“Not that a horse can navigate.” Alfred tugged on his beard. “We could use the trails to skirt around the hill, but it will bring us uncomfortably close to them. For now, I think we should hole up in a nearby cave. There’s a storm on the horizon, which should hopefully wash away our tracks.”
“And then what?” Piper insisted. “There must be something else we can do.”
Alfred only shook his head in reply.
Piper turned her gaze to Ethel, whose features were pinched with worry. Even the normally unflappable Ophelia looked nervous as she tapped her stick against her thigh. All of them knew they were trapped.
No one spoke as Alfred retraced his steps and chose a new path cutting across the steep hill. He kept to the narrow trails, angling away from the farm. As he moved through the skeletal trees, he regularly stopped to check on the Crimson Guard below.
Piper’s mind raced as she tried to think of a way out of the situation. If they stayed in the hills, then either the redcaps or the vampires would find them, eventually. Plus, she assumed the Crimson Guard had some sort of tracking skill.
I have to do something.
But after spending a few minutes trying to think of a plan, she hadn’t come up with anything. If only she were strong like the shadeling demon she’d seen in her visions. That demoness had single-handedly defeated an entire castle.
After walking for nearly an hour, she began to recognize the terrain and realized where they were headed. This was the trail to the lion’s den. Which made sense, since it was the closest cave to the farm. She just hoped nothing new had moved in—like a bear or a hydra.
Do hydras exist in this world? she wondered to herself. Why the heck don’t they have any books about monsters?
Piper continued to chew on the problem as they hiked toward the cave. There must be something she could do with her magic. What if she turned herself into a redcap with her [False Face]? Maybe she could lead the other redcaps away?
She quickly discarded that idea when she realized she probably didn’t speak their language. Also, they’d probably be pretty suspicious if a random redcap showed up in their camp. How would she even explain what she was doing there?
Instead, she turned her focus toward her new spell [Umbral Terror]. Maybe she could use it to frighten off the redcaps. But the only problem was that she’d never cast it before. What if a single cast used up most of her mana? Or what if it had a cooldown? Either of those things could get her killed fast.
At the thought of her mana, she decided now was the time to allocate her free attribute points. After leveling up on the farm, she’d gained 100 free points. So far, she’d focused on her physical attributes. But if she was going to get the most out of her class, she needed to improve her magical ones as well.
Her first priority was to improve her Magic stat. During her lessons with Beatrice, she’d been told that people with a high Perception attribute could sometimes see through illusions. Though apparently that could be combated by having a higher Magic attribute.
Piper knew she’d been lucky so far that no one had seen through her illusions—mainly because few classes used Perception—but she didn’t want to risk that happening with the Crimson Guard. With a measly 2 in the stat, there was a good chance at least one of the vampires would see through her illusions.
While her Magic stat was bad, her Mana stat was even worse. She had a grand total of only 95 mana. Not only was it used for her spells but also for her [Demonic Blood] healing ability. Since it was looking increasingly likely that they were facing another fight, she wanted to have a big pool of mana to draw upon.
The last magical attribute she needed to improve was Mana Regeneration. So far, her battles had been short and vicious. Her class wasn’t suited to long fights—she needed to take out her opponents fast with invisible strikes. While it wasn’t nearly as important as the other two stats, she decided to add a few points to it.
After a few more minutes of mulling it over, she finally came to a decision. She added 15 points to Magic, 30 points to Mana, and 5 points to Mana Regeneration. That gave her 17 points in magic, 245 Mana, and 120 Mana Regeneration. It would take her well over two hours to fully regenerate her mana pool, but any fight should be long over by then.
At least, I hope so.
Next, she focused on her physical attributes. Like it or not, her class meant that she had to do her fighting up close. She didn’t have a single offensive spell to deal damage. Hopefully, she’d learn at least one in the future. But even the powerful shadeling demon she’d seen in her vision had fought with her tail and claws.
First, Piper placed 20 points into strength. She secretly liked being able to do things she couldn’t possibly do in her old life—like doing a pull-up to reach the barn’s roof. Next, she added 7 points to Stamina and 6 points to Vitality, bringing them up to a nice round 20 and 30, respectively.
To finish it off, she dumped the remaining 17 points into Dexterity. The higher stat should allow her to strike faster and let her avoid more attacks. Eventually, she’d have to add some points to Swiftness, but at the moment she could leave it low along with Perception. The Swiftness stat mainly affected a person’s running speed, though according to Alfred some people combined a high Swiftness and Dexterity to make them almost impossible to hit.
Once she was done, she did some quick calculations and was shocked to see that she had almost 262 total points. That meant she was probably stronger than any level 100 human who had unlocked their second class. She was starting to see why demons were so feared—they grew stronger at an insane rate.
With her points allocated, she pulled up her character sheet.
Piper Ashcroft
Race: Shadeling, Level 15
Class: Deceiver (Epic), Level 10
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Attributes
Strength – 66
Dexterity – 51
Stamina - 20
Vitality – 30
Perception – 3
Swiftness - 2
Magic - 17
Mana - 245
Mana Regeneration – 120
Free Attribute Points - 0
Racial Skills (5/10)
- Demonic Blood, Level 6
- Demonic Fury, Level 1
- Demonic Intellect, Level 6
- Quick Claw, Level 9
- Tail Strike, Level 9
Skills (10/10)
- Ambush Detection, Level 4
- Animal Caretaking, Level 5
- Archery, Level 6
- Cooking, Level 6
- Enduring Casting, Level 11
- Gardening, Level 1
- Identify - 1
- Running, Level 11
- Stick Wielding, Level 1
- Subterfuge, Level 2
Spells (4/10)
- False Face, Level 4
- Truth Shroud, Level 6
- Umbral Terror, Level 1
- Veil of Lies, Level 5
She checked her stats and noted that nothing else had changed recently. Hopefully, her vastly improved attributes would help them elude the Crimson Guard and the redcaps. Though she couldn’t imagine how many points an immortal vampire had.
Turning her attention back to the trail, she noted that they were nearing the lion’s den. After walking a few more meters, they reached the clearing outside the cave. The only remaining sign of the lion’s presence was half a dozen gnawed bones.
Alfred approached the cave cautiously, with an arrow knocked on his bow. After a glance inside, he lowered his weapon. Clearly, he’d been worried something new had taken up residence inside the lion’s old den. But apparently it was empty.
“Great,” Gorebark commented from her grip. “Nothing to fight again? Are you ever going to level me up? Have you taken some sort of oath that won’t let you kill? Are you part of the ‘do no harm’ crowd?”
Piper shushed Gorebark as Alfred glared at her weapon. Then she walked over to the cave and peeked inside. The entrance was large enough to fit a wagon through, but the tunnel swiftly narrowed after about a dozen meters before disappearing into the darkness. She wondered how deep it went into the mountain.
Alfred rounded on Piper. “Do you think you can conceal the entrance?”
“I don’t think so…” She chewed on her lower lip. Her [Veil of Lies] could only hide an area slightly larger than a person. “Maybe if we go in a little bit further where it’s narrower?”
Alfred nodded before heading over to the horse. He began the process of unloading the pack animal and was quickly joined in the task by his daughter.
Just when Piper was about to offer to help, Ethel motioned at her to follow with familiar-looking water pails in her hand.
“Come help me fetch some water,” Ethel said, handing her one of the buckets.
She took the bucket and then followed Ethel up the mountain slope. They walked in silence until they found a narrow stream emerging from the rock face. Both filled their containers before beginning the trek back to the cave.
After a short distance, Ethel looked over at Piper. “I’d like you to make me a promise.”
“A promise?” she repeated, surprised at the request. “About what?”
“If something should happen to Alfred and me, I want you to ensure that Ophelia makes it to the Arissian Empire.”
“Nothing is going to happen to you.”
Ethel gave her a sad smile. “We’re being chased by the Crimson Guard. That… never ends well for those involved.”
Piper’s heart sank slightly at Ethel’s word. But she dispelled her thoughts and focused on the positive. Like her dad said, she always had to stay optimistic. “You’ll both be fine,” she replied, trying to sound reassuring. “I’m sure of it. Alfred will keep us safe.”
“Please just promise me.”
“Alright, I promise. But you’ll see that everything is going to work out.”
They continued the journey in silence until they reached the cave mouth. Once they arrived, they refilled their water skins and then washed off the grime from the day. They gave the remaining water to the horse, allowing it to drink its fill. Before they left tomorrow, they’d have to refill the buckets at the spring, but for now they had more than enough water.
Piper sat down on a rock and pulled off one boot. She gently massaged her foot and winced. Her feet were aching from the walk, and she was tempted to use her healing to dispel the pain. However, she decided against in case she accidentally lit something on fire. Any smoke would act like a beacon for their position.
Pulling her boots back on, she turned her thoughts back to their problem. She was the only one here with a combat class—she had to do something to help. What if she used her [Veil of Lies] to sneak them past the redcaps?
But she quickly realized the illusion wouldn’t be large enough to hide the horse. Plus, she doubted they could move in single file long enough to keep them all hidden from prying eyes. No, she would have to come up with something else.
Piper frowned and pressed her lips together. Once again, she was too weak to save those she cared about. She bet the Crimson Guard would have no trouble dealing with the redcaps.
At the thought of the vampires, an idea burst to life in her mind as she realized there was something she could do to save everyone. But it would be dangerous, and Alfred really wouldn’t like it.
Not that I have to tell him about it.
If she told Alfred and Ethel, they would probably forbid her from doing it. But they couldn’t forbid what they didn’t know about. All she had to do was use a little bit of her magic, and she could solve all of their problems. And the best part was that she wouldn’t even have to fight.
She crossed her legs and tried to hide her nervousness. Though she did a poor job as Ethel kept shooting quizzical looks in her direction. Even Ophelia glanced over as she tapped her foot against the ground.
Once they’d finished setting up their camp, everyone settled in for a cold meal. With two groups of enemies nearby, they didn’t dare light a fire. Thankfully, there was plenty of bread, cheese, and dried meats.
While Piper missed Ethel’s delicious cooking, at least the meal was filling. After they reached the mountains, they would have to ration their food, but for now there was more than enough to go around. Especially since the bread would only last another day or two at the most.
They ate in silence, and once the meal was finished, they headed deeper into the cave. The floor was surprisingly smooth, and the walls had strange grooves in them. After travelling a few metres, she couldn’t help but wonder if this was manmade. Was this part of the ruins crisscrossing the foothills?
None of the others seemed to notice the unusual features of the cave, and she didn’t bother to bring it up. Alfred had found a nice cozy alcove they could all squeeze into along with the horse. And it was narrow enough that she could cast [Veil of Lies] to conceal their hiding spot.
Once the entrance had been hidden, Ethel handed out thick woolen blankets along with furry animal pelts. They would need them to stay warm in the chilly early spring weather. Though hopefully the cave would shelter them from the worst of the cold.
Not that I plan on sleeping.
Piper sat down on the hard floor and pulled the blanket up to her chin. Beside her, Ophelia slid over to rest her head on her mother’s lap. She watched as Ethel stroked her daughter’s hair until the young woman fell asleep.
She continued to watch the others as they slipped into slumber one by one. The last to nod off was Ethel, her face finally relaxing for what seemed like the first time in days. Nearby, Alfred lay on his back, his barrel chest rising and falling as he snored with a sound like sawing logs.
Piper carefully pulled back her blankets and stood up. She stood there for a long minute, making sure she hadn’t awakened anyone before she collected her weapons and cloak. Then she retraced her steps, heading back toward the cave’s entrance.
As she stepped out into the chilly night air, she felt her bow vibrate in her hands.
Gorebark looked up at her with wooden eyes. “You’re going to do something reckless, aren’t you?”
She bit her lower lip. “I wouldn’t say it was reckless…”
“That means yes. Any chance I’m going to gain a few levels finally?”
She nodded.
“It’s about time.” Gorebark grumbled. “Come on, let’s go be reckless.”
Piper headed out into the darkness, the two moons lighting her path. She was going to kill two birds with one stone. She was going to take out both the vampires and redcaps in one fell swoop.