Journey's beginning

Chapter 16: Journey's beginning

The three of them looked up to him, seemingly stunned that they could understand him. Seems like comprehending the fact that they could speak now was still a little much, so Mercury decided to explain a bit of stuff to them. Essentially, he gave them a tutorial, just a quick rundown, explaining all the stats, the concept of Skills and the Skill shop, as well as skillstones. And, after taking an hour or so to go over everything a little more, they all seemed to understand the situation. Well, that was an understatement actually. 

It seems that rather than understanding a little now, this seemed to answer a lot of questions they had been asking themselves for a long while. In a sense, Mercury just opened their eyes to the world and the great power slumbering within themselves. He basically changed their lives. This also was reflected in their loyalty, which went up to 40 for all of them. In essence, he had just given them a chance to live new lives, so how couldn't they be thankful?

And when all their questions were answered, Mercury decided to now ask them something.

"So, now to the core of the matter. I got two big questions for y'all. First of all, I would like you to pick a name you would like to call me and then we're gonna figure out what to call you guys. But just give me one more sec, because I think large scale introductions are in order, now that you've collected your thoughts."

"That over there is Cherry, a friend of mine who was so kind as to provide the skillstones you needed to learn <Language>. Now me, I'm Mercury Rainfall Starlight, someone with a long way to go. See, I want to be a king. Well, that's the goal for now, we'll see where the winds take me once I become just that. And the very first step I'm taking would be to conquer this forest. Now, what would you call me, who do you want to be and what will your names be?"

It took the wolves quite some time to respond, but the first one to speak up was the scarred direwolf, his voice rough and deep, like coarse sandpaper grinding against wood. He was straightforward and honest with every question he asked, not finding any fun in beating around the bush. And just as when he was asking, he declared things simply and proudly as he stepped forward to make his declaration.

"If you are a king, then that's what I'd call you. As for me, I like fighting. The hunt. Preferably one on one, so Gladiator should be fitting enough. Has a good ring to it."

Mercury nodded at him with a smile. "Good, then that's your name now. Gladiator Fireborn, do you agree to fight for me?" He had added a surname that he found fitting and was hoping for the wolf's approval. He was a bit nervous to be sure.

Gladiator grinned, flashing rows of sharp teeth. "I can't think of a better way to repay the debt I owe you, king," he said, nodding contently at the surname.

"So be it. I hope we can work together well. Is there someone who wants to go next?"

Quickly, the royal wolf stepped up. His voice was deep, but soft, like waves hitting a sandy shore. He was proud and carried himself tall, but he wasn't stupid. He asked all the things he wanted to know in an efficient manner, like a razor sharp blade cutting straight to the truth. 

"Thank you, Mercury," he started slowly, "in the name of all of us. You have shown us the truth of this world like we didn't know it before. You have given us the gift of speech and opened up a new path forward. For that, I will call you as my master, for even if the world sinks to the bottom of the ocean, I shall stand by your side. As for my name, I would like it to be Second, as it has many meanings to me. A second chance at life. To second you, and stand by you. And to make every second count."

Mercury nodded again, taking the time to think of a surname. "Philosophical, I like it. How about Storm for your surname? You know, Rainfall, Storm, kind of a connection there, yes?"

Second strongly nodded back at Mercury, his eyes flushed with ecstasy as he managed to squeeze out a somewhat royal tone. "Very well. So it shall be." This man seriously spoke a little old-fashioned.

And when he nodded once again, the wolf who guided him spoke up last.

"To me, you are my liege. Not any liege, but my very own. I want to repay my debt to you, forst and foremost, and if I could see more of this world in it, that would be wonderful. In that spirit, I would like to be your eyes and ears, if I may. I would like my name to be Juno, because it is what I came up with, and I would like my surname to link me to you. I wouldn't copy yours immediately, but a part of it I would like. Perhaps Starfall?"

Juno spoke calmly but with resolve. Her voice was softer than Gladiator's or Second's and a little higher pitch.

After she finished, Mercury smiled. "Juno Starfall, then? Glad to make your acquaintance."

And with that, Juno flashed him a smile. Finally, he had qfinished assembling his newfound wolf-squad.

"So, next step of the plan. We are taking down the Lord of the Forest."

"The Forest Lord?" Cherry interrupted.

"Yeah, that guy. Now, have any of you seen him before? Like, can you tell me anything about what he looks like or what he can do? Because that's actually the last step in me taking over this place."

After a moment of silence, Juno spoke up.

"As I have worked to gather information on him before, I think I may be the most suited to help you out here, my liege. The Forest Lord is what you would refer to as a Dragon. Well, that sounds a lot more threatening than it is. He is as much of a dragon as you are a mopaaw, my liege, meaning his subspecies is different. He is a drakeling, to be precise, the lowest form of dragon there is. They are incapable of language and complex thought, such as we were before, however they have some instinctive mastery over the elements."

"From watching him, he largely controls earth and wind, while he has trouble with any other elements, so those are the things we need to watch out for. If we manage to avoid those, the fight should go fairly well, given that we are now able to allocate our Ability points. His territory is located on the other side of the mountain, so travelling form here, it might take around 5 days to get there."

"Thanks Juno. Alright, that tells us all we need to know. If he is feral - can you confirm that, Cherry?"

"Sure can. Drakelings are absolutely incapable of language."

"Thank you. Since we know he's feral I think it should be easy to crush him using your guys' overwhelming force, since there's three of you and you are all able to allocate your points. I'd recommend picking a specialty each so you can cover for each other. Any ideas?"

"Strength all the way. Some Agility," Gladiator said immediately. Classical Berserker, all brawn.

"I, personally, would like to learn a little magic to allow myself a greater degree of versatility, both un combat and out. Is that acceptable?" 

"Fine by me, Second."

"Agility, Dexterity, Wisdom and Intelligence. I want to be fast and good at gathering intel." 

… and Juno took up the role of a spy. 

This was a fine party in Mercury's opinion. He could allocate roles to all of them fairly easily and was happy with their strategy. It was perfectly suited for stomping someone with lower stats, but there was one detail that Mercury was missing if he wanted to take on another party.

They didn't have a healer. If they lost Hp, it was gone for good. If they ever got stuck in a battle of attrition, they were royally screwed. Luckily, this would hopefully turn out short.

The wolves all allocated their points, boosting their stats to new levels.

Gladiator Fireborn

Strength: 54 -> 134

Agility: 41 -> 71

Second Storm

Strength: 45 -> 65

Vitality: 36 -> 50

Intelligence: 50 -> 60

Wisdom: 29 -> 60

Willpower: 38 -> 60

Luck: 11 -> 25

Juno Starfall

Strength: 37 -> 50

Vitality: 28 -> 40

Dexterity: 46 -> 80

Agility: 53 -> 60

Intelligence: 50 -> 54

Wisdom: 30 -> 55

Willpower: 31 -> 50

And with that, all their points were gone. Well, almost. They then also spent most of their Skill points, getting things like <Throw> and <Appraisal> (which they had to get for 2.000 points, since the "staring" method didn't work for them), as well as some specific Skills they liked.

And then, when they were finally done, they used the last few hours after dawn to start their journey towards the Forest Lord.

It was… uneventful. The journey went by easily and without trouble and, as much as it saddens me as a narrator, the same goes for the fight. The Lord was absolutely and positively outmatched by the wolves. They hardly needed to employ a battle plan. Gladiator easily kept him in check and blocked the brunt of the attacks with a toothy grin on his face, while Second dashed around and attacked his flanks. Juno stayed vigilant and exploited every opportunity she got to sneak-attack the Lord, targeting all his vital areas.

It was an absolute slaughter. The drakeling didn't even get a swing in against anyone but Gladiator, and Mercury himself was able to simply watch the fight play out without having to interfere. And then he got his notification.

[Your familiar "Gladiator" killed the Forest Lord. Get: 700 Exp (pool), Dracoleather Cloak (equipment).]

Apparently the Exp from killing unique mobs was always added to the pool. Good to know. But before he even had the chance to check the Dracoleather Cloak, more notifications rolled in.

[Sub Quest: "Defeat the Forest Lord and take over!" completed. You have received: 5 Ability points, 200 Skill points, 500 Exp, 1000 Gold.]

[Main Quest: "Conquer the forest!" completed.

You have received: 10 Ability points, 300 Skill points, 500 Exp, 1000 Gold.]

[You have been awarded the Title <Forest Usurper>!]

[Main Quest: "Leave the forest and start a village!" added.

Reward: 10 Ability points, 200 Skill points, 3000 Exp, 1500 Gold.]

Mercury waited for a second after all the alarms rang out and then took a moment to compliment the wolves on their good work. After equally distributing the exp among them, he sent them out to secure the area while he checked his new stuff out.

First was his new title.

[<Forest Usurper>: This title was awarded to the individual upon defeating the prior Forest Lord and thus claiming said position as their own. This title gives its bearer a +5 to all stats as long as they are within the forest it was awarded in. It also opens up 3 additional slots in the bearer's inventory and 1 additional slot in their familiar storage. It may have interactions with some Skills. These will be displayed if they are unlocked.]

Okay, this was awesome. Gaining this title was both unexpected and absolutely amazing, since expanding his inventory would have been quite a pain otherwise. This way it was far, far easier to carry things around. Mercury was more than pleased with getting this as a free bonus that he wasn't even expecting. But since he was now itching to leave this place, he quickly checked out his other reward: the Dracoleather Cloak.

[Dracoleather Cloak: A cloak made from the leather of a young lesser dragon. It channels leftover magic from the dragon to slightly increase the wearer's Agility and Dexterity (+1) and protects them from bad weather. In addition, it is "growing" equipment, meaning that it will grow alongside its wearer and become more powerful as it is imbued with stronger Magic. Proficiency: 0/1000. Grade: Unique D.]

[Proficiency: This value reflects the individual's capability of using a certain piece of gear as well as the gear's stage of development. Increasing its value will make growing pieces of gear level-up and strengthen their properties.]

Well, this was certainly new. A piece of gear that grew alongside him, he could probably use that. Except, wait, he was a cat. Could cats wear cloaks? 

Turns out they can! Well, he could, in any case. The Dracoleather cloak automatically changed to fit his stature and was thus tied around his neck and draped over his back, shining in a brown-greenish colour. Not gonna lie, it was stylish as fuck. 

And thus, a cat and its three wolven companions made their way back to a certain trusty log.

Mercury was waiting for someone. It was the only thing left for him to do in this forest, he only had to settle his debt with Cherry. So he waited for her at the log and, as he had thought, she came to visit after a few days.

"Hey Merc, how's it go-" but she stopped herself when she saw his cloak and her eyes opened wide. "D-did you seriously take down the Forest Lord?"

"Sure did." The wolves nodded alongside him. "So, my next quest is actually to leave this forest and start establishing the beginning of my kingdom, so unfortunately, I might be leaving. Now, if I remember correctly, I still owe you a big debt, so I would like to settle that now, if that's alright with you?" 

He smiled as he spoke, knowing that he would probably miss her after he went. But he had the luxury of choosing when to visit, which Cherry then wouldn't have anymore.

"Take me with you."

Ah yes, it would be funny surprising her. Up until now she had always gotten to- FUCKING WHAT NOW??!

"Huh?"

"Take. Me. With. You." Cherry said with a beaming smile.

Mercury shook his head to clear it for a second and then looked her up and down multiple times. Then he asked once again.

"Are you serious right now?"

"Absolutely." She grinned.

"Positive?"

"Yup."

"Sure?"

"Yup."

"Confident?"

"Yup."

"Well, shit, fuck it, come along then." Mercury spoke with a sigh.

"I knew you'd refuse, but remember that big faaavo- WHAT?!"

This time it was Mercury's turn to grin. In fact, he was expecting something way worse out of all this, like Cherry asking him to stay for a few more months. In fact, this was really just beneficial for him. Cherry was a pretty competent, if a little clumsy, hunter. She could also take over a lot of the communication between them and humans, and serve as something of a guide out there. In essence, this was a near purely advantageous situation for him.

"I said you can come along," he repeated with a smile. "I need a good guide after all. Besides, what human would take a talking cat seriously. And you're just great company in general. So, Cherry Silvers, will you join me in my quest to conquer this world and become a great king? Heh. It's a little embarrassing saying it out loud like that."

After pushing his embarrassment back down, Mercury gave a wide grin. Even the wolves behind him couldn't keep themselves from smiling when Cherry teared up a little.

"Y-Yeah," she stammered. "Yeah, I will!"

And with that, the two of them took their first steps outside of the forest they had spent all their lives in. This made Cherry an absolutely terrible guide, but that was a problem for another day. 

Or so they thought, but before they even stepped a foot outside the forest, gramps made sure to stop them in their tracks. And so, they took another week until they were actually able to leave, outfitted with supplies and a large leather backpack.

And what did Mercury carry in his inventory? A souvenir from the start of his journey. A large piece of hollow wood, filled with runes on the inside. That's right. He put his log in his fucking pocket and carried it around with him.

And thus the quartet began their journey of establishing the future great kingdom of Logston. Yes, that is literally Log's town but without the "w". Mercury wasn't always good with names.