(Book 1 Complete!) Side Quest [Isekai / LitRPG]

The sound of the festival faded as Logan reached the town's edge. The bard's directions were straightforward, and the caravan should be just behind the three oak trees slightly east of the gate. Impossible to miss, he said, with its deep violet canopy stretched taut over the wagon's frame and a supposedly tone-deaf fiddler who would probably be flirting with the drummer.

Either the wagon had suddenly and mysteriously turned invisible, or Logan was really bad at following directions.

He almost called out in case the other bards had simply moved the vehicle, but then he noticed the ground.

At first, it seemed like nothing out of the ordinary. Flattened grass and scattered footprints… the natural aftermath of a gathering.

The wagon tracks, however, caught his attention. Instead of being in their original spot, they curved slightly, as if the cart had been repositioned or taken somewhere else. A few divots in the earth suggested it had been moved with some effort, but not necessarily in a hurry. Nearby, some loose straw was scattered, probably from packing up quickly. A piece of fabric hung, caught in a bramble, fluttering slightly in the breeze.

Logan groaned. Was there any such thing as a simple side quest? The System popped a prompt in front of him.

Divergent Skill Path detected, stemming from Void affinity. Please choose from one of the following two skills:

Tracking (Uncommon): Base skill

Unrelenting Hunt (Epic): Void-aligned

Uncommon versus Epic? And perfectly aligned with his affinity? It wasn't even a choice.

Congratulations! You have learned a new skill!
Unrelenting Hunt (Epic), level 1
+5 PER, +3 WIL
Well now, aren't you quite the investigator? Footprints, broken twigs, suspiciously misplaced snacks that—sure, of course—you definitely didn't eat. Improves proportional to Perception. Limited to the Void Affinity.

He opened his status screen. Pride swelled in his chest at the skills he was accumulating, but it was getting cluttered, so he abbreviated the skills' rarities and level identifiers, then smiled as he checked his progress.

Name: Logan Vitali
Race: Human, Exalted Kin (Masked)
Level: 10
Trait: Measured Touch
Heritage Boon: Forked Gambit, Core Cracker
Affinity: Void

Health: 162/162
Stamina: 314/314
Mana: 456/456

Stats:
STR: 21
END: 40
DEX: 56
AGL: 30
INT: 56
PER: 75
WIL: 60
CHA: 6

Free Points: 16

Skills:
Aerial Combat (R), lv 3
Aetherlens (L), lv 19
Analyze (C), lv 18
Climbing (C), lv 15
Cold Resistance (U), lv 13
Crafting (U), lv 3
Gauntlet Mastery (R), lv 12
Heat Resistance (U), lv 17
Interdimensional Storage Ripple, non-leveled
Meditate (U), lv 18
Null Pulse (E), lv 9
Pain Resistance (C), lv 18
Questboard, non-leveled
Running (C), lv 17
Stealth (C), lv 9
Unrelenting Hunt (E), lv 1

Titles:
Giant Slayer III (+5 STR, +8 END, +5 WIL)

Intrepid Explorer II (+5 INT, PER, WIL)
Lizardboy II (+15 WIL)
Mold Breaker II (+4 END)
Monster Slayer III (+4 END, DEX, INT)

Talent:
Missing

Well fortunately this new skill, Unrelenting Hunt, scaled with his Perception, which was easily his highest stat. Too high, probably, considering half his stats were below 50, with Charisma's score too embarrassing to acknowledge. Now that the others knew about his lack of familiarity with the System, he would have to ask them about Charisma's importance in case he should save some points for it.

He also couldn't take his eyes off how many low-leveled skills he had. With everything else going on, he hadn't asked the team about skills.

Team. He still wasn't used to thinking in those terms. Not just here, but even back home, he had always stuck to himself.

Teams were always those things where instead of raising himself to new levels, it gave his father ammunition to beat him down.

"Tommy beat your score."

"If you got one point more, the team would have placed on the leaderboard."

"Because of you, nobody made the cut."

Well, Logan wanted to make changes. So yeah, the team.

The little he had gleaned was from a side conversation between Alden and Bromlin. Apparently, starting at level 20, there was a small reduction in the cost or difficulty of most skills, whether they demanded mana, stamina, focus, or whatever else.

Looking at his screen now, he hadn't raised a single skill past 20. Some were close, though. Skills like Aetherlens and Analyze had given diminishing returns when he just spammed them. The significant moments when he had raised them after level 10 had been in the more dangerous scenarios, or when encountering new things. Perhaps he should prioritize those entry-level adventurer guild courses. Was he setting himself up for a poor foundation?

He thought back to how he had honed his Heat Resistance skill back at the cave with the torch slugs. He had specifically exposed himself to heat to raise it enough that he could pass beneath them without dying. Was this another carryover from his old life? Scraping by when he needed to, but otherwise abandoning things once his priorities changed?

Analyze is level 19!

Uh… what? Logan shook his head. Did I just level it up by Analyzing my life?

First off, that was a pretty low-ball punch from the System. But also, that meant there might be outside-the-box ways of leveling up Analyze, or even some other skills. Maybe having a high Perception stat was part of it.

Analyze is level 20!

Very interesting. Even if the System rewarded his musings on his old self, he might be being too harsh. He had managed not to die so far, after all. But either way, it was time to create good habits.

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This was a simple enough task, tracking down a wagon. Unrelenting Hunt ought to rise, considering the effort had triggered the skill gain. But if he went about this intentionally, how high could he raise it? He wondered if he could get it to level 20 before the night was done.

But he might have to take his time and do a little extra tracking too. Perhaps on some of the local wildlife. And if he was going to skill grind, why not try to maximize his output by double-dipping and using some of his other skills in the process?

Heat Resistance and Cold Resistance were unlikely to move tonight given the temperate weather. But what about Climbing? He peeked at the nearest tree and saw the familiar signs of a flicktail squirrel nest. That's right, we even passed one on the way here.

Before long, he formed a plan and immediately set it in motion.

Unrelenting Hunt.

He bent low and made out the distinct tread of two separate boots. One was smaller, and the larger one seemed to press deeper with the heel of the right foot.

Unrelenting Hunt is level 2!
Unrelenting Hunt is level 3!

Next step, he climbed the nearest tree. With his prowler-claw gauntlet, he scaled half the tree's length in no time, but gained no skill level. He didn't worry too much about it. The next tree he would climb without using his claws. Might make it tougher.

He perched on a limb and squinted, making out the wagon tread. The wagon moved east, and the churn in the grass made it look like it had been sitting for a while and then had to really push into motion, but then maintained a steady pace.

Unrelenting Hunt is level 4!

Logan grinned. "I could be on a crime show with this. Detective Vitali, tracking down bards with scoliosis."

Now was the fun part, though. He checked each way to make sure there was nobody nearby, then rubbed his palms together.

Null Pulse.

Just as the Ripper had used the skill to jump off the Adventurers' Guild building as much as it did to jump back onto the roof, he did the same.

He hit the ground with a hard impact, grunting at how much force he had used.

Null Pulse is level 10!

He flexed his toes in his boot to try and ease the charley horse forming at the impact. But he welcomed the ache. "If I use more force next time, maybe I can get Pain Resistance up."

He ran as far as he had seen the tracks go from his vantage on the tree, but no increases came with Running. He could do this better.

Again, he tracked. The wagon's wheels had veered slightly before correcting, as if whoever was steering had made a minor adjustment.

Unrelenting Hunt is level 5!

He climbed without his gauntlets, and scanned the squirrel nest he passed on the way up. On the branch opposite the entry, it looked like there were a bunch of poop pellets. That's cute. They have designated bathrooms.

Climbing is level 16!
Climbing is level 17!

Unrelenting Hunt is level 6!

He continued the process, each time trying to push himself harder and find new limits to press. He funneled more mana into his Null Pulse descents until the pain was real. Aetherlens stayed on until it drained his mana completely, and then he paused to Meditate. Rather than run from tree to tree, he dashed in mad sprints. Once he actually overshot his distance to the next tracking segment and had to backpedal, but even that helped with the tracking skill because he had to follow his own trail.

He also Analyzed everything, even discovering a type of small white ant called a Bone Skitterer. It preferred shade and climbed only on the underside of branches, only venturing out when it smelled corpses, which drove it into a frenzy.

As he returned to the wagon's path, though, he noticed the boot prints had changed. Still just two of them, but now they were different treads, and the one who favored his right foot wasn't favoring his right foot anymore. The biggest giveaway, though, was that the smaller set was easily half the size of the larger.

This was the same wagon, but different footprints.

New quest available! Discover what happened to the bard wagon.
Reward: Accessory (Variable)

Accept?
YES/NO

Logan inhaled and held the breath, then blew the air out with a loud exhale. "Everything has to spiral into something bigger, doesn't it?"

He opened his status, focusing in on only the skills he had improved. Some still lagged his 20-marker goal, but it was only midafternoon. Best of all, though, the sheer nature of his current mission was raising his newest skill incredibly fast.

Aetherlens (L), lv 22
Analyze (C), lv 23
Climbing (C), lv 26
Meditate (U), lv 24
Null Pulse (E), lv 12
Pain Resistance (C), lv 28
Running (C), lv 27
Unrelenting Hunt (R), lv 17

He shook his head. "Sure, System, why not."

Quest accepted!

On the bright side, if there was something untoward behind this, it would make for an opportunity to practice Stealth too, right?

He continued with his method, but subbed out Stealthing for Running.

During his next stretch of skill grinding, the tracks changed. Small ruts lined the path, suggesting the wagon had been stationary for a time before being moved. The grass had been trampled in uneven patches, with some areas pressed deeper into the soil than others. A few snapped twigs littered the trail's edge, and some had fresh, jagged breaks.

The signs of foul play grew stronger as he reached a clearing, and caught sight of the violet canopy top through a break in the branches.

The wagon stood at an angle, one wheel lodged into a patch of soft mud. Nearby, a stack of overturned crates had spilled scraps of fabric, loose sheets of parchment, and what looked like half a loaf of bread, now dusted with dirt. A lute case lay discarded near the base of a tree, its clasp unfastened, but no instrument inside.

Rifling drew his attention to the other side of the clearing and Logan winced at seeing two people matching the bard's description of the fiddler and the drummer gagged, blindfolded, and bound to a tree. There was bruising on their faces. And I was seriously using this time to level my skills?

"Grab the books, too," said a gruff man with forearms so hairy they looked like massive caterpillars.

Then a high-pitched voice came from inside the wagon. "Catch!" One of said sought-after books flew from the ransacked vehicle, after which hopped out an actual creature. No, not a creature.

Name: Unknown Scavenger
Race: Goble
Type: Person
Level: 15
Health: 35/35
Mana: 86/86
Lore: Gobles typically live in subterranean regions. With exceptional dexterity and a penchant for chaos, they thrive in dark places. Often underestimated because of their size and feral demeanor, Gobles excel in large numbers but are mistrusted by other races.
Strength: Night's favor, Shadow slink.
Weakness: Low intelligence, Vulnerability to bright light.

Stealth is level 10!

Logan cursed under his breath. He was too far from town to call on the others, and he couldn't let these two innocent bards get ganged up on. But how was he going to take on two thugs?

Maybe he didn't have to. If he could separate them…

Logan grabbed his trusty peashooter and prepared some ammo. Instead of thorns, he grabbed some small pebbles on the ground. Then he stalked and checked the nearest trees. Perfect. A squirrel nest, complete with drakla pits sitting at the entrance.

He lifted his peashooter and lined his sight on the pits.

Congratulations! You have learned a new skill!
Sharpshooter (Uncommon), level 1
+2 DEX, +2 AGL, +2 PER
Turns out flailing and hoping for the best isn't a strategy. Your aim has officially graduated from 'wild guess' to 'actually on purpose.'

Three successive strikes each dislodged a pit of their own.

"What was that?" said Hairy Arms.

"Probably a squirrel."

Logan hurled the pits deeper into the woods. The two ransackers shared a look, but their suspicion wasn't heightened enough to get them to branch out. I need something more compelling…

Logan focused inward on the mana bouncing inside him and gathered the energy. He was getting accustomed to the tingle.

Null Pulse!

Sharpshooter!

He launched into the air and extended his arm to swing himself on a branch. The impact made it crash.

Null Pulse!

He jumped from the branch to another, ramming it with his shoulder.

Sharpshooter is level 2!

Null Pulse is level 13!

"That's no squirrel," said the burly man.

"Prowler, maybe?"

"Hm. Maybe. But it won't give us any trouble. As long as it isn't people."

Logan chewed on that. Cupping his hands to his face, he directed his voice deeper into the woods.

"Trail leads this way, boys," Logan said in a deep voice.

"Just our luck," grunted the burly man, now whispering. "You stay here. I'll take care of them."

Logan snickered at just how easy it was. Now, what to do about that goble?