the semantics and mechanics of the game but the bird that was terrorizing some random man who seemed to be having a bad day as Florence let another arrow fire and watched as it once again sunk into the beast, this time piercing the wing closest to him. This notified the creature that the caravan was no longer the point of interest but whatever pesky fly kept stinging him, its talons let go of the canvas top and the bird took off into the air to get a better view of what pest had been disturbing it while it found a meal. A keen pair of eyes locked onto the half-elf rather quickly as the man from before only bothered it with fire but this other creature garnished a weapon that was inflicting the wounds upon it. The bird began to drop down in an instant, tucking its wings in and piercing the air like it wasn't a six-foot-long, eight-foot-tall bird that was nothing but muscles and feathers as it let out an ear-piercing cry. It was ready to collide with the intruding being as it gained speed, getting closer and closer, wind rushing past it as it encroached on the smaller creature. Florence knew this trick, predatory birds would swoop down on their prey and kill it in their talons so the trick to this creature was avoid getting caught. Florence waited until the bird was too close to pull up, a wild smirk crossing his face as the creature only got closer until its fate was sealed. The bird's talons outreached to grab Florence but were only met with the cool dirt, it was mystified, unable to figure out just what had happened to its prey until its speed caught up with it. Florence simply used the skill Path of the Wolven Step and did the blink ability, positioning himself above the bird as he forced himself down using his lower extremities magic, increasing the force output so when he landed he pushed the beast into the ground. It worked to say the least as the bid was used into the ground with a mighty thud, the mix of terminal velocity, and the force from Florence caused it to speed into the ground, causing it to become nothing more than a feathery splatter of red against the ground.

"Trader's Enemy defeated! EXP awarded, EXP put against modifiers and comes out to 5. Wolven Step has increased two percent, Stealth has gone up one percent, Subpar Mana Circuits has gone up five percent, Lower Extremities has increased four percent! Reputation with Trader has gone up by ten percent and you have completed a hidden quest!"

Florence looked down at the bloody mess as he pushed the window out of the way with a sigh. Now wasn't the time to drool over skills and numbers even if he wanted to but first, he needed to check on the man he just saved. Fortunately, Wolven Step made this a breeze as he gently strived towards the Caravan Trader to make sure he was not hurt. To his surprise, he was met with the sight of a man with oddly colored hair, not your typical colors of blonde, browns, blacks, and ginger but instead a light mint green. His short hair drew the eyes a bit too much as Florence pried his eyes away and looked over him a bit more. Pointy ears, similarly green eyes, standing five-eleven, his clothes consisting of a cloak and some tribal amenities. This was beyond interesting but the sudden poke to the pace from a finger snapped Florence from his staring as the man waved his hand in front of Florence's face.

"Helloooo? Are ya home there stranger or perhaps you are mute or maybe even deaf! How insensitive of me! I never meant to be unkind, do say can you hear me or no?"

Florence sighs, rolling his eyes as he yawns and nods,

"Yes yes, I can hear you. Apologies for staring but you're the first person I have met, I've been in the forest fo"

Florence is cut off as the now wide-eyed elf takes Florence's hand and traces over the back of his hand. He was in shock, Florence and the elf as Florence pulls away and gulps.

"You're a Master! Oh, this is my first time meeting someone such as yourself but its a blessing to meet you! You not only saved me but you're gracing me with a wonderous presence such as yours! Oh, thank you thank you thank you!

What the hell was going on here, it was so confusing and everything was now just speeding up as he was pushed into the caravan and it took off. Oh man things were getting weird....