14 Chapter 14: Level Up And Spoils

__________________________________________________________

[[Congratulations! You have reached Level 2!]]

[[You have received 5 Attribute Points]]

[[You have received 1 Skill Point]]

__________________________________________________________

Faruth was overjoyed by this result. Not only does he get these rewards, the bonuses brought on by his skills give him +2 to [Strength], [Endurance] and [Agility] and +4 to [Vitality]!

He felt the same sense of invulnerability similarly to when he was getting used to his new body. He already has the route for his abilities in mind, so he put 3 Attribute points into [Agility] and 2 into [Strength].

(Comparison)

[[Strength: 22]] [[Endurance: 22]]

[[Vitality: 15]] [[Agility: 24]]

[[Intelligence: 17]] [[Wisdom: 14]]

[[Charisma: 15]] [[Luck: 13]]

**********************************************************

[[Strength: 26]] [[Endurance: 24]]

[[Vitality: 19]] [[Agility: 29]]

[[Intelligence: 17]] [[Wisdom: 14]]

[[Charisma: 15]] [[Luck: 13]]

His Stats had been buffed a considerable amount. He felt like he had the strength to fight two of those Goblins alone! Though that wasn't saying much, they only had sharp rocks that could fit in the palm of a hand, whilst he had an metal sword. Again, their weapons weren't exactly of the same strength to begin with.

Just judging by the one blow of the Goblin Leader, Faruth new that if they had the same weapons, he would be in serious trouble. But what's done is done. He put the thought behind him and moved on. He was about to add his skill point next when he heard a load whimper from next to him.

Snapping out of his trance, he glanced over to his side where he saw his newly added companion stroking the fur of the summoned wolf. He didn't or rather, couldn't notice in during the battle, but the summoned wolf had been struck viciously in the scalp by one of the Goblins, presumably the one that it first bit.

The crimson blood dyed its already red fur an even darker shade. That, combined with its saddened whimpers gave it an extremely miserable look about it.

As if sharing in its sorrow, the Beast Master wore a similar expression as he slowly and carefully dabbed at the wolf's wound with a ragged cloth in his hand. Presumably one that he had torn from his clothes.

He saw the Beast Master attempt to attach the piece of cloth to the open cut, which only met with louder whimpers from the animal. He eventually managed to attach the cloth to somewhat stop the bleeding, before releasing a loud sigh, raising his hands and presumably unsummoning the animal.

As Faruth walked over to the saddened Gnoll, in an attempt to cheer him up, a window appeared in front of his eyes.

__________________________________________________________

[[Congratulations! Your companion, [Wulfarth], has learned the skill(s):]]

[[Minor First Aid lvl.1]]

__________________________________________________________

He was somewhat surprised this time, without the 'blessing' kicking in. If skills could be learned from performing the actions manually, wouldn't that make becoming stronger much easier? Thinking this, he continued on towards the sullen Gnoll.

["Why do you look so upset, Wulfarth? Is it not a great victory for us?"] {Faruth}

To this, Wulfarth looked up to his Master with a slightly calmer expression about him. However, it almost immediately reverted to how it was before as he uttered to him.

["A victory, yes, Master. But it isn't a 'great victory'. Not at all"] {Wulfarth}

The Master he was addressing was confused inside his head. He expected the companion to agree with what he was saying unconditionally. It was then that he had realised it. The error of his ways.

He was treating all of this as if it was a game.

He was treating his companion as if he was an NPC, without any choice regarding decision making. He disregarded the sadness that he had shown over his summon being injured. He thought that if he died he would simply revive. Luckily, he realised where he had went wrong fast.

This wasn't a game. This was reality. Wulfarth wasn't an NPC, he was a living being with emotions and needs. An death meant death. He knew that all too well.

Again, the feeling of being forcibly calmed cooled his head to allow for rational thoughts. He knew that the way he was treating Wulfarth, and battle in general, needed to change. With a noticeably calmer expression on his face, he continued his conversation with Wulfarth.

["I see Wulfarth. Why do you think it was such a pyrrhic fight?"] {Faruth}

Even someone consumed by emotion like Wulfarth could tell that the Master had changed his tone. He hurriedly got into a grovelling position before continuing in a scared tone.

["I-I'm sorry Master. I didn't mean to doubt your ideas... I onl-"] {Wulfarth}

["It's fine, Wulfarth. Please stand. I only wanted your opinion. Come, lets go into the cave. We can finish this later."] {Faruth}

The prostrated creature slowly lifted his head, beads of sweat drenching its fur. Only to see that his Master had already began walking towards the cave's entrance. The Gnoll pounced up to his feet with agility surprising of someone with such low physical abilities, before stumbling to the ground. As expected.

Not willing to play the fool any longer, he stood up with haste and sped towards the cave entrance and to the side of his Master.

**********************************************************

Slowly moving to the entrance of the cave, Faruth paid no heed to the actions of the Beastman behind him, instead focusing on what was inside the cave. Though he couldn't see it from where he was before, the cave was surprisingly large. From what he could see currently, it consisted of at least 3 separate 'rooms', though he didn't know what they were for.

The first room, within the entrance of the cave, was simple and crude in design. Bones of what he could only assume to be various wild animals were strewn about randomly. A burnt out fire directly in the middle.

Moving to one of the rooms on the side with caution he noticed animal furs and dried grass piled up, which he could only assume was a maeshift bed.

Five in total, it appeared he wasn't in for any sort of ambush in any of the other rooms. Though he still kept a sense of danger about him. He didn't know if any enemies could avoid his [Instincts] skill yet.

The next room he entered was filled with various items stacked up against a wall. Rocks, grass, sticks. This must've been their storeroom.

On the wall opposite to the stockpile was another hole, presumably leading to another room. Upon entering it, what came into his vision was only a slab of stone placed directly in the middle.

The stone seemed extremely well preserved in comparison to the rest of the Goblin cave, the markings atop it suggesting that it had some significance to the monsters. Resting on the top of the stone was a small cylindrical bag, tied with a twine string at the top.

His hesitation completely disappearing, he moved towards it swiftly and pulled at the end of the string, opening the bag. As the sides of the bag slowly fell down, it revealed the contents for him to see.

Within the centre of the bag, were three small stones. Each an individual colour. Though he had a faint inkling as to what they were, he decided to use [Appraisal] on them anyway.

__________________________________________________________

[[Name: Stone of Fire (Small)]]

[[Description: A Magic Stone imbued with the element of fire, it has various uses in both technology and religion]]

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

[[Name: Stone of Water]]

[[Description: A Magic Stone imbued with the element of Water, it has various uses in both technology and religion]]

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

[[Name: Stone of Earth]]

[[Description: A Magic Stone imbued with the element of Earth, it has various uses in both technology and religion]]

__________________________________________________________

As expected, they were elemental stones! He could remember reading novels in his past life, the usefulness that elemental stones held was ludicrous. He remembered the craftsmanship of the Dwarves, forging weapons fit to be wielded by hero's hands.

He quickly removed himself from that illusion however. Hero? He had trouble fighting against five Goblins. And Dwarves! Did Dwarves even exist here?

Following this encounter with painful reality, he picked up the bag, placed it in his own storage, along with the items in the storeroom, and returned to the room adjacent to the entrance.

**********************************************************

Sat within the room as he entered, was Wulfarth. Still looking as upset as he did before. So much so that he didn't even notice his Master entering until he sat down opposite him.

Realising his mistake, he bowed once more, though this time, his head didn't touch the ground.

Seeing the darkening sky outside, Faruth decided to light a fire with the various twigs and bundles of dried grass that he had found in the storeroom. Not too long after, a fire was blazing in the centre of the room with two Gnolls sat around it.

["We shall continue our conversation from before Wulfarth. Why do you consider this battle to be unsuccessful?"] {Faruth}

To this, the Beastman quivered slightly, before sighing and beginning to speak.

["It isn't your fault Master. It's mine. We were only facing off against five Goblins! Goblins! Not even powerful ones, outcasts probably! And I let my summon get injured. I knew I was weak... But not this weak."] {Wulfarth}

Saying this, the Gnoll became even more sullen, placing his head into his hands. Faruth couldn't help but feel empathy towards his comrade. In an attempt to cheer him up, he continued.

["Your a Beast Master aren't you? Surely you have more than one summon?"] {Faruth}

Wulfarth sunk his head down further as he said this, before shaking it side to side ever so slightly.

["I see. You only have that wolf as a summon?"] {Faruth}

["Yes Master... Beast Masters are all given a Spirit Animal at their baptism ceremony. A summon that's strength can grow through the power of its summoner, though that isn't the only way. As you can see, my Spirit Animal is this wolf, Alice. Even so, she is hurt, badly. The place I unsummoned her to doesn't heal her, it only prevents the wound from deteriorating."] {Wulfarth}

Faruth could not help but be confused at this. They needed to grow strong fast to be able to survive. But a Beast Master with only one summon, and a Gnoll with only a sword in his hand. They needed more numbers. Numbers.. Numbers!

That was it! They needed more forces to be able to fight! He remembered that he had received a [Village Creation Token] from his job. Perhaps that could be put to use?

Standing abruptly, he reached into his inventory and pulled out some herbs with haemostatic properties that he found in the storeroom, along with a bandage from his job.

["Wulfarth, take this. It should make it easier on the wolf. For now"] {Faruth}

["Thank you, Master! But, where are you going?"] {Wulfarth}

["To get some sleep. You should come too. We must wake early. We have a village to make!"] {Faruth}