Starting the never ending grind

"She should try to do something," I said after Dara explained to me Kali's plans with her idea.

It wasn't just those two. We went around and saw the people doing their stuff. Many gave us weird looks and seemed to avoid us. Only some wanted to speak to us. What a contrast from all that cheering.

"Probably, but she seems adamant about taking this path" Dara answered.

And now I understood why they needed to use me to get in front and be part of the speech. A hero figure used to make it look like everything was right, that we had a chance.

That was terrifying, knowing I could just screw up.

"Well, don't bother yourself right now with this" Dara continued "We need you to become more powerful and help around in the castle. If they see us in good spirits and believe we are progressing, we could get something out."

"You think we will gain enough resources and levels before Balor decides to attack directly?" I asked.

"Let's pray we do"

The good part about the System is that there are many ways to help the place you are living and still gain levels and experience. Especially when your job at helping involves having to leave safe areas like the castle and onto the wilderness where monsters and other threats exist. In this case, we were on what was contested territory.

So I decided to do what I knew so far: swinging my sword at things until they died. When I made that joke Dara did not find it amusing.

Nayleth went out with me this time. Dara had to deal with some work on the castle with Kali.

He came out with me to make sure I came back alive. He was a Healer class and was overspecialized in supporting others. He had some offensive spells in his arsenal, but he decided to be mostly helpful to others. His buff was where he spent most of his points.

I guess it was time to grind up a few levels. Who would have thought that I would be doing this in real life instead of a game with friends?

And besides gaining levels, I would be gaining some food for the castle.

The forest was the same as it has been so far, though. A nice warm place that was covered by trees giving us shadows from the sun, a wet smell, and the sound of animals.

However, I knew there were scouts and soldiers of the Sacred Army out there. This would be considered an Open PVP area on an RPG, with full loot and permanent death.

I decided to focus only on hunting animals, at least for now. Today's quest was to gain a couple of levels and get some resources. Dara asked me to reach at least level 5 as I would get my first natural Passive Skill and might unlock a slot for my short sword.

More power means more chances.

"I hope you don't get tired of babysitting me," I said to Nayleth while we were hunting through the forest.

Nayleth shook his head. Then he made his signature magic words appear: "Need materials"

So he was winning something out of this all the same. I suppose anything he doesn't take will be put in the storage, besides anything I don't use.

We found a plant monster in the woods. It was like a big flower with clear teeth in the core, and two long vines that were sprawled on the floor.

We hid between the trees so it didn't see us. I looked at Nayleth.

"What kind of monster is that?"

He started to make gestures. I suppose using the words he casts can be slower. First, he made a gesture like gnawing with his hands, and a whip motion, then a gesture to not smell.

"So, is carnivorous, those vines are like whips and it has some form of poison I should not smell?" I asked, to which he nodded to all of that.

Then he made again the gesture of no smelling, but then he pointed at himself. He waved his words this time "Cure"

"Okay, you will cure me in case it poisons me" I still was not going to risk it. Knowing what poisons could do here, I preferred to avoid it.

I took the air in my lungs and then ran towards it.

"Let's go!" I said, and if I had waited for a bit I would have seen Nayleth's making a gesture to wait a minute.

I ran towards the monster and decided to hit it with my sword.

"Haaaaaaaah!" I yelled out of my lungs when I jumped.

But then, the monster whipped one of his vines toward me with precision and managed to hit me while I was still in the air, canceling my attack and making me fall to the side.

[-45]

[HP: 75/120]

That he was hitting hard! I was already down by 45 points of damage. I slowly stood up and I saw the creature slowly raise itself by its vines and the mouth opening, turning towards me. It was angry and I was a delicious threat it seems.

Then I felt a spell being cast at me, I saw the symbols that signified defense, agility, and force under my HP. Nayleth was using his spells from between the trees to help me.

My body felt less heavy and allowed me to move to the side when the creature launched a new attack with its vines, long enough to let it rise and continue attacking from a distance.

I managed to cut the distance and attempt an attack once more.

"[Staggering Fang]!"

I managed to land the hit! The plant monster was slow, but I was able to hit it with ease.

[-165]

[MP: 105/120]

A good amount of damage! But it was still standing. This must be a big HP pool type of monster, slowly but tanky.

Then it whipped both his tentacles against me, managing to catch me between them. I did not raise my sword in time, so I got the hit.

[-24]

[HP: 51]

I was thrown into the floor but I managed to stand up fast. Only to see the plant monster use its vines to impulse itself backward.

It opened its mouth and then it spits something towards me. A greenish ball was flying directly at me.

A magic barrier appeared in front of me and stopped the ball, but a greenish cloud came out of it when it impacted. I quickly remembered Nayleth's gestures and used my left hand to close my nostrils, so I would not inhale it.

Nayleth's supportive spells were always a positive in battle. I learned that during the fight with Balor, I would have died that die.

I took a few steps back and circled the cloud of poison. I was thankful it did not hit me, I did not want to know how being poisoned in this world felt and I was hoping it never happened to me.

"Let's see how much HP you got!" I said as I ran around it.

The monster saw me and tried to whip me once more, but managed to move to the side. Then I jumped once more, hoping this time I was more close.

This time, the plant monster opened its mouth and tried to take a bite out of me. I might have screwed up, but I needed to finish this quickly.

"[Staggering Fang]!" I yelled and used my skill once more. I managed to hit it in the middle of its mouth, right before it could bite me.

[MP: 80/120]

[-167]

The plant creature fell back and started to trash on the ground, and slowly reduced its movements until it died. It dissolved into essence, just like the wolves I have been killing.

[+145 XP]

[Level UP!]

[Level 3->4]

[HP: 120->130]

[MP: 120 ->130]

[STR: 12->13 DEX: 12->13 INT: 12->13]

[AIM: 12->13 DEF: 12->13 RES: 12->13]

[+1 Skill tree point!]

[Short Sword +1 Level!]

[LV 3->4]

[STR 30->50]

[DEF 24->30]

[[Staggering Fang] Went up by 1 level!]

[LV 1->2]

[Skill tree Expanded to T1]

I let myself drop and rest on the floor. Some of the wolves we defeated left me close to leveling up, so that was enough to get me to level 4. I still needed one more level to unlock the skill Dara mentioned.

She seemed rather curious about it, especially since I was using a class that no one knew anything about. I was starting to get interested in what kind of skill I was about to get.