Levels and Evolutions

After the twenty minutes are up, we gather around the abandoned carcass of the basher. "So," I ask, nudging it with my foot. "Do you guys think we should bother taking this thing with us?"

If it was just me, I'd stick it in my ring and take it along no questions asked. But I'm not sure if I want to reveal the fact that I have a spatial storage device to them yet. Especially after I blew up on Millie earlier.

Even now she's not looking at me, making me mentally sigh. 'I get that I probably didn't need to threaten her, but I feel like it was a justified reaction! I mean, come on. Why the abyss would you think introducing radiation into a world with mana would be a good idea? If the two mixed, the results could be cat-astrophic!'

"Every bit of money helps, so we might as well take what's usable. Even if the meat is the only stuff usable, we can cook some while we're out here. Save some money we'd otherwise spend on dinner." Elva shrugs.

Kodian nods in agreement and draws a knife to start dismantling it while Millie looks at her in surprise. "You eat rabbits? I thought that elves were vegetarians?"

Elva groans at that. "Why the abyss do humans always say that? Yes, elves can get more nutrients from plant-based food than humans. Just like beastkin can get more nutrients from meat than humans."

"What about dwarves and demons?" I ask, getting a shrug in reply.

"Don't know. Demons are rarely seen outside of their own territories due to all the bias against them. Anyone who hasn't met one probably thinks they're all evil and drink the blood of the innocents or something like that." She waves it off like it's not important. Which I guess it isn't. Yet.

"As for dwarves? I never really cared enough to find out. I only know the human and beastkin thing because it was in the book I checked out. 'Common Misconceptions between races'. The author apparently didn't think they were important enough to research."

She taps her chin. "Or maybe it's because dwarves are rare for Somewhere. I think the only ones around are a part of the Crimson Hearts"

"Dismantling's done. Which means we should get on with our hunting." Kodian stands, putting the basher parts in his bag. Though really the only parts he got were the meat and horn.

'We'll need to make sure Millie watches her songs while we're hunting.' Catching my eyes, the girl in question flinches, quickly looking away. 'If she decides to stay, that is.'

As we search for more monsters to hunt, something nags at me. But whatever it is stays out of reach. At least until we come across another basher that Kodian kills.

He raises his staff like a javelin, and I watch with keen interest as the end of the metal staff changes shape, becoming sharp and pointed. Launching it forward with a grunt of effort, it slices through the air and cleanly impales the basher through the back. Apparently it pierced it's heart since it gives only a short shriek of pain before falling silent. It's only as we walk to it that I realize what's been bothering me.

"I didn't get XP for that." I frown. "Nor for the basher Millie tortured to death." Ignoring her protests that exploding small pieces of something until it dies not being torture, Kodian explains.

"'Course not. Didn't do anything, didn't get anything. Though having XP from bashers split wouldn't affect me too much. Darn things are barely a drop in the bucket now." He sighs at the thought of the group hunting the low level monsters for the foreseeable future.

Not noticing his dejection, I nod my head. "Yeah, I can see how needing to kill a couple hundred of them would be annoying." He gives me a weird look, causing my ears to tilt in confusion. "What?"

It's Elva who answers. "You know bashers rarely give you more than sixty XP, right?" I nod, though my confusion doesn't go away, causing the two experienced people to blink at me in surprise.

"While levels one through ten only take the level times a hundred, ten through fifty take level times five hundred." Kodian explains, the reason for their looks becoming clear.

"What!? That's like…" Some mental math gives me an amount. "Seventeen thousand XP? That's a lot!" I pause as a new thought strikes me. "Wait, doesn't that mean that the Pillars of Somewhere are actually pretty weak if bashers are the most common monster around here?" Kodian barks out a laugh.

"Ha! Don't count on it. If a basher somehow manages to get past level twenty, being an E-Rank, they evolve into a D-Rank monster called a horny bunny. The nub on their head grows into a full horn, and I've seen them pierce clean through iron armor. Though they do have issues pulling out afterwards."

Millie and I share some giggles at the name, as well as how he describes the monster. The first thing we've done together after the earlier incident. It's good that she's calmed down and is starting to put it behind her. Either ignoring our laughter or unaware of it, he continues.

"That's not even mentioning the goblin tribes. They're closer to people with how their levels work, gaining classes and class skills at level ten. Though it has been said they evolve into a specialization for their class at level fifty."

I nod as we reach the basher and Kodian pulls out his weapon before starting to dismantle it. "So levels one through ten are level times one hundred, ten through fifty are times five hundred. Then monsters evolve every…" I mutter. "F-Rank… E-Rank… Ten levels times rank? Wait, so what would be an F-Rank?" Before he can respond, my mind catches on another thing he'd said. "And what are class skills? You talked like they were something better than what I have access to."

Unseen by me, he rolls his eyes at my barrage of questions. "Yeah, rank times ten for evolutions. Gain your class at ten, then specialize it at fifty. Heard tell that you can do it again after hitting a hundred, but don't know anyone who's gotten there. And class skills are separate from the general skills you have now. Same restrictions though."

Waiting for a moment, when he doesn't continue I poke him in the back of the head. When he still ignores me I look at Elva pleadingly. Can't look at Millie, she's as lost as I am! Looking at her out of the corner of my eye, I see she has a dazed look on her face.

'Probably more than I am, actually.'

Chuckling at my antics, Elva decides to finish the explanation. "Class skills are gained from your class. You'll get them when you do things that align with your class, though unlike general skills you can't refuse them. Only replace the ones you have when your slots are full. Thankfully you don't have to wait for the level rest."

Another unfamiliar term! Seeing me pout, she clarifies with a smile. "The level where you can change out your general skills is called a level rest. Anyways, after getting your class you'll have seven general skills, and ten class skills. Though if you're lucky, your class skills can synergize and merge into a more powerful skill. When this happens people refer to them as having tiers. Two skills combining, tier one. Three skills, tier two. And so on."

I nod my head along with her words. They're clear and easy to follow. If you don't get it, then too bad for you, Millie! Luckily she seems to have followed along. At least somewhat.

"By the way," I say. "Kodian keeps talking about local goblin tribes, but I haven't seen any sign of them since we've been out here. What's up with that?"

Before I can get my answer, an arrow plants itself in the bloody and half-skinned carcass of the basher, splashing a bit of blood onto Kodian's face. Looking around, I see a small and dark green being with large floppy ears and a large underbite holding a bow.

Having missed its shot, it raises its bow and lets out an undulating, high-pitched screech and goblins rise behind it. Then more rise. And more.

Looking at the horde now facing us, I gulp. "Looks like I spoke too soon. At least we'll get to work on our teamwork today."