A million mana would be plenty useful right about now
looking at the tenth panter of the night falling, Aki admitted that no, he was not going to get to level 100 by just sitting there and practicing magic.
He was now a level 61 apprentice mage who had over thirty rank three beasts to his tally of kills, and it was fucking ridiculous how his traps kept being efficient even after 24 hours. When he'd come back from his sleep there was only one big cat sleeping on the clearing, only a bite taken out of each corpse.
Aki had previously estimated he'd be able to easily get ten to fifteen jobs to max level in this out of the way forest, but practicing magic in here was practically impossible, leaving him in a loop. He needed levels on his magic skills to make a proper base, but he needed a proper base and resources to get those levels.
The young man groaned as he admited that he'd not be able to reach the standard of a C-rank adventure with much magic. The apprentice magician job was still a requirement for unlocking plenty of others, so obtaining it was not exactly the worst choice, but he was not so sure he'd be able to garner much XP with the magician job if he kept killing things like this, nevermind his wall had not been surpassed yet.
It was a surprinsingly exact feeling, if he chose the magician job he'd not break through until he hit level 52, but another hundred levels on another apprentice job would also do.
Aki could practically feel the kind of stress a min-maxer would have with this kind of thing, but he just wanted his Mp to regenerate more so he could keep practicing while above his safety limit. Sighing, he went back to meditating. It was surprisingly irritating for him, but did wonders for his regen.
*****
During the third night, some of the cats finally started to notice that they were NOT, going to simply walts through and claims the place with more than fifty of their brethen's dead corpses. This allowed Aki some respite for longer meditation sessions, leading to longer practice sessions, finally leading to his hundredth level.
Rapidly changing to aprentice rogue, Aki was glad to see that he actually got a level in sneak and hide presence, getting him to a barely professional level by this planet's standards.
Still, now he could just keep waiting here and finally just get the XP while training and ussing his traps on these...
"Kyaaa!" Screamed a clearly feminine voice. In a forest with a tribe of goblins clearly led by either a general, a prince or a king. He actually wanted some of that peace and quiet grinding even if it was borring and lonely, you know?
"Why does this place attract so many idiots!? Did you think whatever killed that mountain of corpses wouldn't attack you? Guess what, i'll even treat and heal you if you stop crying." Aki grumbled and fumed to the smaller figure as he approached the hole, completly silencing the lizard woman even if his tone was not loud. "Good girl. This is going to hurt, but it is better whatever might have followed you thinks you died a quick and sudden death, so any more sounds would only cause trouble. I'm incredible, but i WILL," He emphatised the word. "Leave you behind and abandom this area if you scream. Bite this scabard." He offered, and the wounded warrior noded, deciding to not close her eyes.
Aki started by holding her right leg still, the scales cold and soft, receding the hooks in her flesh slowly, then completly lowering the spike and summoning clean water to desinfect whatever exess might be there still before cauterizing the gouging wound and some of the bigger scrapes.
At that point, he'd given her his hand as well, but it'd become as useless as the dagger scabard on her mouth, even if he didn't complain about the two levels of pain resistance before she passed out. The forest was very quiet as he brought her to his cave, letting the sleeping woman have his backpack as a pillow, now an available choice since he figured how to roughly wash it with water magic.
Another level on pain resistance later and he had the bones on his hand back in place, though most at least fractured. No, the irony that the biggest wound he'd received since arriving was from saving a dansel in distress was not lost in him, but he could do little more than chuckle and start healing the both of them with his regeneration, which he figured would do wonders for both her recovery and his skill levels. He'd even gotten a level in first aid already so...
'Change job to apprentice healer. Yes, ignore the waste of XP.' He decided, their combined ailments more than enough to bring him to max level. 'Makes me wonder if i should have cut of her leg for more Xp as i tried to grow it back with the other leg as a general blueprint.' He scoffed and started to study his patient.
Flat as a bord, a lizard like face, some small backward spikes on top of her head and going down her back, five digits in each hand, a normal genitalia for some reason, powerfull legs, a spiked tale that continued her spine's natural protusions and almost reached her ankles, a beautiful, forest green coloration to her scales, trimed claws in each finger and toe, needle like teeth, bruises and cuts about everywhere, defined muscles, some scars over her body, and yes, a rocking posterior.
'Weird coincidence.' Aki waved the thought away. Right now he was a doctor and more interested in the dead fetuses on her womb. He'd have to take those out, because however it was that a lizard's eggs looked like while they were being formed, he was pretty sure she was not supposed to conceive like a mamalian.
Whatever magic goblin semen possesed, he was sure going to study it later, but for now it was most certainly not a good thing.
He didn't exactly remember what this could cause, but he was plenty sure it was going to be awkward later, hopefully when she didn't have a huge hole in one of her thighs.
About two hours later.
"Oh, you woke up. Any kind of discomfort you'd like to report? Besides the hole on your leg, getting more mana to fix that yet." Aki said as he noticed the groaning and tensioning muscles under the scales.
"I am fine, though I still dislike being sprawled on the ground while shackled." She said, her voice a sonorous hiss.
"Just a precaution against spasms." Aki shrugged, releasing her upper torso and arms. "Can you heal yourself in any manner?" He asked, his feet still touching her's as he looked into her amber eyes now that she was up.
"Barely."
"Still better than doing it alone. Go on, I'll just assist you." And so he did.
"Will you release me now?" She asked.
"Just one more thing. What are you going to do with those?" He pointed to her stomach, confusing the lizard lady for a bit if the way she tilted her head and blinked was any indication.
"Oh, those. They have to be removed." She coldly said, holding the region above her crotch with one clutched hand.
"Thought so. May I?"
"Why? You have already done more than enough human." She asked, as much confusion as suspicion in her voice, or so Aki thought.
"Plenty of reasons. One, I've already began treating you anyway, so not finishing the job on a possible ally is against my own principles." She nodded to that. "Second, I'm pretty sure if you do it yourself you can either kill off some nerves, reducing you sensitivity or causing immense pain that will need more care, and no, it'd not pass naturally, or even just stop you from having children in the future at all, which would also be an affront to my work." She nodded a bit more slowly, scared if he read her tail correctly. "Third, those would be great materials for necromancy practice."
"I understand. I still own a life debt to you, but if the healing will pay for itself..." She murmured, clear relief in not adding to her debt.
"Your debt is easier to pay than you'd believe." He scoffed. "I'm a hermit, I lack a lot of things. While I have the basic necessities to live in easy access, predators are still a problem if I don't have traps between us, I can't easily practice my magic without peace and resources, and truth be told, I do miss having a conversation partner."
"Pfff..." She badly supressed a laugh. "You seem like you would fit in kinao society well, human. Other races tend to try and get the most out of life debts, yet you speak like a true shaman." She said with some mirth before frowning. "I am afraid to say though, that I do not recognize this part of the great forest, I can't tell how long it would take to find my tribe again. I can only offer my body and use of the spear, if I get one." She sighed.
"I can use that. While I'm still a male, sex is not exactly a good idea in our current circumstances, but again, l miss contact. Also, how heavy a spear can you handle?"
*****
Many tries of getting a spear's balance correct later.
"If the stone is as resistant as you say, then it should work as a fine substitute to my own spear." She commented, not noticing the man she spoke with having a distant gaze as he changed jobs again.
Raising 'crude crafting' to level 8 was apparently more than enough to get apprentice rogue to level 100 thanks to the skill's aspect of improvisation.
"This is probably better than the best our shaman could do." She pointed out, getting some distance so as to test some movements.
Noticing this, Aki chose apprentice warrior and began analyzing every muscle on her body. According to his system, he was well on the level of being able to open his own clinic already, having reached level four on a bunch of related skills.
Of course, he'd not do that even if he knew how to actually treat a magnitude of diseases, but it was great to know that it was an option here.
"You look beautiful when you move like that, but I really wish I'd be able to learn the spear from you, a shame." He pointed out, the focus on the woman's eyes wavering the slightest amounts.
"Why would you... Oh. That would be a problem, indeed." She asked, stopping herself as he pointed to her tail. Their center of balance was completly diferent, so something like that would be very hard to transmit over.
"Not like I won't have chances to practice by myself though, plenty of goblins for that."
"You intend to stay here? I would not recommend so."
"Turning your back to an enemy with territory advantage is one of the worst things you can do in our situation. We're staying and preparing ourselves. You're what, rank 3? We're gonna need to change that. Maybe incorporate magic to your spear technique and movement. Wind and water should be a good fit. We should hunt, you flank while I take things head on. Preferably find some furs for you, you're too good looking to just walk around naked." He pointed out, already turning around towards the trapped clearing.
"I only thought about it now, but will you not dismantle all these night hunters?" She asked after stepping into the little island of safety after Aki reinforced a path so they could pass.
"I'm not good at it and didn't really have the time since you were the first thing I caught that wasn't one of them. You're free to help me do so though. By the way, are these poisonous or something, I just ate anything else since I was alone and training poison resistance now isn't exactly the safest thing to do." He easily explained and shrugged.
"They actually are, so the only thing anyone ever gets out of them is their pelt and claws, the second being just a trophy to show you have survived a hunt of these. They mark you for life after one of them is killed after all."
"Good to know I was right, now please cover yourself." He sighed.