239: Village

The rest of the afternoon was spent with Crisplet boasting about his victory, and he somehow managed to get a quill from Jen and was now carrying it around like a fiery weapon.

The road itself was now a muddy mess, but all along the sides there was life growing, and the lingering snowbanks had long since vanished.

Bringing Sable closer to Jen, I asked something that had been bothering me.

“Do those quill beast’s attack often? They looked terrifying.”

Jen shook her head. “No, not at all. They are usually very passive and timid, and unless you attack them or their young, they’ll almost never attack, so it was very odd to see.”

My mind raced. There was no way those farmers would have started a fight with them. Maybe they were on the road and they tried to make them move, or maybe something else? There was that feeling of being watched, and I wanted to tell Jen and Liane about it, but I felt that was something best said privately.

As we crested a hill, the village came into view. It was very reminiscent of Rockhampton. Even from here I could see a central well in a town square with a longhouse just nearby that likely housed the village chief, and across from it sat another equally large building which I had to guess might have been the inn.

Surrounding it, I saw several small farms, and what appeared to be a mine leading into the side of a hill.

“Mining village?” I asked.

Jen nodded. “Mining and farming, and there is a small bit of forestry just a bit further north, but they mostly use it in the village itself.”

“Not the dark forest, right?” I asked.

Liane chuckled. “The dark forest is another week’s ride west from here, but there are plenty of scattered forests that are much less dangerous scattered around.”

I let out an embarrassed laugh. I really probably should have known that, especially since I technically managed the forest now. Part of that should have been at least looking at a map and knowing what exactly that encompassed.

I’m sure Milo would have something. I’d ask him tonight.

While I had some time to kill, I went over my notifications. It had become a daily thing to clear them now, as the flow of experience was almost constant, and, truth be told, part of me was worried how the system would evolve from that. I didn’t want my class to turn into some form of street vendor or shop.

Notifications:

You have earned 25 experience for making an enjoyable meal

…

You have earned 100 bonus experience for a buff used in combat

…

You have earned 50 bonus experience for healing someone with your meal

…

You have reached Level 33 in Arcane Chef

You have +2 unspent stat points

I had gained two levels and now had sixteen unspent points. I really should spend some, and part of me was saying wait for Milo! But equally, there had been something that bothered me. I was using a skill that I was supposed to notice things with, and I had basically no perception.

So surely, if I got more, it would help my foraging ability, right?

Deciding to just do it, I put two points into endurance, bringing that up to thirty-six, then fourteen points into perception, bringing that up to twenty-two.

I even closed my eyes as I did it, just in case it would have some drastic effect on my vision and knock me out or something stupid.

This didn’t go unnoticed by Liane, however. “What did you do?”

“I just spent some of my unspent points. I’ve gained a few levels recently,” I explained, eyes still shut.

“How many points did you just spend? And in what?” Jen asked sternly.

I let out a nervous laugh. “I, uh, spent sixteen points, but I put fourteen in perception.”

I heard Liane repeat me in a whisper. “Sixteen points…”

“Trevor… what level are you right now?” Jen asked, sounding confused.

I felt Crisplet pushing across pride and happiness, however.

“Uh, I hit thirty-three at some stage today,” I replied happily.

“WHAT?” Liane yelled.

It was so loud I heard the merchant moving in the wagon, and I presume looking out.

“Sorry! It’s nothing,” Jen said, clearly to Paro, who always sat at the back.

There was a hiss. “You’re already thirty-three? What the hell, Trevor?” Jen said.

Stolen novel; please report.

“At the rate he’s earning experience, he’ll out-level us within a few months,” Liane laughed.

I tried opening one eye slowly, then fully.

Looking around, it didn’t hurt like I feared and wasn’t giving me a headache, but everything felt sharper, and I was already kicking myself for neglecting these stats.

“Feeling alright?” Jen asked.

I nodded. “Everything seems fine. Everything looks sharper.”

“That makes sense. You’ll also notice when it gets dark tonight you’ll see better then too, and if we were not surrounded by hills right now, you’d see farther as well,” she said happily.

“I’m guessing it’s not normal for someone to have so many stats, though?” I asked, hoping Hari wouldn’t tell me off later for being stupid.

Jen shrugged. “It is absolutely a lot of stats, but several classes out there don’t have predetermined stats. They just get everything as unspent. It wouldn’t be completely unusual for them to stock up on some stats.”

For the rest of the journey to the village, I was just looking around, enjoying being able to see the plants on the ground more clearly. Everything from flower buds to leaves, everything was far more crisp than the blur from before.

I barely noticed when Milo came down.

“We’ll be arriving soon. We may need to stay out-of-town if there is no room at the inn, but it won’t be a problem,” Milo said happily.