CH5

Day 8

My morning began on my hands and knees, plucking weeds around my growing corn stalks. I had one basket and fortunately, a great way to get rid of them as well. The day before had been relaxing; the wolves failed to penetrate my fence, and I exercised most of the day, making few gains but great strides. While this wasn't the life I chose, it was the one I ended up with. I had a monster, and life with her was turning out great.

A harsh northern wind blew in from Mt. Red, the tallest in the Shining Mountain range. Trees bent under the wind, and some snapped. Bird monsters fled only for a few to get swept away and hit the ground hard. Once, the blue sky had turned dark and ominous. I checked my app to see no weather changes, which could only mean this was caused by a monster. Something on Mt. Red was strong enough to cause damage miles away. Two peaceful days were too much to ask for without some monster causing me problems.

Gwen poked her head out of the tent and shut herself inside. I checked in the saw the fawn shivering under my blanket. I laid the basket of weeds I plucked down and fell into strength training exercises.

"We're in danger; we need to run," Gwen said.

"Running won't do us any good. We are surrounded by wolves; if we run, they will chase. Besides, the presence isn't anywhere near us." I said.

"Wrong, the power is so strong," Gwen said.

I rubbed her soft-furred side. "It isn't after us," I said.

The fawn continued to shiver as I tried to soothe her. Getting chickens at this point would be counterproductive. Buying a chicken-type monster only for it to immediately panic and die of shock was a waste of money and cruelty. Neither of those I wanted to indulge in. Buying what protein I could would have to continue.

I really wanted to become self-sufficient and lower my overhead; a chicken farm would have helped with that. Growing corn and chicken felt like a match made in heaven. High-ranked chickens could sell eggs at a relatively high price. While farmers generally needed a tamer for monsters on their farms, chickens were not regulated at rank 1.

This was a chink in the armor that could allow me to rise in wealth quickly. I would have to build most of the infrastructure myself but it was possible to do. Unfortunately, the wind continued to blow, killing that dream until the presence stopped its tantrum.

Ping!

Adapt lvl8

Regeneration lvl8

Training lvl8

+6 Skill Points 

That made no sense. A drop of blood fell on the floor of my tent. I reached under my nose and pulled back blood.

"I can't protect you with my power. You have to run, or you'll be hurt worse the longer the wind blows." Gwen said.

I sat in one of my camp chairs with my elbows resting on the back facing the bed. Blood continued to leak from my nose, but it wasn't a bad thing yet. My skill regeneration was keeping up with it. If I continue training, my other skills will quickly level.

"This wind is psychic based," I said.

Gwen slowly nodded. She shivered under the assault while I could only feel the wind. "We are miles away from the creature," I said.

"It's so powerful. Rank 6 or higher, and it's battling a rank 7 physical like Mai." Leave it to a psychic white-tailed deer to sense a battle miles away. "I don't know what to do when the fight starts in earnest. The waves of power will get worse, summoning twisters that will devastate the land.

"Nothing we can do but wait out the storm and hope nothing too hot to handle comes our way," I said.

"What happens if your farm is destroyed and you can't pay your bills?" Gwen asked.

"I will be bought out by a bigger farmer; they will take me on as a sharecropper, and I will probably work for them for the rest of my life. Let's hope that doesn't happen."

"Your nose is still bleeding." I applied some pressure until another blast of wind stronger than before swept through me.

Maybe I should invest in my newest skill tree; maybe there will be attribute gains that will help.

Black Rage I 0/50

Skill Points: 16

It was an intimidating sight. The skill was completely untied from farming, and it looked so good. Black Rage sounded like it would lead to something more, and I wanted that. Continued skill trees were bigger and rumored to have some of the best skills and attribute gains imaginable. Snagging one early was the thing to do for any class.

16 points went in.

Ping! 

Black Rage I 5/50

+1 Willpower 

Willpower 11

Black Rage I 10/50 

+1 Willpower 

Willpower 12

Black Rage 15/50

+1 Willpower 

Willpower 13

Gains in willpower like that would be a dream come true for a monster tamer. They needed every free point possible. Attributes in willpower determined what type of monster and how many they could have on a team. I never heard of the berserk skill given a skill tree that drops willpower attributes.

A thought came over me and wouldn't let me go. I had an opportunity to raise my agility along with my strength. Staying still and punching my bag might be my problem. Why not move a little while I punched my bag.

From there, under the flowing wind, I practiced moving and managed to jab at my bag. It was easier said than done. My idea involved just moving around the bag and hitting it instead of remaining stationary. After an hour with no improvement, I swapped my tactics.

Image training was taught to me by Mai, who learned it from her father, Kato. The skill was necessary to put myself in from of an opponent I've seen to compare my movements to theirs. The person I knew the most was obviously Mai. I pictured that she was the bag with her ax ready to swing at any time, and I had to dodge around her blows and punch when I could.

While I'm sure there was a skill shard for something similar for me it was better doing it through my own mind. I endured the imaginary swings of Mai's ax as I waited, weaving between her slow-mo blows for the perfect strike that would allow me to put damage on the board.

From the outside, it looked like I was dancing around the bag, suddenly lurching at odd moments. Right when the ax was withdrawn, I knew the timing between the next attack I struck. A heavy blow hit Mai in the cheek, and the bag rocked back before I withdrew before the return could cleave me in two. Out of dozens of attacks, that single punch was all I managed between ax swings. As a fighter, I had a long way to go; there was no doubt about that.

Ping! 

+1 Agility 

Agility 4 

Beads of sweat poured down my face as I struggled to catch my breath. That wasn't Mai at her best only a slow-mo version captured by the camera. The real version would be so much faster.

This was the gym where I could do the most good. I needed to improve as much as I could because someday, I would have to fight. The farmer class didn't give increased attributes in anything but endurance and vitality with levels. So, I needed to earn that the old-fashioned way. My training skills would eventually make it easier, but I had to get past the hard beginning of early levels.

What I really needed was more skills. The Rasputin territory was well known for its hidden dungeons and mana-dry land. If I could leave my farm without alarms going off and a knight and investigator begin sent out to search for me, I would have already. To move forward, I needed to first pay back my debt, then I could roll the dice on my life in the local dungeons.

A scant few dungeons in this area were rumored to contain dragon-type monsters. That rumor probably wasn't true, but if it was, some dungeons dropped special skill shards containing tamer skills. Like Dragon Tamer, if I had that skill, then I could become a pseudo-tamer.

Mad dreams were all I had left to cling to in this world. I left the tent and felt a heavy wind try to blow me over. It might be possible to push my regeneration skill to 20 while the wind blew. A smile spread across my face at such a massive gain. My good mood lasted until I heard wolves howling and saw a shape launch itself at my fence.

Wolves shot out of the woods covered in blood. One flung itself into my fence and tangled in the barbed wire. The more it struggled, the more it cut itself to ribbons. I reached for my shovel to try and free it, only for more to charge into my fence. I had a bad feeling when the massive wolf also appeared.