What level are you?

Mars disengaged the clashing weapons and took a step towards Kit but didn't lower his sword.

"Kit that village is filled with bad people. Don't trust a word from this person's mouth. I just ran into some more Red Splash villagers not too far away. They also tried to kill me."

Twix put away his staff and lifted his hands to show he wasn't going to attack.

"I am not from Red Splash village. I was only passing through when I by chance was assaulted by your friend."

Twix nodded his head towards Kit.

"You say, Kit assaulted you. That is highly unlikely."

Mars' eyes flashed with killing intent at Twix' words. Kit quickly defended Twix.

"The part about me assaulting him is true Mars. I ran in to him when I was going through town, literally ran in to him. He then helped me find Pint, then you. He really has been nothing but helpful since I met him, Mars. I also don't get the same feeling of unease from him like I did from the brothers."

Kit really did feel Twix was only trying to be helpful, at no stage of their interactions did Kit feel threatened by the young man. Even when he was just attacked by Mars, Twix only defended himself. He didn't strike out at Mars in retaliation.

"You had a feeling of unease about the brothers. Why did you not tell me?"

"I thought because you hired them you knew about it. When I tried to get your attention to bring it up with you, you were too engrossed in something else. After a while I thought it was just my lack of trust in people that was the issue, not the brothers."

Kit ducked his head.

"Next time tell me. I didn't really pay any attention to the pair. I thought after negotiating a price they wouldn't act rashly. That's my mistake, I will pay attention to it next time. But Kit, even if I'm absent minded or engrossed in something else, if you are uncomfortable, let me know ok."

"Ok and I will tell you if I feel uneasy about someone. Twix really has been good to me since I met him though Mars."

Mars still gave Twix a wary look as he put his sword back into its sheath. Kit was happy Mars had believed his words. When Twix didn't make a move towards him, Mars shoulders relaxed. Mars looked at Kit and ran his eyes over Kit's body.

"What?"

"Checking for injuries."

Kit smiled at his friend. It was nice having someone worry about him.

"I'm fine. Oh, Pint took care of the brothers. He somehow managed to kill them."

Kit filled Mars in on what he'd seen. Mars looked at Pint with a twinkle in his eyes. He then went over and started to praise the large horse.

"Ah… who is the best horse ever! It's my little Pint. You are taking after me now and becoming a good fighter. I'll have to give you some beer as a reward."

Pint gave a soft neigh and started to nudge Mars gently.

"Don't give him anymore now, I just gave him 2 bottles."

"Ok, I'll give it to him when we stop for the night."

Mars finally returned his gaze to Twix, as if just remembering he was there. It was like when he let his guard down, he had dismissed him from his thoughts.

"I apologise for attacking you, this was my misunderstanding. We haven't had a good start in Red Splash village. This was our first time coming to the Forgotten state and it has been a little chaotic."

Twix showed a look of surprise. "Thanks for the apology. Why would you start off in Red Splash village though when you are obviously at a low level. It's well known that the town has a high population of bandits inside."

Kit groaned. "Maybe for locals it's well known, but we had no clue."

"What are you going to do now then?"

"We will try to find Spartan Fire. Please tell me it's not a bandit camp as well." Kit didn't think he could take it if he had to be on high alert all the time worrying about being killed at any moment.

Twix started to laugh. "No Spartan Fire is safe from bandits. All though the population is very small, the elders are quite formidable. You are in luck I am heading towards Spartan Fire myself. You can tag along if you like."

Kit's eyes started to sparkle. Twix was his saviour. Not only did he help find his companions, he was going to lead them to Spartan Fire. Kit quickly agreed. Mars raised his eyebrows at Kit's fast reply, then shrugged. Kit took that as agreement.

The party made their way through the forest at a steady pace. Twix informed them it was best to be as quiet as possible. So, their walk was a silent one. Kit had enough new sights to look at to keep his mind occupied until they reached their camping destination for the night.

As night was approaching Twix brought them to a small cave on the side of a hill. They left Pint outside with some beer. Snowball hadn't found them on their travel through the forest. Kit thought the little fluff ball was too excited to explore a new territory to bother about him. He figured he would find his way back when he was hungry.

"It will be safe to stay here for the night. I apologise about the silent hike, the monsters in the Forsaken state are well above your level so it would be too dangerous to bring unwanted attention to our party. You can ask me any questions you have when we stop for the night."

"Thanks Twix, we appreciate your help. What level is the average monster around this area?" Kit wanted to know what the gap was between him and the creatures.

"Well, I don't know about average. The most common monster in this part of the forest is a Rinbull. It is pretty low level at 180 but they travel in large packs so it can be quite annoying to deal with them. That's why we will avoid them. It will be hard for me to keep you safe in a confrontation with them."

Kit almost spat out blood when he heard Twix mention that he thought a 180 level monster was low.

"There is also a population of spiritual Tadeo mountain cats in the Black gnarled forest. They shouldn't bother us if we don't provoke them. They are tricky to deal with, even for me, this is the reason why we will have to stay quiet while travelling during the day."

"Twix if you don't mind me asking what level are you?" Mars was staring at Twix with a strange look.

"Ahh this is a bit embarrassing. I'm relatively still low, this is why I've been traveling around a bit to help raise my level. I'm currently at 240."

Kit choked on his own saliva when he heard Twix's level. 'What the flaming fruit trees! Twix thought that was low! What the hell did that say about his level?' Kit wanted to curl in a ball and cry. Twix looked no older than Mars and himself. Even though Kit knew he was an NPC that was still too high!

Mars just nodded his head as if he had expected that answer. Kit could only goggle at his friend's calm attitude at finding out Twix level. Is the world flat? What the hell is going on? 240 was not normal at this age even for NPC's. They still had to increase their level from 0 just like he did. Granted, they started a lot earlier, but still this was ridiculous.

Kit couldn't hold his curiosity in. He had to know Twix secret to gaining such a high level. "Twix how did you get to level 240 at such a young age."

"Ahh, I forget you're not from here. I am actually well below where I should be. The town people spoiled me growing up, so I didn't work hard at raising my level. I am one of the only young people in my village. The elders decided now that I am over 18, I need to raise my level to help defend the town when monster attacks arise."

"To answer your question, I hunted monsters along with my family around Spartan Fire to raise my level. I started a bit later than most in the Forsaken state. I didn't start hunting until I was 16 years old."

Twix had a blush to his cheeks after confessing the age he started hunting. 'He's embarrassed about starting to kill monsters at the age of 16. Ahh, where is that hole for me to climb in. What the hell does that make me then if I only started recently?'

"Twix there is no need to be embarrassed. Kit and I only started raising our fighting levels 3 weeks ago. We'll not think less of you for starting late compared to others."

Twix gave Mars a big smile. Kit could tell Twix was happy with Mars' words. Kit's stomach rumbled as they were speaking. Two sets of eyes glanced down at his stomach. Kit felt his cheeks burn.

"I'm sorry I forgot to stop for food today. You mustn't be used to it. Here take these to eat. It's not much but it will fill your stomach."

Twix handed Mars and he three large, dried chunks of meat each. Kit eyed the large brown lumps with a look of dread. He hated dried meat. He took the meat from Twix with a thank you and took a small bit from the leathery stick.

To Kit's surprise it didn't taste as bad as he thought it would. He didn't want to offend Twix so instead of cooking a meal he ate the rubbery meat. As he was chewing, he looked at Mars to see a look of disgust on his face. Kit held back a laugh. Mars had turned into a complete foodie since they started playing together.

"Kit, you cook tomorrow! We can find some new ingredients on the way. Twix can you tell us what is safe to collect?"

"No problem I will point it out tomorrow for you. You can cook Kit?" Twix had an eager look on his face.

"Yes, I became a qualified chef not that long ago." A smile blossomed on Kit face. He couldn't stop it. He was still so happy about becoming a chef.

"This is unexpected. Kit I'm so glad you ran into me. The people in Spartan Fire will be very happy to meet you. Chefs don't come to the Forsaken state very often. So, this is a privilege."

Kit was a little shocked at Twix response. This raised his curiosity.

"Why do chefs not come here?"

"I don't know for sure. It is just very rare to see one. My dad thinks it's because most chefs don't have a high fighting ability, so they are easily killed in the Forsaken state. Most chefs will just buy their ingredients instead of harvesting them themselves."

"Well, that does make sense."

Kit felt that Twix answer might be right. Most people who picked a daily living skill as a sub class to be their main specialty would only concentrate on raising the subclass level. Kit wanted to raise both. He wanted to have some adventures as well as his own slice of heaven in CAL.

Kit was interrupted from his thoughts by an excited yip. A small black fluffy body hurled towards him. Kit held his arms wide waiting for Snowball to reach him. Once he landed safely in his arms Kit started to pat his little friend.

"Snowball, I missed you too. Did you have fun exploring?"

A round of excited yips left the little mouth. Kit laughed at his small companion. Snowballs big eyes turned to the new member in their group.

"Snowball this is Twix. He is going to take us to Spartan Fire." Twix jaw dropped at the sight of Snowball.

"You have a Hoarder of precious things. How did you get him to become so friendly with you? This is amazing, not only are you a chef, you can interact with a rare creature."

Twix was giving Kit a look like he was a special breed of human. He could clearly hear the sound of amazement in Twix' voice. Kit felt a little uncomfortable with his look of awe. He could understand the look of admiration at Snowball but not at himself. He was only a novice chef not a master chef, he didn't understand Twix' strange behaviour.

Kit decided to ignore the uncomfortable feeling. He told Twix the story of how he found Snowball minus his embarrassing death of course. Mars gave Kit a knowing look when he left it out, but didn't say anything.

They chatted for a while longer then went to bed. The next six days went by in a flash. Twix had kept them from meeting with any monsters and Kit had kept them feed much to Twix and Mars delight. He had also collected quite a range of new ingredients to experiment with.

So far, his experiments hadn't been fruitful. Kit had been disappointed that he hadn't even seen a glimmer of a blue sheen.

It was early morning of the seventh day of their travels and Twix had just informed them that they were almost at Spartan Fire. Kit couldn't wait to see the village. He hoped Snowball would join them soon. The little ball of fluff had disappeared after the first night they entered the forest.

Kit was happily chatting with Twix about his ideas for his restaurant when Mars suddenly pulled his sword from its sheath.