Chapter 9

Frank got up and went over to the Marshall. The man recognized him and nodded to greet him.

"I want to thank you for what you did earlier. Because of your quick thinking, we were able to get through the fight without any casualties," the Marshall said.

"Ah, don't mention it, I am sure someone else would've realized it and did the same thing. Besides, we are all looking out for each other. Strength in numbers and all that. If someone falls, we become weaker as a whole," Frank waved his hand dismissively.

"True. Still, you did very well, in the last fight as well as the first one. Not to mention you were the one to discover skills and told the rest of us. If not for that, we would all be dead now. By the way, I am Roger," he introduced himself, extending his hand.

"Name's Frank," Frank replied and shook the hand. "There are a few things I wanted to talk to you about. The first one is this," he began as he retrieved a two-handed sword from his ring and handed it over, "no one in my team can use it, so figured I'll give it to you and you can find someone who wants it."

"I'll see what I can do. Hmm, uncommon quality, where did you get it?"

"Got it from the gnoll leader monster," Frank replied with a smile.

"Heh, you really do get involved in everything, there were only three such monsters in the second attack, and you managed to fight one of them," he shook his head.

"Nosy old man," Frank chuckled. "Anyway, the other thing I wanted to talk about is skills and grids. I think we should have someone with excellent memory collect information about skills and various grids, how to unlock them, the rewards and such. It would help people make better choices, and could give us a good boost in power if we can figure out how to unlock some good grids."

"I'll see if there is someone who wants to do this," the Marshall nodded, looking at Frank quizzically.

"One last thing. Were you told about the description for the Front Pack grid?"

"The "one of ten thousand" thing? Yes."

"Right. I've been thinking about it, we got sent here because we were on a plane, which would crash without power. If that was the case for all planes that were in the air at the time, and they all got placed here, then it makes sense that the total number would be over ten thousand," Frank got a nod of agreement before continuing. "But is it just planes? What about boats? Not sailboats, but large vessels that would be stuck without a working engine? Would the System abandon them, or would it place them here?"

"If they got placed here that would mean... that there are some much larger groups out there," the Marshall said slowly as he processed the information.

"Exactly. While for airplanes we would be looking at maybe five hundred tops, with most being in the two-fifty or fewer, for boats that number can be way up. Cruise ships are around three-four thousand, and something like an air carrier would have some six thousand crew members. It also greatly increases the chance of there being large groups of soldiers from other countries," Frank explained.

"You are worried they will be hostile?"

"The world as we know it has ended. There are no more laws, nor anyone to uphold them. It's "might makes right," unfortunately. How would a military unit react, once they realize there is no chain of command beyond the present officers? Would they seek to protect civilians from the monsters, or would they seek to rule those weaker than them? Doesn't have to be a military unit, I am sure plenty of ambitious people will try to play king, once the shock of the System's arrival wears off."

"Quite an analysis you've got there. I won't deny it, the things you've mentioned will most likely come true, in one form or another. But what can we do?"

"For better or worse, we are stuck together. We should try to increase our combat power as much as possible. If our group looks like a tough nut to crack, troublemakers will look for easier targets," Frank offered.

"Which goes back to your suggestion to gather information about skills and grids. I am more worried about the monsters, but I suppose it's never too early to start planning for the future. Getting stronger would also help deal with the monsters," the Marshall replied nodding. "Tomorrow, we'll build a log fence and add some stakes to the moat. That should give us enough breathing room to come up with some sort of plan for training."

"Thanks for taking it seriously, Roger," Frank said.

"You've proven yourself quite reliable," the Marshall said with a smile.

The two parted, the Marshall continuing to make his rounds, to check on everyone and arrange night watch, while Frank returned to his group. He purged the thoughts of dealing with hostile humans out of his mind and focused on what he could do right now. Which was to continue trying to cast a cleaning spell. He felt like he had made some progress, but it wasn't enough and the spell continued to remain elusive.

After an hour of trying, Frank decided to stop and do something else. He just couldn't bear the thought of losing the whole evening for nothing. He stabbed himself with the sword in order to level Pain Tolerance and Unshakable Focus.

"Doesn't it hurt?" Amy asked, taking a curious look.

"It's not too bad, after a while you actually get used to it," Frank replied, as he alternated between stabbing himself in the arm and using Healing Touch.

Amy just shook her head, not saying anything. Shrugging, Frank went back to his painful task, until he ran out of R mana. He used Phantom Strike and Power Attack to burn through his stamina and Lightning Bolt for D mana. After spending all his resources, it was time for Meditation. Then the cycle would repeat.

He continued to train in such a fashion for about three hours. At that point, most people had gone to sleep, and he was asked to tone it down, the flashes of his spells and attacks disturbing those trying to sleep. Feeling pretty tired, he complied with their request. The ground was cold and hard, not at all conducive to falling asleep. Still, it was an exhausting day, perhaps the most exhaustive day ever. Laying on the ground, Frank suddenly felt all of that tiredness wash over him. Aided by Meditation and Unshakable Focus, he fell asleep despite the conditions.

***

It felt like he just closed his eyes when he woke up to people shouting. Apparently, they were under attack. However, it was still dark, the few fires offering scarce light. Stumbling in the dark, Frank located the rest of his group, then they followed the Marshall's direction, taking up a post along the moat.

It was hard to see what was happening on the other side, the monsters' dark bodies blending into the shadows of the night. Some kind of beasts, Frank thought, but he couldn't make out any concrete details. Amy got tired of trying to figure out what they were facing, and sent out an Arcane Bolt, illuminating the creatures.

Young Wolf, level 10

Wolves, some seven feet in length and four feet tall, Dark fur, red eyes, and sharp looking fangs. That was all he could see before the spell impacted one of the monsters. There were dozens of them too. Growls and howls filled the air, however, the beasts paced back and forth on the outside of the moat, unwilling to cross over.

A loud howl came from the other side of their camp, as if responding to it, the wolves began to leap over the moat. Frank waited about a yard from the edge, saber in hand. Stepping forward he swung downward, aiming for the wolf's head. The beast jerked in the air, and the saber landed on its shoulder instead, most of the impact absorbed by its thick fur.

The wolf took little damage, but the attack had altered its trajectory, only its front paws landing on the ground. The wolf scrambled to pull its hind legs onto the ground as well, giving Frank enough time to retreat a step before launching more attacks. Growling, the wolf pulled the rest of its body out of the moat, even as slashes landed on its maw. It crouched, then leaped forward, its maw open, ready to bite the annoying human. An icicle through its head put a stop to that.

Not wasting time to thank Amy, Frank prepared for the next beast. This time he used Power Attack, the extra damage enough to slice through the wolf's head. He wasn't sure if it was enough to kill the monster, probably not, given its level. It didn't matter. The injured monster fell into the moat, from there it had two choices, leap out on the side where it came from, and try again, or try to climb out on the side of the defenders. Either way, it was just a matter of time until it sustained enough damage and died.

A sickening crunch drew Frank's attention to his right, Bill's axe had cleaved a wolf's skull in two, killing it instantly. Shaking his head, Frank looked at his other side, Kevin was having a blast, using the beasts' momentum as they practically impaled themselves on his spear. Hank was doing quite well too, the man had upped his Endurance, and would no longer run out of stamina after a dozen attacks.

The fight continued for a few minutes, but it felt rather anticlimactic. Even the appearance of a car-sized level 15 Young Alpha Wolf didn't do much. The monster got peppered by spells, as it tried to break through one of the passages in the moat. By the time it reached the defenders it had taken so much damage that finishing it off was an easy task. All in all, this was the easiest fight of the day.

Before Frank could turn around and go back to sleep, a shout came from the darkness of the camp.

"Everyone, place the wolves in your Spatial Rings. We can use their hides, and the meat might be edible. Store them for now, I'll deal with it tomorrow," a male voice resounded.

Frank wasn't sure who it was, but the idea seemed sound. They had no clothes or armor, not even a flask to carry water. If they could use the wolves' skins to make some of these things... He had no idea if it could be done, or how to do it, but it wasn't hard to comply with the suggestion. He placed several bodies into his ring, then returned to his previous spot.

Although the battle was easy, he was still smeared in some blood. It would be too dangerous to go to the river during the night, meaning he would have to sleep like that, without washing it off. I really need to figure out that cleaning spell, he thought. With a sigh, he laid down and tried to fall asleep again.

***

The Sun was beginning to rise when Frank woke up. Despite the relatively short amount of sleep he got, he felt well-rested, likely due to his 11 Vitality. He seemed to be one of the first to get up as well. Today would be a busy day, as the Marshall planned for them to build the log fence, as well as add spikes to the moat, in addition to repelling the usual monster attacks.

Taking a quick look at his profile, he had a total of 36 GP to spend. The fight against trolls gave scarce rewards, and the wolves weren't much better, most of the skill levels came from the three hours of training he did. Just a bit more and I'll have enough to complete the Taking the Lead grid, Frank thought as he dived into training.

It was much the same as before. He would stab himself with the sword, then use Healing Touch, until he ran out of R mana. Then he would spam his active skills to burn through stamina and D mana, before meditating.

Slowly, people began to wake up. Some began to train, like Frank, others just laid around, or chatter about this and that. As more got up, teams began to go to the river to wash up. Frank's team went as well, it felt nice to wash away the dried blood from the previous night's battle. Upon returning, Frank continued with his training, his self-mutilation drawing quite a few remarks.

By the time the Marshall called everyone over and began giving orders for the day, more than two hours had passed, and Frank had obtained another 12 GP, bringing his total to 48. With a pleased smile on his face, he turned his attention to the Marshall.

"Morning everyone! We don't know what today will bring, but I am sure we would all feel much safer if there was a nice fence on top of the moat. So, the first order of business is to build it. We'll need to go into the forest and cut down suitable trees, transport them here, cut them down as needed, dig a trench for the fence, and place the logs into it. Jose here will be in charge of this project," the Marshall pointed at the dark-skinned man with construction experience. "Also, we need to build some outhouses or something. Using the moat to do your business isn't sanitary, and won't work once the fence is in place," he added, avoiding looking anyone in the eyes.

After an awkward silence, he continued. "Other things, Steve here has some hunting experience. He's going to try and see if we can get anything useful out of those wolves from last night," the Marshall said pointing at a red-haired, bearded guy.

"I've got enough for now, if I can get something going with them, I'll ask for the ones y'all got stored up," the man spoke with a Texan accent.

"Right. Also, we are going to need some teams to go into the forest and forage for food for today. Lastly, we'll need a bunch of lookouts, both here and in the forest to spot for the teams cutting trees. Lastly, I know this will make things less efficient, but I want everyone to stick with their team, in case we get attacked. Alright, talk to your team and figure out what you want to do, then let me know what you want to do," the Marshall concluded.

Frank had barely turned to face the rest of the group when Amy spoke.

"Let's go forage in the forest for food."

"Yea, I don't care much for either digging or tree cutting," Margaret nodded, "we should hurry up before someone else takes it," she added, and began to quickly walk toward the Marshall.

"Happy wife, happy life," Bill shrugged.

The other men looked at each other and made gestures that said they didn't care. I wonder if there are any skills associated with foraging, Frank thought. Fruit picking? Animal tracking? I guess completing that grid will have to wait for a bit.

"We got it," Margaret announced after returning," we'll move in together with other foraging teams as well as the tree cutters, movers and their lookouts."

It took about fifteen minutes for the jobs to be sorted out, and the teams assembled. About a hundred people left their base and marched towards the forest. Upon reaching the edge of the trees with no issues, most of the people stopped there, while Frank's group along with three others continued to head further in. The four groups separated shortly as well, trying to cover a larger area.

Frank wasn't much of an outdoorsman, and his knowledge of trees was quite rudimentary. Aside from noting some aspens, oaks, and other, vaguely familiar trees, he couldn't tell if there was anything out of place, that could suggest where they were geographically. Less than a hundred yards in, they began to spot various exotic-looking plants.

In addition to the trees bearing the strange fruits they ate last night, there were quite a few new finds. Grape-like red berries grew on short bushes. A tree with rough bark had elongated blue fruits dangling from its branches, a mix between a banana and a long pickle. A palm-like tree featured round fruits that resembled a cactus. They also found a bunch of green mushrooms, which blended into the grass so well they actually missed a bunch before noticing them.

Gathering the fruits into their storage rings, they had Hank taste all of their new finds. The man complained about being used as a guinea pig, but he was also excited to sample the new foods. And he did have the highest HP of them all, plus with both Margaret and Frank having Healing Touch, anything short of instantly killing him should be manageable.

The red berries turned out to be poisoned, but delicious enough that Hank still planned on eating them once they returned to camp, provided a healer was nearby to fix him up. As they continued to search for and collect more food, they came upon some strange flowers. After a while, they found a total of four types, red, blue, green, and white, all of which had a small crystal of the same color where a pistil would normally be.

Rolling a crystal the size of a thumbnail in his hand, Frank wondered if it could be used for anything. The crystals had no taste, and didn't seem to melt in one's mouth, biting them did nothing, and they were reluctant to swallow them. Still, they were quite pretty-looking, so the group collected them as they continued.

They had been walking for an hour or so when they heard a roar. Looking at each other, they considered what to do.

"We haven't seen any monsters thus far," Frank said as he caressed his chin in thought.

"Maybe they don't inhabit the woods, but rather spawn and rush to attack us, like those goblins yesterday?" Kevin wondered.

"We've gathered enough food, we should retreat to the base," Amy said, her eyes scanning their surroundings. "If the monsters spawn somewhere before attacking, then all the more reasons to get away from here."

"Yea, if we run into a pack of monsters meant to attack the whole base..." Hank began but didn't finish his thought.

"Alright, let's retreat, fast," Bill nodded.

They began to run back toward the base when another roar swept through the forest. This time, closer.