I listened to their animated babble, nodding and reacting with practiced surprise as if I hadn’t witnessed the entire rescue from the hillside. They spoke of the knights’ gleaming steel, the red-haired lady’s effortless grace, and the miraculous return of the lost children, Carl and Drek. To the people of this isolated border settlement, it was the most significant event in years—a "main topic" that would undoubtedly be the focus of every conversation for a decade or more. I played the part of the intrigued listener, knowing that in their eyes, I was the only other "warrior" in the village capable of appreciating such a display of power.
Among the gathering crowd, I noticed a familiar face watching me with an intensity that stood out even in the midst of the commotion.
***
Fadeline
Race: Human
Sex: Female
Status: Normal
Equipment:
Leather Footwear
Job: Farmer Level 7
***
Among the crowd, there was a girl who had been strangely trying to become close to me lately. She had even gone to Grandpa Tariq to ask him to teach her the common language; it seemed she was determined to find a way to talk to me. She asked me about the hunt we went on with Othrik and his party, questioned what I was doing in the forest alone, and even pried into my trivial daily routine. I knew I was new here and that villagers generally didn't have much worth talking about, but she was certainly much "stickier" than the other chatty villagers.
It appeared she had heard about what happened during the hunt and believed I had done a good job. Actually, it was not a bad situation, because any man would love to have cute girls around him. But the problem was that I was scheduled to leave in just five days. I thought it best to refrain from doing anything to encourage her unless she provoked my self-control too much.
The next morning, I met with the hunting party members at the village center again. Five people were waiting, and Othrik was among them. It was clear they were waiting for one last person to arrive before we departed.
“Good morning. Did you sleep well?” I asked to greet Othrik, acknowledging the others with a curt nod of my head.
“Oh, good morning, Han. Yes, I am very energetic today. Are you ready for the hunt?” he asked. He wasn't surprised to see me at all, likely because he had already spotted me approaching from afar.
“Yeah, I can’t forget that day’s hunt. I am itchy to go again,” I said with genuine excitement.
“I know, right? I heard you have already started to go to the forest alone. Be careful! Even if there are weaker beasts at the border of the forest, there may be some strong ones from time to time,” he snickered after seeing my enthusiasm.
“Okay, I will be careful.”
While we were speaking, the last guy finally arrived, and we departed for the hunt. I was determined to level up significantly during this trip. I equipped the Hunter job as my primary and the Villager job as my secondary. I was also ready to remove my ‘Identify’ skill temporarily to allocate those points toward two level 5 exp skills.
I planned to use the points I would acquire after my jobs leveled up to increase my stats, ensuring my survival was more guaranteed. My current job bonuses were calculated as follows:
***
Stats: Job Bonuses: Total:
Endurance: 5 X 1,198 5,990
Agility: 6 X 1,280 7,680
***
My speed needed to be fast enough for everyone to notice. I set a goal to finish off as many monsters as I possibly could. An hour later, as we moved deeper into the forest, we spotted a group of four grey wolves. I let Othrik take the vanguard position, which allowed me to utilize my agility more effectively. We surrounded them, and I dealt several quick stabs, cutting into their lethal parts.
However, after the fight, I noticed that I hadn't gained a single level.
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Why is that? I should at least gain a level, I questioned.
I realized I hadn't finished any of the monsters myself. I had tried to finish them, thinking it might unlock new jobs or provide more experience, but I wasn't lucky enough to get the last hit this time. Since I wasn't officially part of their party, there was a possibility that they shared the experience gained by the person who finished the monster. I had a x36 exp bonus, so I was nearly sure this was the case. To be certain, I decided to sacrifice the last hits of the next group of beasts as a test.
We found a new group of three black boars shortly after. I felt a bit sad because if my hypothesis about the last hit was correct, I wouldn't gain any experience. But if I was right, it meant that whoever got the last hit received all the experience provided by the enemy, which was then shared among party members. This would mean I could take all the experience for myself if I finished the enemies alone.
In the fight, I dealt damage at the beginning but refrained from hitting them further when they started to look near death. As I had hypothesized, I didn't gain a level again. This meant I had to be extremely careful to deal the last strike to enemies from now on.
Had I dealt the last strike to the first group, I might never have noticed this important detail. Afterward, we encountered seven more groups of beasts totaling more than twenty individuals. I intentionally focused on dealing the finishing blows to them. This increased my kill count significantly, thanks largely to my agility stat being higher than the others'. I finished at least seven of them, which successfully leveled up my Villager and Hunter jobs to level 10. Thinking that the others were likely still around level 15, I realized I was becoming quite fast compared to them.
Leveling up my jobs provided me with new free points as well. I checked the 'Player Window' and discovered that a new job had become available.
***
Swordsman:
- A normal job for a sword-using fighter.
- Strength increase (minor)
- Agility increase (minor)
- Dexterity increase (small)
Skill: Sword Dance
- You increase your dexterity and agility (0.5 + 0.01 * level) for 20 seconds
- Skill cost = 20 mana
***
It was a cool-sounding job. Since I had some spare points, I decided to add a new empty job slot. I equipped the Swordsman job in the third slot, but I noticed that its job stat bonuses were not halved; instead, they were reduced to a third of their original value.
I concluded that I would gain fewer stat benefits as I equipped more jobs simultaneously. It was still better than having only a single job, especially since I found that I could use the skills from every equipped job at once. Most importantly, I discovered something strange: even though the Swordsman job was only at level 1, I could change its location with the Villager job.
I had acquired the Swordsman job after my Villager job reached level 10, and it provided 11 points at level 1. I wondered if it was accumulating points based on the required levels of its preconditions. I unequipped the Swordsman job and re-equipped it while we continued to hunt, and after the hunt ended, I confirmed my theory. My Villager job reached level 11, but the Swordsman job still gave me the same points.
It seemed that the job provided extra points equal to the level of the Villager job's precondition for the Swordsman job, plus points equal to the current job's level. In short, because the Swordsman job required the Villager job to be at level 10 to be unlocked, a level 1 Swordsman job provided 11 points instead of just one. If the Swordsman job unlocked a further job later on, I wondered if those points would stack even further.
We returned to the village earlier than we had during the last hunt. We each gained four silver coins this time. Combined with the four silver I had earned while hunting alone for two days, I now had thirteen silver coins—more than enough for the carriage fee.
Knowing Grandpa Tariq would have already prepared a meal, I bought two pieces of bread and some fruit juice to bring home. Even if he had already acquired bread, we could eat it in the morning; it was always a hassle to go out early for small chores. As I expected, dinner was already ready when I arrived, and Grandpa had been just about to head out for bread himself.
“You don’t have to be this thoughtful. It is your hard-earned money, so you should save it. Also, don’t you need to keep it for your journey?” he asked.
“It is okay, Grandpa. I already have enough for the carriage fee. And I have three more days to earn more, even if you don’t count today. Let’s just enjoy our meals.”
“Okay. But aside from bread, let’s keep the juice for the morning. It is not suitable at all for dinner. You could have bought some booze instead.”
“Fine, fine. I will buy that next time,” I replied with a chuckle.
We chatted about our day at the dinner table while filling our hungry stomachs. Eating after a hard day truly made the meal more delicious. I told him about the hunt, and he shared some of the random village gossip with me. Before falling asleep, I sat down to decide what to do with the Swordsman job. I decided to equip it as my primary job, with Hunter as my second and Villager as my third.
My Swordsman job was at level 2. If I utilized the points from the ‘Identify’ skill as well, I could use exp skills at levels 6 and 5. This would multiply my experience gain by 42 (6×7=42), at a cost of 36 points (21+15=36). I also planned to use them both at level 6 to multiply my experience by 49 (7×7=49) once my Swordsman job reached level 6.
Over the next two days, I went into the forest alone again. The Swordsman job significantly increased my capability of controlling my blade, thanks to the dexterity buff. I also benefited from the other jobs' bonuses, even if they were reduced, and I had access to all their skills.
Leveling up the jobs was going smoothly, but Fadeline continued to come and see me every day. Her command of the Common language had improved sharply; while she could speak it roughly before, it felt remarkably different and more refined now. I found myself wondering if Grandpa Tariq had a legendary job for teaching.
She seemed incredibly curious and energetic. She spoke often of how she wanted to know more about the world outside the village and meet more people. It was clear I was one of her primary interests, at least for now. While it was nice to have the company of a cute girl, she had absolutely no "defense." She clung to me so closely that I was afraid I wouldn't be able to hold myself back at times.
Fadeline was a farmer who helped tend a medium-sized plantation and a few cattle in their barn. She assisted her mother every day in the barn and worked the plantation during sowing and harvest seasons. Despite being only eighteen, she noted that most girls her age would normally be married by now. She confessed that she wasn't interested in the men in the village at all because they only ever talked about the rain and the crops.
Does that mean she is interested in me, then? I tried to calm my thoughts. I was leaving the village in a few days, and I didn't want to leave behind anything that would bind me here.
[Edited]