Chapter 300 - Return to Wispan (Patreon)

Reivyn and the others had already finalized their preparations over the previous few days. That didn’t mean it wasn’t prudent to do one final check before heading out. They verified they had all the necessary gear and spares to sustain an extended period of time in the wilds.

Refix carried a map with clear directions leading to the teleport circle that could bypass the Wilderness and lead them back to Wispan. It was a bit of a was off from any reasonable location one could expect to emerge from the Wilderness if they entered through the main highway like their Party had. It was possible to accidentally stumble upon the teleport circle, but just incredibly unlikely.

I bet if my Luck Stat was high enough, and I was searching for it, circumstances would have led me to it, Reivyn thought. I don’t know how high of a Luck Stat would be required, but I bet I’m not far off from it.

I wonder how much of that influenced our finding the natural treasures on our expedition? It was probably why we found so many of the flowers inside the Dungeon. Does the System scan our Stats and assign us an instance that has what we’re looking for in it? Or is it more esoteric than that?

As far as Reivyn knew, there weren’t many treatises on Luck that actually had anything of value to say. There were many different volumes from scholars over the years on pretty much any topic one could think of. Whether it held any real information or not was another thing.

Reivyn put the thoughts on his Luck Stat to the back of his mind. There was no reason to dwell on it. It might impact their trip to the teleport circle, but there was no way to predict how or even verify that whatever happened was because of the Stat in the first place. Then one had to take into account the Luck Stats of everyone else in the Party. Another topic he had no idea on.

Stop it. Reivyn silently berated himself before he could spiral out of control with nonsense questions with no way to answer.

Refix glanced at Reivyn, and he could swear his father was listening in on his internal monologue based on the smirk on his face.

“Alright, we’re good to go,” Refix said. He held the map up, glanced at the horizon, oriented himself in the right direction, and casually waved forward. “This way.”

The teleport circles to bypass the Wilderness could technically connect to any other “close” destination like the capital city teleporters, but they weren’t used that way. Sometimes people warped to other Tier 5 Regions, but most of the time, it wasn’t necessary.

Resources were plentiful for the most part, and unique treasures were rare, and requiring one even rarer. Sure, one could find a use for a rare resource, but except for extraordinary exceptions, there was no need for them. The same things could be accomplished with what was available universally through the Regions.

Come to think of, I might actually have been one of those extraordinary exceptions, Reivyn realized. If I hadn’t lucked into gaining the ability to Siphon Experience to my Bloodline, it’s so potent, it might have needed the higher-rarity resources to unlock the next stage. Guess I’m just… Lucky.

Reiyvn snorted to himself as his mental track seemed to veer back to the subject he was trying to stop thinking about. He turned his focus outward and scanned the horizon. There were no goblin hordes, monsters, or ferocious beasts anywhere close to the Outpost, but it kept him busy and mind free from going down useless tangents.

The hills on the outward side of the Outpost were much more gentle and less frequent than when moving toward the mountains. They weren’t so high up in elevation that they could see a tremendous distance, either. His vision terminated at the tops of trees peaking over the distant hills.

The weather was perfect for a long trek in the wilds. There were just enough clouds in the sky to keep the sun from battering down on them, but not enough to hint at an impending downpour. It was inevitable they would end up slogging through the rain with how long they planned on being outside of civilization, but at least they didn’t have to start off that way. They wouldn’t have changed their plans if it had been raining.

The first leg of the journey was uneventful. They passed by one patrol of Adventurers, but they simply waved from afar. There was no need to meet up with them, and the patrol didn’t make any overtures to head in their direction. It must have been different with them heading away from the Outpost instead of toward it from the Wilderness.

There were no roads or paths. The area around the Outpost was clear and open, so there was no clear path carved through a forest or anything like that, and the travel to and from the teleport circle was sparse enough that the natural footsteps of travelers over time didn’t clear away the flora.

That being said, it wasn’t difficult to orient themselves in the proper direction based on the map. If Refix had a lower Map Skill and no other Skills that helped with finding his way, such as Skills like Tracking, then it might have been more difficult in such an open space.

That being said, there were landmarks they could use even with the open area. The mountains behind them were one, the Outpost itself, the forests in the distant vicinity… They would normally be difficult to use in such a way, but they were traveling such a far distance that the landmarks being so far away, and behind them, didn’t hinder Refix all that much in determining their direction.

It wasn’t until they were a couple of hours away from the distant treeline that they ran into the first group of goblins. By now they had plenty of experience fighting the green nuisances, and they offered no trouble for the Party.

Reivyn resumed his position as a Caster in their formation. He experimented a bit with different ways of using his new Affinity Abilities, but the fights weren’t long enough or challenging enough to get wild with anything. After shuffling through his available Affinities, he found Mud, surprisingly, was the most effective.

The goblins had a propensity to try and flee if it looked like they would be overwhelmed, and they would always summon more of their kind until an entire army of green monsters surrounded them. Ice and Plasma drained away their resources, but they had enough that it didn’t really have a noticeable effect on their performance.

Mud Mana, though, caused them to visibly slow. They became lethargic, and when they turned to run away, instead of sprinting, they stumbled around like they were drunk. This made them extremely easy pickings at the end of each of their confrontations. They were unable to get away or put up any kind of effective resistance.

Reivyn could have achieved a similar result with Mud Mana before Transcending it by Casting directly at the ground and creating a mud field that was difficult to pass through, but the Transcendent Ability was far superior. A mud field would hinder his own melee Party members, and with the Transcendent Ability, he just had to strike them with a Mud Bolt in the back when they turned to flee and leave it.

The effect didn’t last forever, so it wouldn’t work if he used the Bolt at the beginning of the fight. It would still negatively affect the goblins, but their own bloodlust at that point was enough to overpower the Ability for the most part, and it would dissipate by the time they turned to flee. Waiting for their fear to overcome their bloodlust to hit them with the Ability was much more effective.

With an easy rotation figured out, the Party made much quicker progress away from the outpost than they had all those weeks prior when they first arrived. They just had to hold out in their fight for a few minutes, killing a few goblins during the actual fighting, and then once they turned to flee, it was pretty much over. They mowed through the small groups of goblins populating the Region with little hindrance.

The Experience gain for killing so many goblins wasn’t all that much. Sure, they were Tier 5 monsters, but they were nuisance creatures. They gave more Experience than the wild animals, but Reivyn also only received 35% of their total value. Refix and Ameliyn, as Tier 5’s themselves, hardly got any Experience at all.

Even though the Experience wasn’t that much, there were so many goblins between the Outpost and the teleport circle, Reivyn still managed to gain a Level, reaching Level 22.

[                                   Status                                      ]
[Name: Reivyn   Class:  Hero  Lvl 22             Age:    16 (21)]
[                                 Grand Arcanist                        ]
[                                 Fighter                                       ]
[Health:  16,280/16,280 (+310)  Stamina:  31,670/31,670 (+410)  Mana:  17,235/17,235 (+50)]
[Qi: 1,000 (T4/Li)]
[Physical Stats   Mental Stats ]
[STR:  1,639 (+10)     INT:     1,674 (+4)]
[VIT:   1,628 (+31)     MAG:   1,973 (+6)]
[DEX:  1,638 (+10)     CLA:    1,511 (+1)]
[CHA:  444 (+1)        PER:     1,400 (+1)]
[LUK:  437 (+1)]
[Bloodline: Lvl 1 Unknown 236,443/10,000,000,000]
[Experience: 2,083/30,600]

He ignored the 25% reduction in his Physical Stats and just focused on his base statistics. His reduced Physical Stats didn’t hinder his ability to hurt the bad guys with his Magic, so he didn’t pay it any mind. He just had to remember that it was there.

He placed his ten free Stat points in his Vitality to bring it closer to inline with his other Physical Stats. He always maintained as balanced a distribution of Stats as he could. His Class and Skills took full advantage of all of his Stats, so there was no reason to focus on any one over the others.

I’ll probably start investing my free Stat points in Intelligence once Vitality is brought up equal to Strength and Dexterity, Reivyn considered. It’s closer to my Physical Stats, but there’s really no way to close the gap with all of my Stats to my Magic Stat right now, so it makes more sense to keep it balanced against another Mental Stat instead of the whole.

300 points means thirty Levels of putting all of my free Stat points into it. That’s completely feasible, considering I’m Level 22 and there are 90 Levels in Tier 3. We’ll see what my Stat distribution looks like for my Tier 4 Class when I get there.

The Party entered the forest and continued their journey. Nothing really changed after entering the woods. There were slightly more goblin encounters, but that’s pretty much all there was out here on the outskirts of the Region. The most interesting monsters and beasts lived deeper in the Region. There were also larger populations of more powerful goblins like the hobgoblins and shamans, though, too.

It took the Party several days of trekking through woods, plains, small hills, marshy lands near rivers, and more woods to finally reach the teleport circle. It was in a clearing surrounded by wards to prevent monsters and other wildlife from encroaching too close. A small hut sat off to the side of the circle.

Calling it a hut was a bit of a misnomer. It was a small cabin in the woods, but it was clearly expertly made with superior materials. As they approached, Reivyn could spy with his Divine Sense that there were plenty of amenities and things to keep the volunteers manning the teleport circle entertained out here in the middle of nowhere.

As the Party stepped through the wards, the door opened and a middle-aged man stepped out with a wide smile.

“Ahh, guests!” He exclaimed, arms opened wide invitingly. “Welcome, welcome!”

“Yes, er, hello,” Refix was a bit taken aback by the enthusiasm of the stranger.

“Let me guess… you’re here to teleport somewhere?” The man cracked into an even wider smile. Reivyn didn’t see how it was possible, but there it was.

“Got it in one,” Refix played along, nodding his head.

“Excellent,” the man clapped his hands, rubbing them together. “Are you headed to a different Tier 5 Region, or back to Wispan?”

“Back to Wispan, please.”

“That can be arranged.”

The man headed to the teleport circle and started bustling about, checking things over with an experienced eye. He made small adjustments here and there, Kefira nodding along each time.

“Alright, you just need to provide the fee, and we’re good to go,” the man said, heading toward Refix.

They had already been informed of the fee, so it came as no surprise. It was one Skill Shard per person, so they each handed one over with no fuss. That was just the fee, or tax, for the privilege of using the Teleport service. They still had to fuel the Mana themselves.

Reivyn pulled out several Mana Stones that the man gleefully deposited in various locations around the circle to activate it. The cost was considerably less than what was required to travel between Tier 4 capital cities. For one, the distance wasn’t nearly as far. The tunnel also only had to be maintained for several minutes instead of an entire hour.

The Teleport tunnel sprung into existence. The Party members arrayed themselves in front of the open tear in Space. Refix turned to the man watching them with a confused expression as they psyched themselves up.

“Listen, there might be a, umm, monster that can sense us through the Dimensional Veil hunting us,” Refix explained. “It might be best for you to pack up and leave this area for a while. The local Adventurer’s Guild and the guards know of its presence, so I’m sure they wouldn’t hold you accountable for ‘abandoning’ your post for a few days.”

The man’s perpetual grin slid off his face as he listened to Refix, replaced by a frown.

“A monster that can track you through the veil, you say,” the man said. “That is troubling. What kind of monster are we talking about?”

“It’s one of those Dungeon traps that can be found in the Wilderness,” Refix said. The man’s face took on an even grimmer expression. “One of them followed us into a Dungeon instance at the Slime Mines. According to the System, it’s a fraction of a much larger Tier 8 monster.”

“Very well. You’ll forgive me if I don’t see you off?” The man was already walking back to his abode.

“Nope,” Refix called after the man. “Stay safe.”

“You, too!” The man waved back.

As Reivyn and the rest of the Party prepared to dash through the dimensional tunnel, the attendant retrieved a sack presumably containing his belongings, locked the door with a mundane key and what appeared to Reivyn’s Sight as some sort of Mana shell surrounding the little house, and he took off running into the woods.

Everyone shared a look with each other before turning to Refix. He nodded his head.

“Go,” he said.

The Party took off sprinting through the dimensional tunnel. It had been well over a month by now since their encounter with the meat monster, but they didn’t know if it was watching for them or not. It could possibly sense them right away even if it wasn’t actively scanning the veil near their area. Either way they needed to keep their exposure to a minimum.

They could only move as fast as their slowest member, but they were all decently high Level with high Stats. Kefira had the lowest Physical Stats of the Party, but she wasn’t slow. She was slower, but she could augment that with her Space Affinity. She didn’t actually set the base for their speed.

Ameliyn was actually the slowest Party member. Serilla’s Dexterity was lower than Ameliyn’s, but her Strength was much higher. One’s speed was determined between a combination of all three Physical Stats, it just weighed more heavily toward Dexterity than the other two.

Despite being the slowest Party member, she was a genuine Tier 5 Classer. The other Party members didn’t have to hold themselves back too much to not out pace her and leave her behind.

The dimensional tunnel blurred past them, and within only a couple of minutes, they were out the other side. The tunnel would persist for several more minutes because of the fuel from the Mana stones Reivyn provided. He didn’t know the exact amount that would be needed, but he intentionally overestimated so they wouldn’t get trapped in the veil and have to rely on Kefira to get out at some random point.

They exited in a similar clearing as the one they had entered in the Tier 5 Region. They could immediately tell the difference, though, as the ambient Mana was much thinner, and the “hut” was built with Tier 4 materials. It was still a decent little house from what Reivyn could spy as they dashed out of the tunnel.

There was another attendant waiting for their arrival. Of course he would know to expect someone to arrive when a portal sprung up within his circle. He was waiting with a calm expression until he laid eyes on Kefira.

“Your Highness!” He immediately bowed upon spotting her.

“None of that,” Kefira waved him off. “Go lock up and come with us.”

“I’m sorry?” The man half-stood from his bow before he asked with a confused expression.

“No time!” Kefira said. “Lock up and come with us, now!”

“Right away, m’Lady,” the man no longer hesitated.

He ran inside the hut, grabbed a bag just like the other attendant had done, locked up in a similar fashion, and joined the Party just behind Kefira.

“Let’s go!” Kefira commanded.

The Party began running again. The attendant suddenly thrust into their Party managed to easily keep up. Reivyn could perceive with his Senses that the man was Tier 5. Considering the traditions surrounding the entrance to the Upper Regions, it made sense that someone who already knew the truths of the matter would be in charge of attending the Teleport Circle on this side of the Wilderness.

“If I may ask, m’Lady,” the attendant asked, “where are we headed?”

“Away,” Kefira responded. “We don’t have an exact destination in mind, but we need to get away from the tear in the veil. There might be a monster chasing us, and we have no way to defeat it if it shows up.”

The man didn’t ask any other questions after that. He could tell how powerful the Party was with a glance, and if three Tier 5’s, four Tier 4’s, and a… wait, a Tier 3? The man shook his head after glancing at Reivyn. If they couldn’t defeat a monster that could show up, then the only option was to run away as fast as they could. A direct order from the princess of the empire wouldn’t get him in any trouble, so he had no qualms abandoning the Teleport Circle for now.

They ran for several minutes before they slowed their pace when there was no sign of anything chasing them right away. Kefira turned to the surprise addition to the Party.

“You don’t have to stay with us,” she explained. “Just in case, we’re going to head out into the countryside for a while, but I’ll write a letter to my parents about the situation. You can head to whatever place you know about to hang out for a while and send the missive off. You’ll be able to return to your duties soon enough.”

“Sounds good, m’Lady,” the man gave a shallow half-bow.

Kefira took a couple of minutes to pen a letter to her parents, handed it to the man, and they parted ways. After the man had left, everyone stood around looking at each other for a moment.

“Alright, I guess let’s go find something to do?” Refix asked. Everyone kind of gave a noncommittal shrug before turning and jogging away once more.