Ank

“And that’s what happened”, embarrassed, I finished explaining how we won against the horde of insects… and why we came back to that house, each with only a single [HP] left.

“Oh, my!”, the older woman said, not surprised at all, but excited by the story. Finishing healing me, she closed her fists, shaking from head to toe, and said: “All the chances against oneself! An opponent many times stronger than the young adventurers! Running away not being an option!”, she finally got up from her seat, behind me, and dived into the locked room. Coming back a few instants later, equipped with her platinum cooking tools, she added: “This deserves a commemoration!”

As Taffy started to talk nonstop about how the story remembered her of the “old times”, and about her own battles against the armies “Voiders” alongside her husband (what was “voider”? And, “armies”? Was she contracted as a soldier by someone before?), I looked at my sister.

And for the first time in… a long time, we laughed. I don’t know what I was expecting from the older woman, but it surely wasn’t a “commemoration”.

The older adventurer looked back, and smiled at the two of us giggling, but didn’t say a word.

That night’s dinner was the most delicious I tasted since the raid at my village, and I was sure Hunah felt the same way. I even felt a new appreciation towards the weird black tea.

“Okay, don’t be mean now, and stop hiding it from me: how many [levels] you two got?”, the retired adventurer asked.

“16”, I said, resting my cheek on my hand.

“We’re both [Level: 20] now”, Hunah added, crossing her fingers behind her head and using them as an improvised pillow while stretching on the chair.

“With just 20 undead, I had more than enough to create a type of unliving wall around us and control the flow of enemies to a manageable degree”, I concluded our explanation.

“[Level: 20], hu? Oh, I still can remember the first 100 [levels]… The power increase from one to another is just so huge, it feels like you’re not even the same person, right?”

“Y- Your [Level] is higher than 100?”, I asked in disbelief.

For what the older woman simply laughed and waved her hand, replying:

“Oh, my, never ask a woman what is her [level]!”

I didn’t think this was the case, but apparently I was really underestimating adventurers…

“Well, yeah. From [level: 1] to the [level: 2], someone’s power can more than double”, Hunah said.

“New [Skills] or [Spells]?”, the older woman asked again.

I went first:

“Four more points in [Summoner Control], maxing it out at (Llvl.5); my non-intelligent summons are as controllable as they can be now, but they still need to hear my orders. Also, I also maxed out the [Summon Longevity] [Passive Spell] at (Lvl.5), and now my creatures can stand by my side for 6 hours. Plus I unlocked almost all the [class branches] I could for now: [Flying Branch], [Aquatic Branch], [Beast Branch], [Humanoid Branch], and finally [Weapons Branch].”

My new skills were: [Summon: Kestrel], from the [flying branch]; [Summon: Chullachaki] from [Humanoid Branch], [Summon: Dog] from [Beast Branch], [Summon: Piranha] from [Aquatic Branch], [Partially Animate] from he [Necro Branch], [Summon: Deinonychus] from my first branch, the [Dino Branch], and finally, I had an idea and chose [Summon: blowgun] from [Summon Weapons], which, just like I wanted, allowed me to summon a [Blowgun Chullachaki].

Hunah listed after me:

“Similarly, first I unlock all the branches I could, increasing my efficiency in said categories in 5% each: [Spear Proficiency], [Shield Proficiency], [Bow, Arrows, and Darts Proficiency], [Throwing Proficiency], [Grenades Proficiency], [Consumption Proficiency], [Medium Armor Proficiency], [Heavy Armor Proficiency], [Trap Proficiency], [Knuckle Dusters Proficiency], [Knives and Daggers Proficiency], [Club Proficiency], [Flail Proficiency], [Axe Proficiency], and [Sword Proficiency]. Though, differently from mister magic man here, I didn’t unlock any fancy named power with my last point, but invested again in [Mace Proficiency], bringing it to level: 3, and increasing my damage with the weapon in 15%, and learning one more movements with it.”

Finally, I opened my [status]’ general and attributes sections, configured them to “public”, and showed my numbers to retired adventurer:

[Name: Ank

Race: Half (Messenger + Filled Teeth)

General:

Level: 20

Class: Newbie Apprentice Summoner

HP: 200/200

MP: 485/485

SP: 105/105

Attributes:

Strength:21

Resistance: 40

Magic: 97

Perception:40]

Once again, Hunnas followed my example and showed her own numbers:

[Name: Hunah

Race: Half (Messenger + Filled Teeth)

General:

Level: 20

Class: Wannabe Item Expert

HP: 200/200

MP: 105/105

SP: 485/485

Attributes:

Strength: 97

Resistance: 40

Magic: 21

Perception:40]

…We really hopped the [Class] names would change for the better soon.

“Hm… Not bad! You two can start to explore the intermediary section of the forest, for sure!”, the older woman said, clapping her hands, and smiling.

And my sister and left out a deep sigh.

Between searching the [Chullachakis]’ nest, thinking about how to invest our points, discussing with the older adventurer, and exploring the jungle, one month had come and gone away, and it looked like only then we would be able to start to explore some deeper part of a random jungle. How long until we reach the adventurer’s guild?

…How long until we killed the [Gods]?