LIGHTNOVELSTORY Chapter 24: Tutorial.24
Or at least he supposed it was. But the lack of the death squad that had gone after him returning left him worried. The young man had been overly confident to the point of being ridiculous, and Charles was beginning to fear it hadn't all been bravado. Most of it had undoubtedly been, since he was sure he remembered one of his lines being from a movie, but paranoia still gripped him.
Losing one or two members would be more than just irritating. They had invested a lot of resources in them, after all, leveling them all to at least level 5. He hadn't even considered for a second that they might be eliminated.
Prity was too good for that, in his opinion. He was at the same level as Charles, and Charles didn't feel confident fighting him head-on. He was strong before the tutorial, and here, he was even stronger. He had a small fear that Prity might one day turn on him, but it didn't seem likely so far. Anyway, he didn't see any scenario where that arrogant bastard of a fatal shot would survive.
Arriving at the small camp with the newbies, the newcomers looked around, with Charles agreeing with the progress in his absence. The camp was basic, to say the least, but they had started building some makeshift huts using twigs and leaves, with some larger buildings already being planned. If they had to stay more than two months here, they'd eventually have to build a proper shelter, and there was no better time than the present.
After waiting another quarter hour, he saw someone running toward the camp and didn't recognize him immediately. A battered teenager with cuts and bruises all over his body stumbled out of the trees, giving Charles a better look. At first, Charles was glad to recognize him as one of Prity's men, but quickly furrowed his brow as he realized he was alone.
Looking closer, he saw pure terror still on the young man's face. Charles immediately grew serious as several questions quickly sprang to his mind. Had they encountered a dangerous beast out there? Another group? Where was Prity?
He took a quick walk toward the boy, almost colliding with him. Before the boy could speak, Charles cut him off:
"What happened? Where's Prity? Where the hell is the rest of your squad?"
"M… dead," the boy barely managed to stutter.
Charles froze momentarily.
"Prity killed them?" he asked. If Prity had betrayed him…
"He… died…"
"WHAT!?" Charles shouted, clearly startling the already terrified boy. The boy could barely explain in pieces how they had fought and killed each other, but Charles interrupted him.
"If he killed everyone," Charles yelled, breathing deeply as he looked at the boy, "then why the hell are you alive?"
At this point, the others at the camp noticed the commotion, including Lucas, who decided to get a little closer and listen. He knew Charles had sent people after Alexander and hoped his friend could somehow escape. It was an open secret that no one spoke of.
But it seemed it had been very different from what he had expected. He honestly wasn't sure if he should be happy or not that his friend had killed a bunch of people.
The young fatal shot was almost pissing himself at this point. He gritted his teeth and explained what had happened in more detail. How they had been ambushed, and two people died because all they could do was try to protect themselves. He told everything he knew, leaving out only the fact that he had cowardly hidden during the whole thing.
"He let me live because he wanted me to deliver a message," the fatal shot said. "He told me Prity fought well… and that he was serious about what he said earlier."
The teenager left out the last part about sending more people. He was afraid it would just make Charles angrier, and he would really do it. If that happened, the teenager was sure he'd be forced to go as well.
Even leaving out the last part, Charles was still furious. His face was red, but at the same time, he was hesitant about exactly what to do. He looked at the boy, who in turn seemed to be wondering if he should say something.
"What else? Spit it out!" he said, glaring angrily.
"Boss… he wasn't normal. He… he liked… smiled while covered in blood… a monster."
Charles was surprised. He usually would have yelled at the boy more, but what he saw before him was not just a scared kid, but someone completely terrified. Scolding him wouldn't do anything. Instead, he turned to Lucas, who was not too far off.
Lucas was also shocked by what he heard, especially the last part. He knew Alexander was strong, and he knew he was quite particular when it came to fighting... but describing him as a monster?
But when he thought back to that night, Alexander, drenched in blood, smiling amidst three brutally murdered bodies... he understood. If he had been on the other side of that, it would have been completely terrifying.
"What the hell is happening with this guy?" Charles finally asked, looking at Lucas.
Lucas decided to stand firm. He had heard what the boy said. Alexander was out there, and he was a real threat, by the looks of it. He was the strongest bargaining chip in their group, along with Beatrice. And Lucas was nothing more than a good businessman.
"He's my friend and work colleague, as I told you, and he's particularly good with a bow. And when it comes to fighting, or 'hunting' as he calls it, he gets a little in the zone by himself. He's strange, he's a loner. Honestly, I don't understand much about him, but the one thing I know is that he's my friend."
Charles looked at Lucas and saw no indication that the man was lying about anything.
Whatever it is, Charles thought, he's not worth it.
He had already lost good men enough for one day.
The arrow I shot whistled through the air toward the unsuspecting boar, piercing its chest with force. The beast still whimpered and walked a few meters before collapsing, unconscious. The second one didn't stand a chance, an arrow hit its snout, followed by another that lodged itself in its eye. It died almost instantly.
The last grown boar was hit by just one arrow before it noticed my presence. I was there, on a small hill overlooking the clearing, nothing impressive. Brown hair and eyes, an average face, wearing a cloak that mixed shades of brown and dried blood.
It charged at me, head down, trying to hit me with its tusks, but it wasn't enough. The fatal blow veered off, and soon my dagger was embedded in the side of the beast. Screaming in pain, the boar tried to hit me again, but I dodged and plunged another dagger into its throat. It barely made a sound before falling, lifeless.
I smiled to myself as I pulled my knives out of the beast. I wiped them on the cloak and sheathed them in the belt loops. I was starting to get used to wielding two melee weapons. The one I now had was one I had taken from Charles' fatal shots.
I even considered training to wield two blades with more mastery, but that would be something for when I had the next skill selection. And speaking of which, I quickly glanced at the system notification, but I didn't see any level gains. Well, it was just the first group of beasts I'd killed since I burned Prity.
["You killed [Boar – Level 5] – Bonus experience gained for killing an enemy above your level. 16 CP gained."]
["You killed [Boar – Level 6] – Bonus experience gained for killing an enemy above your level. 32 CP gained."]
["You killed [Boar – Level 8] – Bonus experience gained for killing an enemy above your level. 128 CP gained."]
The only thing I got from this was confirming my temporary theory that with each level of the beasts, the amount of CP gained doubled. Still, I had doubts that it would always work this way because such aggressive multiplication would eventually become disproportionate.
Also, I noticed a part about bonus experience. My current level in the class was 7, but it was being counted as lower. The only explanation I could find was that the level was tied to my Race Level, not my class level.
That seemed a bit unbalanced, though. For me, killing a beast at my own level was almost easy. Even without considering my lineage, I believed someone as talentless in combat as Lucas could handle a beast of a similar level. Were humans just favored by the system?
I also noticed that the levels of the enemies really increased as I ventured further and further into the forest. The place was vast, and I was curious to see what was at the center of all this tutorial area. In the beginning, the announcement mentioned something about beast lords, so maybe they were there.
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