29

Our first day in the settlement was mostly quiet. They felt the three of us out slowly throughout the day. I made a habit of keeping my bow on me. It didn't have the range or speed of a gun so it wasn't considered as dangerous. Most people in the settlement were carrying at least a small blade so while my weapon was unusual it wouldn't be frowned upon for me to carry such a weapon. 

I watched the people within the camp with caution. My stamina increase seemed to have an added bonus of reducing the amount I needed to sleep so after a quick dinner I focused on catching up on my physical exercise. I had Sam sit on my shoulders during pushups, and he seemed to enjoy it. I knew there was a limit to how much my body could handle, but I would be healed at seven the next morning for the rest of the month. I could ignore the damage all this exercise was doing to my body because my vitality stat would heal one percent of my body every hour. 

The most damage I'd done to my body in a single day was five percent. Sam's extra weight increased how many points I got for each push up. I would also one hand it whenever possible. I just wanted to make sure I got one or more points per stat a day. Putting Sam on my back while I did short sprints would be mistaken as playing with him, and once he was done I could throw my back pack on, and continue quietly on my own. 

I didn't want to draw too much attention to myself, but I wasn't willing to give up on manually increasing my stats. I needed to find myself some hay or make some. All the grass in the settlement was claimed by the cows, and sheep. More people were coming in as the day progressed because despite the poor service our phones were still working. They'd work on all networks around four in the afternoon everyday. 

Apparently the phone companies had chosen to team up, and make sure phones worked for one hour every day. I'd missed the notification because I was more focused on not dying. There was only one problem with this whole phone plan teaming up thing. We were responsible for maintaining the towers. Right now it was a non issue because not many towers were damaged or in disrepair. 

I was probably worrying a bit too much for something that might not be a problem for years. We were given our own small sleeping quarters together. No one seemed to realized I wasn't actually related to Johnny or Sam, but I wasn't about to leave them alone in this settlement. Besides they were treating me like a mother figure which was something I was used to after my mom had forced me into a mothering role for years on end. There were almost as many children in the settlement as there were adults due to the timely intervention of several teachers. 

Teachers that were still trying to get ahold of the parents. I didn't push myself into that narrative. Any family these boys might have left wouldn't be close so they might as well live with a stranger like me. I made something of a spectacle of myself when morning came. Practicing my archery in an area that was out of the way, but still clearly visible to the camp. 

I wanted to be put on the wall, but I had to look impressive enough at long range combat to get up there, and the number of woman taking care of the camp told me the old gender norms were holding strong. It was irritating, but from the wall I could become part of the scouting groups, and I needed those kills. I wasn't worried about the XP simply because it didn't mean as much to me as it did the others. The hairs stood on the back of my neck after about an hour of arching. I suddenly aimed up above the target to the left, and fired. 

I'd even put fire in the arrow. I didn't know what drove the sudden instinct to attack, but I wasn't wrong. The bestial scream of the invisible creature as it's camouflage slipped made everyone in the camp flinch as flames bit into it's flesh. No XP meant that it wasn't dead. It started crawling back up the wall at a quick pace. 

I didn't give it the chance to escape. Charging my next arrow with even more fire then the last one. Burning my own fingers in the process. The first arrow had burned the creature. The second seared a hole clean through it. 

Causing flames to briefly leap across the wall. Leaving behind a big black scar. It's body fell from the wall, and slammed into the ground on the other side of the building I was next to. Probably close to the wall. Two thousand experience told me it was a level two awakened, and not a monster so there wouldn't be dozens more breathing down our necks. 

I didn't pay the people behind me much mind as I walked closer to the wall to get around behind the building. Once I got closer I could see that it used to be a pet gecko. It had grown to be enough to swallow small children whole. It reminded me more of a mutant croc then it did of the uncommon household pet. All I had to do to part it out was touch it, and let the system do it's thing. 

It probably hadn't come here to eat a person. It was probably after some of the smaller animals, and had just become attracted to me when it sensed my presence. I didn't know if it would have attacked me or not. I could sense something dangerous looking at me. No. 

That wasn't it. I sensed something I could kill, and it had sent a thrill of excitement up my spine. What the actual fuck was happening to me? I was starting to enjoy killing. Did this class of mine change my personality as I leveled up?