Chapter 3: Level

Quests were separated into two categories normally.

One can be done alone, and one that need a party to breeze through the quest.

In LC, a + in Quest difficulty means that the Quest was for party.

The Difficulty level depends on the difficulty of the Quest and if the level of the Player was too low, there will be additional information in the Quest Information named, Recommended Level.

“Status Window!” (Kaito)

It was a command to check Avatar’s Status.

Kaito checked that the stats were the same as the one during CBT.

I looked at his status then remembered the fight he had with a level 8 Elite Boss before.

“Level 5, this quest will be hard….” (Reis)

We were standing in front of Elder Bhan’s house to plan what to do next.

“It’s not really that hard to deal with 4 of us here, also, I did it alone when I was level 10 back in CBT, so it's rather easy” (Kaito)

“That means, it’s leveling time then!” (Rinka)

“Yeah! To the Ruta Forest, we go!” (Kaito)

“Ou!”

All of us raised out voice then made a fist to the sky.

Yuni who was quiet most of the time, enjoyed our party just like when we had the Welcome Party.

She was shy around strangers, but to those who had known her for some time, she became able to enjoy having conversations with all of us in the dorm.

“Too bad that the others haven’t gotten their Gears yet” (Reis)

“Yeah…” (Yuni)

“They ordered right after they know that the four of us ordered the Gears, so its normal that theirs will come later! Haha!” (Kaito)

“Hahaha!”

Ruta Village became even more crowded as time passes.

Ruta Village was the only Beginner Village, but there were 100 different Servers, so all the Players were scattered all over the 100 servers.

It was just luck that all four of us in the same Server.

“Alright, before we go, buy 5 Breads!” (Kaito)

“Why bread? I thought it’d be potions we’re going to buy” (Reis)

“Bread is cheaper, and 1 Bread heals as much as 1 potion, it’s not as convenient as potions, since we can’t eat during combat, but we’ve already got 5 Red Potions and 10 Bread in the inventory” (Kaito)

“Hm… I forgot, how do I check my inventory again?” (Reis)

“Open the bag on your right belt, and you’ll see an Inventory Window in your view, although we only got 2 items in it, still I didn’t know that you can even forget something!” (Kaito)

“I AM a Human, so of course I could forget one or two things!” (Reis)

“Come on, you two! We wasted 14 minutes already!” (Rinka)

Rinka dragged us to a small bakery, and there, I opened at my inventory.

“What are these things?” (Reis)

“Hm? Is something wrong?” (Yuni)

“No, nothing” (Reis)

I shook my head then moved to the Bakery Owner to buy 5 Breads.

After buying the breads, we got left the Bakery and went to the Entrance of Ruta Forest.

Ruta Forest was on the north of Ruta Village, and beyond the Forest, there was a small mountain, the area where the Mountain Bandit Camp was located.

“So, who’s gonna tank? Yuni and I are Magic Caster, so it’s up to you two!” (Rinka)

“I will, I’ve experienced fighting against a Minotaur!” (Kaito)

“Alright, you’re the punching bag now, Kai!” (Reis)

“The hell!” (Kaito)

“Ahahaha!” (Rinka)

The tense atmosphere the forest gave off had been warded off, and made Yuni, who was tense, became relaxed.

“Alrght, let’s go!” (Kaito)

“Ou!)”

---===---

“Hah!”

Akira dealt 40 Critical Damage to Forest Boar.

Forest Boar fell.

Received 36 EXP (Experience Points).

Akira rose to Lv.4!

“Fuh… It’s easier than I thought. A low level AI’s movements are easy to remember”

I added all my SP (Stats Points) to Intelligence, because I wanted to become an Elemental Knight later.

I looked around and saw my friends running towards me.

“Akira-san!”

The bald guy that shouted my name just now was Toujou. The other three had Avatar Name of Legi, Moyashi, and Neo.

Regi was a tall and fierce guy, Moyashi was just a beansprout, and Neo was someone that could become a Guild Leader, since he had that charismatic aura.

I met these guys when they saw me killing a Boar when I was still level 1.

“How did it go there? Were there many Forest Boars?” (Akira)

“No, rather than that, we found a Bandit Camp there!” (Toujou)

“So, what’s the plan?” (Akira)

“I want to kill those bandits!” (Regi)

“Calm down, Regi. First, we better head there and see whether we can destroy them with five of us, let’s go” (Neo)

“Y-yes!” (Moyashi)

I followed Neo while eating a bread to recover my lost HP after fighting 4 Forest Boars at once.

‘If my opponents were humans, my [Clairvoyance] will be easier to use’

Ability unique to humans, perceiving the future, was an ability that only a few had, and most of them didn’t notice it.

However, I was included in the ones that notice it.

‘What a blessing…’

I smiled, thinking that I was a special person that no one can afford to ignore.

And that lasted only until I saw that guy…

---===---

“Take this!” (Kaito)

Kaito slashed a Wild Dog with his sword that he used like a dagger, while I swung my sword to his opposite side and dealt damages to it.

Kai dealt 42 Critical Damage to Wild Dog.

Leith dealt 25 Damage to Wild Dog.

“Ice Bolt!!” (Rinka & Yuni)

Rin dealt 23 Damage to Wild Dog.

Ryuni dealt 48 Critical Damage to Wild Dog.

Wild Dog fell.

Received EXP 20

Leith rose to level 2!

Kai rose to level 2!

Rin rose to level 2!

Ryuni rose to level 2!

“It took us at least a minute to deal with one of these Wild Dogs and we took no damage! Not a bad result!” (Kaito)

“We still have more than 5 hours left to save Syula, will we have enough time for us to save her?” (Yuni)

“With this pace, I’m 100% sure of it! Now, let’s move on to those Wild Dogs, once we reach level 3, let’s defeat the Forest Boars!” (Kaito)

“Ou!”

After 2 hours of fighting against Wild Dogs and Forest Boars, our level reached 5 and all our gears were changed to Leather Sets and Cloth Sets, and then Kaito led us to the Bandit Camp.

While walking, Kaito and Rinka shared their Status Window.

  

“Mine should be almost the same as Reis!” (Kaito)

“And mine is the same as Yuni!” (Rinka)

“Then it’s better if one of you focused on healing Reis and me when we’re fighting the Bandit Leader, later” (Kaito)

“Then I will heal you two, don’t worry” (Yuni)

“Good! It’d be weird if Rin did the healing” (Kaito)

“Hey! What do you mean by that?!” (Rinka)

I nodded in agreement, then we laughed once again.

In few minutes we finally arrived, but Kaito had a perplexed look all over his face.

“Strange… There should be some scouts around here, but not even a single scout on sight…” (Kaito)

“Maybe they’re all at the camp? Since they might have high level AI, it’s possible that they’re taking a rest” (Reis)

“It’s because they have high level AI that it’s impossible to leave the surrounding unattended” (Kaito)

“Then, let’s look around! There might be something!” (Rinka)

We all nod, then walked around the area, and then, we heard a voice.

“This is that was the last one!” (Toujou)

“That was pretty easy” (Akira)

“It’s thanks to Regi that the bandits from the camp to follow him just because of a small provocation, and also Akira’s ability to tank by avoiding their attacks” (Neo)

“Heh, provocation is my best ability after all!” (Regi)

“Amazing, Regi-san!” (Moyashi)

From their conversation, it appeared that they were the ones that clear the surrounding bandits.

‘Since these bandits have a high level AI compared to the surrounding monsters, wouldn’t they think that these guys are going to save Syula?’

I looked at Kaito, then in the next second, he ran towards the 5 guys.

“Excuse me!” (Kaito)

“Hm?” (Akira)

“Is there something you need? If you’re lost, go to the south from here, you’ll find the path to Ruta Village” (Neo)

“No, I don’t need you to tell me that” (Kaito)

“Hey! You’re rude to the boss!” (Regi)

“Calm down, Regi” (Neo)

“Uh, Sorry for being rude just now, but by any chance did you have a quest here?” (Kaito)

“N-no, we were here to kill these bandits and loot their items… Are you planning do the same?” (Moyashi)

“I see, so you don’t have the quest” (Kaito)

As I saw Kaito seemed safe, I stood up, then walked to Kaito, and both Rinka and Yuni followed me.

“… Then what’s your business here? Even if you say that you don’t want to loot these bandit’s items, you guys have quite a number on your side to clear the whole camp!” (Regi)

“Well, we were planning to clear the bandits but-“ (Kaito)

Without any warning, the tall and scary guy swung his axe and hit Akira.

Regi dealt 54 Damage to Kaito.

You attacked a Player, your name will be colored in grey.

“Wh-what?!” (Kaito)

Kaito stepped back with a surprised face.
With that surprise attack, Rinka and Yuni both healed Kaito to full HP.

“What are you doing?!” (Kaito)

“You bastards are trying to trick us, right?! Die!” (Regi)

I quickly inspected the axe-wielding guy and found out he was 2 levels above us.

I saw the guy’s friends not moving an inch or saying anything even though their friend was about to kill Kaito.

I gripped my sword, and looked at Kaito having a hard time dealing with him.

I rushed to save him when he was about to get hit.

Regi dealt 22 Damage to Leith.

“Leith!” (Kaito)

“Get back Kai, let me deal with this” (Reis)

“You… What are you…” (Regi)

Kaito didn’t notice that my HP didn’t drop as much as he did.

“Leith, Kai’s friend…” (Reis)

'If I let Kai did the fight, it's obvious that he'll die when Rin's and Yuni's Heals aren't enough to stop that lost HP, and so, the only choice was for me to fight him with Time Down'

I looked at him with eyes, full of contempt to provoke him.

"What's with your eyes?! You're looking for a fight?!"

He took the bait!

In the next moment, he rushed to me and swung down his Axe.

Within the split second when his Axe almost touched my shoulder, I used Time Down, and avoid his attack easily.

Not to forget, I readied myself while avoiding his attack, then counter attacked him once I was on his back.

Leith dealt 76 Critical Damage to Regi.

After dealing damage to his back, I continued raining down my attacks while using Time Down.

Time Down should only be used for under 3 seconds, more than that will cause a massive headache for me.

However, 3 seconds were enough.

Leith dealt 40 Damage to Regi.

Leith dealt 42 Damage to Regi.

Leith dealt 44 Damage to Regi.

Leith dealt 46 Damage to Regi.

Leith dealt 48 Damage to Regi.

Leith dealt 100 Critical Damage to Regi.

After 3 seconds had passed, I thrust my sword into his Avatar in the same spot as other hits as a Finale.

Leith dealt 104 Critical Damage to Regi.

I pulled my sword, and then left him writhing in pain and 1 HP left.
The battle had ended in less than 5 seconds.