Chapter 196: Skill Born of Rage

Luke sat at the table in his hideout, surrounded by scraps of paper and hand-sketched notes. He’d managed to scavenge some basic supplies from the city, ink, old parchment, scraps of cloth, and now, after days of careful observation and cautious scouting, his map was finally starting to make sense.

The forest, as far as he could tell, curved around the city in a giant U-shape. That meant he could continue advancing through the outskirts, hugging the treeline and avoiding attention. It was safer that way. No curious Midnight Watchers. No Beast Lord sniffing around. The capital was massive, so massive that the chance of crossing paths with that monster was low. Still, Luke wasn’t interested in testing his luck. Not yet. Not while he was still this weak.

Leveling up was the obvious goal. But it wasn’t the only way to get stronger. Professions offered slower, safer growth. Tending his garden, crafting potions, cooking, everything fed into the system. He earned experience for every seed that sprouted, every brew that bubbled. Even without combat, his stats were slowly climbing. Bonus points from race level-ups let him funnel strength where it mattered. It wasn’t glamorous, but it worked.

He glanced over his map one last time, made a few corrections, then returned to the task at hand.

“How’s it going?” Artemis asked.

The cauldron beside him let out a quiet gurgle as steam rose in lazy tendrils. Luke knelt near the planter box, checking the soil with practiced care.

“If everything goes right, I’ll have a potion ready in a day or two,” he said, a flicker of excitement in his voice.

“A whole 33 HP healed?” Artemis teased, laughing.

Charlie was sitting quietly in the corner, struggling through another page of reading exercises. She was making slow progress, but progress nonetheless.

“Hey, 33 HP is a solid start,” Luke replied, trying to sound more confident than he felt.

Every part of the cycle fed another. Plants became potions. Potions earned him experience. Experience led to stats. The system was slow but efficient. The only downside was time—cultivation took patience.

“I’m also way better at cooking now,” he added. “Between the potions and the profession skills stacking up, I’m not half bad. With the right ingredients, I could probably make a lasagna. I used to follow online recipes back home.”

“I’d kill to taste that. Any treasure chests in sight yet?” Artemis asked.

“Nothing. No sign of loot chests. Not even a flicker of event lights at night.”

So far, the capital felt barren in that regard. There were no signs of Reward Events like in the Wild Zone. He couldn’t say with absolute certainty that they didn’t exist here, but his gut told him otherwise.

“This area wasn’t supposed to be accessed until after people had conquered at least two fortresses,” Luke said as he sifted through the dirt. “Two fortresses means two Safe Zones. Weekly loot chests. A solid foundation to build strength. With enough effort, you could snowball—farming orcs, hunting beasts, grinding for gear. The Midnight Wardens are like the final test. A way of saying, ‘If you can kill them, you’re ready for the capital.’”

That was his theory anyway. The tutorial’s first phase wasn’t easy, but it wasn’t impossible either. It looked brutal on the surface, but Luke saw the design behind the madness. It was a training ground. Mission orbs kept people moving. Fortresses gave them safety. Invasions ensured they never got too comfortable. The system pushed survivors to grow or die trying.

“It’s like a video game,” Artemis said. “After that first area, a full expedition of high-level players should be the ones coming here. Armed to the teeth with gear, potions, and powerful abilities. That’s what it would take to bring down a giant serpent. But no—you’re the idiot who strolled into this place while still weak and actually plans to kill it anyway.”

“You don’t have to rub it in…”

“Someone has to knock some sense into you.”

He let out a sigh. “I have a plan, alright? Now that I’m starting to understand how the capital works—how this half of the tutorial functions—I’ll keep exploring until I find the third mechanism and level up my profession. There’s no way to speed it up. Unlike a blacksmith, I have to wait for plants to grow, and that gives me time to scout the city. So here’s how it goes: I explore, I find the mechanism, I level up my profession, get a bunch of bonus attributes, keep taking out isolated monsters like those statues or that minotaur… and then I head back to the Wild Zone. Simple enough, right?”

“Nothing’s ever simple with you, Luke. Right, Charlie?”

Charlie wasn’t sure if she should nod or shake her head.

“It’s a solid plan, guys. I give it a month. If I stick to it, I’ll be way stronger. I go back, unlock the second fortress, get myself a second Safe Zone, hand it over to Allison and the Haven. Then I gear up with healing potions from the events while thinning out some Midnight Wardens. After that, I return here, kill the giant snake, and boom—me, Allison, and maybe a few trusted folks go activate the third mechanism. One move, everything solved.”

“By gardening,” Artemis said flatly.

“Yes. By gardening. I just need to level up my profession even more. I already took out one of those statue things without breaking a sweat. Sure, they don’t have the enchanted armor that a Midnight Warden does, but they’re still level 45 monsters. When I come back, me and Charlie will be a proper powerhouse.”

And with any luck, he’d recruit his second servant along the way. Luke kept working the soil when the notification appeared:

*Your profession [Botanist of Mother Freya] has reached Level 18! (Bonus attribute points acquired:+2 Str, +2 Agi, +2 End, +2 Vit, +2 Per, +2 Int, +4 Free Points)*

“Speaking of plants…” he said with a grin, eyes lighting up at the surge of stats. And those extra four free points? Always a welcome gift.

***

Luke stood in the forest, eyeing the old stone structure just ahead. Charlie was beside him, sword in hand. The deeper he pushed into the woods, the harder it became to return to the cave quickly, so this time he’d brought her along. With her by his side, he could venture farther without worrying about retreat routes.

The moment he stepped forward, Charlie raised a hand in front of him. “Let me go first”.

Without hesitation, she activated Doomblade. Her sword flared with a cold gray aura as she moved ahead, clearing the way. They swept through the building room by room. It was empty. Luke pulled out a few supplies from his pocket dimension and got to work. He set a cauldron of hot liquid in a corner to cool on its own.

“It’s so ironic,” Artemis chimed in. “You’re the delicate damsel now, and she’s the one shielding you.”

He glanced toward the door. Charlie had already stepped outside.

“She’s really leaning into the whole ‘tank while I sneak around’ thing,” he muttered. “I swear she’s gotten even more protective lately.”

Turning his attention back to the cauldron, he focused. The potion brewing process was slow—painfully so—but this was all part of the plan. His goal wasn’t quantity. It was quality. If he was going to spend days on a single healing potion, it better do more than restore a pitiful 33 HP. Honestly, even his Basic Blood Regeneration skill could outperform that.

Stolen novel; please report.

But this wasn’t just about convenience. It was about having an emergency heal he could rely on. There were limits, of course. Healing potions weren’t some infinite well of recovery. According to Kalysto and the books he’d studied, Rank F had a strict regeneration cap: 1,000.

If he ever drank a potion that tried to restore more than that at once, it wouldn’t heal him—it’d kill him, or at best, count as raw damage. And it wasn’t just about individual potions. Once that 1,000 threshold was hit in a short period, whether through a single potion or several, the body locked itself into a kind of cooldown. No more healing would work until it passed.

Didn’t matter if it was ten potions that each healed 100, or a mix of stamina and HP regen—the total was what mattered. Go over the line, and your body overloaded. Still, Luke wasn’t anywhere near crafting something that strong. Not yet. But he was working on it.

***

The sun had barely risen when Luke spotted them—three statues standing eerily still among the trees.

They’re really starting to explore this area. He glanced toward the barrier behind him. Anyone wandering in from the Wild Zone is in for a nasty surprise.

Not that anyone would realize he’d crossed the gate—unless, of course, the entire tutorial had been notified. From this side, the barrier acted like a mirror. He couldn’t see through to the Wild Zone, and no one from the other side could see him.

Three statues stood silently ahead, their blank faces pointed toward nothing.

“Hey, Charlie. Looks like it’s time for your reward,” he called.

If Luke’s plan worked, he’d lure as many statues as he could far from the city, wait for daylight to freeze them in place, and then pick them off one by one. A personal XP farm.

Charlie didn’t need convincing. She lit up her sword with a glowing aura, activated her abilities, and brought the blade down in a wide arc. The nearest statue cracked apart like cheap plaster, crumbling to pieces. It toppled backward into another one. Nothing happened.