Monster Jousting - Chapter 123 (Patreon)

Epic Dexterity Skill Essence - Border of Blood: A Tyrant protects their border with an iron fist, and a sharpened blade. No-one can escape the border. Not even the creator. In the animal kingdom, only one can remain king. Only one can become a Tyrant.

Noah was stuck in thought. It was a Dexterity Skill. From the Skills he had, two were Rare. [Shadowed Presence], and [Shadow Blink].

He had the option to upgrade one of them. But what change would take place? That was the thought occupying his mind.

With it altering Shadow Blink, would it create a line where he moved to? And what about Shadowed Presence? How would the Border of Blood Skill change it?

It required some more thinking. But he couldn’t do that here. With the Tyrant dead, other monsters would arrive to take its place. It was an ideal hunting ground after all.

In addition to the new Dexterity Skill, Noah obtained a whole lot of different Fragments. He had more than enough to fully form a bunch of Rare stones, and he was getting very close to obtaining enough for an Epic one.

But he still hadn’t obtained a Legendary shard. Not even a tiny nugget of one, even. Whatever had the chance to drop it, clearly wasn’t any monster he had encountered so far. Would they start dropping at Level one-hundred and fifty? Two-hundred?

Noah stopped thinking about it. They had to move. Placing the new Epic Skill Essence into his pocket, they retreated back into the jungle. It was a short, careful walk back to the outskirts of the city. Noah dumped his bag inside the stone house, then turned to leave.

Pillow emerged from around the building. He flinched at the sight of Noah. “You’re alive.”

Noah beamed a smile in response. “I am. Good to see you well and kicking. How was the trek through the jungle? Hot, right?”

“If you’re trying to make me feel bad, it ain’t gonna work,” Pillow said, waving his hand in dismissal. “I’ve managed to stay alive on my own all this time. You’re not gonna change that.”

“That’s a shame,” Noah said. “I was hoping to strike up a deal.”

“A deal?” Pillow perked up.

“Nah, I better not,” Noah said. “Travelling with me is dangerous. I wouldn’t want you to risk your life over some Rare fragments, Grace Coins, and whatever else I have in my pockets.”

“Rare shards? Grace Coins?” Pillow cleared his throat. “Actually, I was testing you before.”

Noah scoffed. “Testing me?”

“I was!” Pillow continued, “See, if you died back there, then that meant you were weak. If I followed you without knowing how capable you were, that’s a good way to die an early death. I haven’t been alive till now without learning a thing or two.”

“I know,” Noah said. “I didn’t expect you to stay and fight either. But now it’s different.” Noah grabbed hold of Pillow’s tensed shoulders. On instinct, he was about to bite down on Noah’s hand, but he managed to stop himself.

Noah ignored the strange reaction as he pulled the little black panda to the front of the city. Noah gazed into its depths. There, the enormous castle walls loomed. “Now that I’ve defeated that Tyrant, I may be able to receive information on how to get beyond those walls.”

“From the ghost fisher?”

“Yeah,” Noah said. He had mentioned that he had received the Master Fishers mission before.

“You sure about that?” Pillow asked. “That monster was terrifying. And that’s on the outermost outskirts of this damned island. Priest only knows what’s lurking behind those walls. You ready for that?”

“Who knows?” Noah said. “I’ve managed to this point. I don’t intend to turn lazy now. There’s so much more I want to obtain. To achieve. If I slow down now then what’s the point?”

“You really are crazy.”

Noah shrugged, then asked, “Who’s Priest?”

“What?” Pillow tilted his head at the question.

“You said ‘Priest only knows’,“ Noah said. ”Usually you say that in reference to a god, no? I take it this Priest is your god?”

Pillow burst out laughing. He held his stomach and slapped his knees. “Of course not! It’s because priests have a knack for shit leaving their mouths. Only a priest knows, because they can make anything up. What’s next anyway?”

Noah scoffed, shaking his head at the panda’s words. He had been to the church a few times during his times on the street. Sometimes it was the only decent place for some warm food and a roof over his head that didn’t leak.

The father at the time; John, seemed to be a good man. He wouldn’t preach to him. Rather, the old man talked about sports, and whatever else was going on within the city at the time. It was as if he was so confident that Noah would turn to God on his own free will. Well he didn’t. God didn’t take kindly to those who steal. Or more recently… killed.

There were times where he was curious about belief. But unlike Maera with her goddess, there were never any signs. If he couldn’t see it, then it was impossible to believe. Who knows, maybe because of all of this there is some form of god back on Earth?

Noah shook his head. He petted Gluttony's head, then leapt onto his sizable back. He looked down at Pillow, and said, “First I need to talk to Master Fisher. If you could create a charted map of the city, that would be a great help for the next step.”

“I don’t need a map. I am the map.” Pillow tapped his head. “But we should level up before heading deeper. There’s things in there that would mangle that Tyrant monster into scrap pieces of flesh in seconds.” Pillow shivered at the recollection. It seemed the little panda wasn’t lying. He didn’t even have that reaction when he spotted the Tyrant.

“Alright,” Noah said. “Once I’m back we’ll have to find Thraz, then we’ll get to work. If you could try and find him in the meantime, and make sure that he isn’t dead, that would be ideal.”

“If he is, should I bring back his remains?”

“He won’t be,” Noah said, turning around to face the pier. “That dragonborn isn’t easy to kill.”

Noah returned to the Master Fisher. He was singing a little tune as he cast his fishing rod into the shoal of fish that had arrived a moment ago. Of course, no fish bit the line. It didn’t exist.

“How’s the scenery?” Noah asked, standing next to the ghost as he gazed into the waters. Now and then, a fish would nibble at the surface. Ripples formed in the water. Master Fisher was right. It looked much better than before.

“Splendid,” Master Fisher said, casting his rod once more. “It wasn’t too much of a problem, I hope?”

“I had to invest a little, but it was a smooth operation. Thankfully.”

Master Fisher nodded in understanding. “You need to relish success. It’s like a watery painting. Will it dry up in a few minutes, hours, days, or weeks? It’s difficult to tell. Well, I suppose you’re after your reward?”

“I am,” Noah said as he turned to the ghostly figure. Master Fisher turned his head to him. His eyes peered into his soul.

“That’s a shitty Fishing Profession,” Master Fisher said in undisguised contempt.

“Sometimes you’ve gotta make do with what you’ve got.” Noah scoffed, not taking offence. Story of my life.

“Wrong,” Master Fisher said matter of factly. “I refused my first Profession. I refused the second time I received it. And I refused the tenth, the twentieth, and beyond. Do you know why?”

Noah thought for a moment before saying, “Because you didn’t like the variant?”

Just like with his Colossal Fishing. He was quite happy with it, as it helped him in obtaining bigger fish. Which usually meant that they were stronger, so they were higher levelled. That’s why he was so happy that he received it, and why Master Fisher most likely refused the Paths. But to refuse it more than twenty times… Why couldn’t he just trade for the one he wanted?

And that’s exactly what Noah asked him.

“I didn’t like the variant. I didn’t like the rarity,” Master Fisher said, becoming angrier as he continued, “I sure as hell don’t believe in poisoning my bloodline.”

Noah tilted his head. What was he talking about? Poisoning his bloodline? “What do you mean?”

“You don’t know?” Master Fisher asked. “What the hell are they teaching the kids of this generation? Are they filling their brains with mush?”

“Just social media, actually,” Noah said. “That’s enough to rot anyone's brain.”

“Social what?”

“It’s nothing,” Noah said, “So poisoning?”

Master Fisher reeled in his rod, as if acting that he actually caught a fish. He didn’t. “Listen up. You might not think there is a difference in trading versus naturally obtaining a Skill Essence, Pathstone, or Profession Stone through your actions, but there is. And it’s enormous. When you obtain something with your own actions, a connection between you, and it, is born. If you receive something through trading and absorb it into your body, it is like a foreign object. You may be able to obtain its benefits, but you will never master it. Taking a Skill to the peak when it truly belongs to you, is vastly different to upgrading a foreign Skill. It is what separates the strong from the truly mighty.”

Noah was stuck in thought. His words were indeed powerful. If what he was saying was true, then he had to rethink his strategy of absorbing the Border of Blood Skill. Did he want an immediate power boost? Or should he focus on the future. To truly reach the peak.

That was the dilemma Noah was stuck with.

Of course, Master Fisher may be lying. That was a risk he had to take. Seeing the prideful ember burning within the old ghost’s eyes, Noah found it difficult to find a reason why he would lie about this.

“What about the descendants of powerful families?” Noah asked. “I’ve seen how strong they can get through sponsors. From the advantage they receive, they pull ahead of others. Their pace never slows.”

“And what experts have you truly witnessed?” Master Fisher asked.

It was true. The only experts he had witnessed belonged to Earth. During the trial at Ubos. From his time here, it was obvious there were beings that held far better qualities than humans. Maera, for example. She had the guidance of a supernatural Goddess. And she was real.

“Mastering your naturally given Skills, or taking a steady pace through evolving your Pathstones, is the only way to achieve Godhood.”

“Godhood?” Noah perked up.

Master Fisher waved his hand. “That’s not something a bean sprout needs to worry about.”

Noah nibbled on his lips. Shit, Noah thought. Had he ruined his future by forcefully evolving his Dexterity Pathway from Uncommon to Epic? It was a huge jump. Who knows what damage it had done to his internal system?

“Enough questions, I don’t have a lot of time remaining,” Master Fisher said. “Let’s give you your reward, shall we?”