Chapter 40: Favor and Planning for The Future
Lucas stared at the book in his hands. It looked ancient, but Lucas knew it had only been around for a few hours at most.
'Who should I give it to...'
Lina watched Lucas stare at the book with an empty look in his eyes and decided to intervene.
"Is that a skill book Lucas?" She asked innocently.
Lucas looked up from the book and stared at the young fairy in front of him.
"Yeah... I got it once I killed the Ogre that attacked our scouting team,"
"A-An Ogre, you say?"
He nodded at the fairy with a look of confusion evident on his face.
"Lucas... You do know those are almost legendary creatures right?"
Lucas shook his head slightly before tilting his head to the side.
"You would think a Legendary creature would have been spoken about a little bit more... I have heard that Ogre's are scary... I can think of only one that I have seen and the green bastard was actually pretty cuddly when treated nicely..."
Lina frowned at his statement before stating something that, once again, didn't make sense to Lucas.
"Ogres are the children of the Mythical Cyclops. Ogres are effectively demi-gods to a degree though they have no divinity to them. I don't even know how you managed to kill something of that caliber with your current strength,"
Lucas shrugged before replying confidently.
"It honestly wasn't that hard to take it down. Sure, I almost died a few times, but that isn't anything new,"
"Dummy!" Lina shouted before hitting Lucas on the head hard with her fist. "You need to be more careful! What level was it? The average Ogre is at around Level 500... Or tier 5 if that makes sense,"
His jaw dropped at the statement she had made and realized just how crazy the fight could have been.
"He was Level 278 If I remember correctly," Lucas said, while he became a little confused at his startling memory.
'Should be the work of my new and improved Intelligence stat,'
"Hmm... Only tier 3... That isn't too bad for your current strength. Definitely doable, though there is a high risk you could have died."
"Just be careful okay? Can you promise me that?"
Lucas nodded with determination in his eyes.
"I promise I won't die until I take you to see the ocean as I promised,"
Lina looked slightly abashed and shook her head lightly.
"You don't have to worry about that now silly... That was back then... before we had a home,"
"Anyways... what does the skill book do, Lukey?"
Luke passed the book over to Lina who looked at the air in front of her as if reading something. She smiled for a moment before reading the effects out aloud.
"It is a strength enhancement skill... Why don't you use it?"
"Well... I don't think I need any more skills that drain my stamina. I need a huge boost in my Endurance stat for it to be worth it."
Lina looked like she was about to say something but a knock on the door stopped them dead in their tracks.
The dirty overalled, Ryan Grint, the helpful botanist that seemed to have an eye out for the base's interest, walked through the door with a sheepish expression on his face.
Lucas waved him in and smiled warmly at the arrival of Ryan.
Ryan looked between the duo and his eyes locked on the book that Lina was holding.
"Whoah... What is this made of? It looks like a relic,"
He moved forward and reached his hand out to see if he could get a feel of it before Lina flew just out of his reach and stuck her tongue out at him.
Though she seemed to just be playful, Lucas knew better as he saw her give him a questioning look.
Lucas nodded gently in affirmation to the unspoken question.
Lina stopped 'fooling around' and gently handed the book over to Ryan, who took it happily.
"This thing has to be at least a few hundred years-" He stopped mid-sentence.
He scanned the air in front of him, obviously reading the system's interface.
'Hmm... I wonder. System, activate
A large amount of data flooded through Lucas's consciousness and he quickly felt the pressure build-up in his mind... but it wasn't as bad as the previous time.
He focused on the space in front of Ryan and noticed that a build-up of the web-like structure that surrounded everyone had surfaced in front of him.
Lucas moved his mind and sent a thread of mental energy towards the web and immediately felt a large amount of encrypted information fill his mind.
'Wait... I can understand this!' Lucas thought before figuring out that it was just the description of the skill book that was in Ryan's hands.
It was hard to follow but the strings of text and number were slowly understood by Lucas, piece by piece.
When he was just about to finish decoding it when the web of lines suddenly disappeared as a look of understanding filled Ryan's face.
"I didn't know things like these existed... Skill books. Almost like it was ripped straight out of a video game,"
Ryan's expression turned into wonder for a moment before he sheepishly asked a question.
"Is it possible... If I could have this skill book? I have been wanting to try and become useful in combat so that I have more of a use than just making plants grow faster..."
Lucas thought for a moment...
'It would be better suited for a fighter. There really is no benefit in giving it to someone like Rya-'
"I would, of course, try and make it up to you. I already have a few skills that could synergize really well with it... I'm just worried that it won't be enough for what I plan on doing here soon,"
'Hmm... I suppose it's just a D-Rank skill book anyways,'
"Sure, Kid. Have at it. What are you planning on doing that will require you to have combat prowess anyways?" Lucas asked with genuine curiosity.
"Well... It was supposed to be a secret. But if you really want me to tell you then I will,"
Lucas nodded and raised his hand in the air to stop Ryan from talking.
"Enough said,"
Ryan nodded before quickly learning the skill.
A strange green light flashed in his eyes as a startled look appeared on his face.
"W-what the hell is this?!" Ryan said to no one in particular.
Lucas stood up straight before staring at Ryan seriously.
"What are you seeing, Ryan?"
Ryan shook his head for a moment before slowly stuttering out an answer.
"I-It's... a prestige class... and a title. It says that because I have the skills
Lina smiled brightly before flying a small circle around Ryan in excitement.
"Nature's Champion is one of the strongest classes out there! It is a very unique skill from what I have heard. It's one of the few classes Fairies can have access to when they reach the level required to gain one,"
'Prestige class? Why the hell haven't I gotten one of those?!' Lucas thought to himself in envy before putting a 'happy' grin on his face.
"It seems like giving you the book was the right choice!" He said before clapping Ryan on the back.
Ryan smiled widely before clicking a button in the air. Ryan grew a foot taller in an instant and became around 6 foot 10 inches tall. His muscles bulged and his hair turned a shade of green that was almost fantasy-like.
His skin turned a shade darker, almost as if it was the bark of a tree, and also became a little tougher.
Lucas saw the changes in Ryan and quickly used his observation skill to get a better understanding of what had changed.
<
His eyebrows narrowed at the description's restriction and realized that since he spent his divinity his clearance level had massively decreased.
"I-It says that I have gained 50 in each stat!"
Lucas's face turned into a puckered one that one would expect to see when someone ate an incredible sour candy.
"This is bullshit!" Lucas Yelled
"This is bullshit!" Lina Roared
"Bzzz" Waldin tried to speak.