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

Logan crouched on a thick tree branch, peering down at the goble rummaging through the caravan's goods.

Right, he thought, shifting slightly to keep his balance. Maybe I should've made a plan before hiding up here.

He scanned the area to get a better lay of the surroundings. The goble worked with single-minded focus, muttering to himself as he flipped through books, baubles, and trinkets. He would pause, occasionally, to squint at something before grunting and either discarding or keeping it.

Of the two bards tied up, the female drummer was still fidgeting, trying to work her hands free. The fiddler beside her, however, had gone completely still, resignation written in his posture.

Logan studied the cloth covering their eyes and binding their hands. That was interesting. Deep violet. The same color as the caravan's canopy.

His gaze drifted to the wagon, and sure enough, a jagged tear lined one edge where fabric had been ripped away.

A plan began forming. If he could maneuver along the branches and get directly above the goble, he could drop undetected. Problem was, the branches skirting the clearing grew further apart. He'd have to jump from one to another at thinned sections, and that risked exposure.

As for makeshift restraints to keep the goble quiet, he didn't need to reinvent the wheel. He would take the same tactic the bards' assailants used. His prowler claws could slice through the caravan's torn canopy, repurposing the fabric for blindfolds and bindings. He just needed to do it without attracting the goble's attention.

His eyes flicked to a spare lute discarded in the dirt.

A slow grin spread across his face as he pulled out his peashooter.

Logan crept along the tree limbs, keeping his steps light.

Stealth is level 11!

Sweet. He was actually kind of surprised at how many skills he was successfully grinding. When he first thought of doing this, part of it had been meant as a joke just to challenge himself. But he had raised three more skills over his arbitrary threshold, with a few more nearing the brink.

He braced himself, then hopped lightly to the next branch.

Midair, he realized his mistake.

A flicktail squirrel's nest was situated where the branch met the tree, along with its store of drakla pits.

His landing was silent, but the vibration sent the fruit seeds tumbling down like rain.

The goble froze, ears twitching. His small fingers gripped a book tightly as he scanned the area.

"Kresh?" He shook his head. "No, Kresh would be far louder than that." His eyes narrowed on the tree branches. "It's those flicktails, I'm sure of it. I told that filthy human not to keep taunting them." He exhaled sharply. "Why did the warlock pair me with a big, smelly human instead of a team of other gobles?"

Logan's fingers flexed against the bark. Who was the warlock, and why had he arranged a hit on a bard caravan?

The goble sighed and turned back to the wagon. "Well, if the warlock wants artifacts of power, he'll get them." He suddenly spun, jabbing a finger toward the captives. "This would go faster if you just told me which ones were valuable and which were rubbish."

The drummer mumbled something through the gag.

The goble just snorted and then peered into the woods where his companion had gone. "Couldn't they at least have given me a human with high enough Intelligence that his Analyze could detect enchantments?"

Logan's brows rose. Could his Analyze skill detect enchantments? His Intelligence numbered among his highest stats. Was the enchantment-detection upgrade in the skill only available to humans, or was it strictly based on Intelligence and gobles just had notably lower Intelligence?

There wasn't time to dwell on it. He had to take down the goble fast before this Kresh guy returned.

The goble resumed his work of flinging odds and ends from the wagon into the clearing. Logan, learning from his mistake, carefully chose his next three jumps. He maneuvered with precise landings, scanning for signs of flicktail activity before each movement.

Unrelenting Hunt is level 18!

One last leap to his goal remained, but it was also the one that exposed him the most. He held his breath and waited for the goble to open some pages of a book, spinning it upside down and cocking his head before he took it.

Safely perched above the caravan's covered top, Logan tiptoed to a spot at the wagon's back so he could cut off a strip of canvas that wouldn't expose him by leaving a gaping hole in the center.

Selecting an already torn section, he carefully sheared three long strips with his claws, only slicing through the fabric as the goble rustled.

Stealth is level 12!

Blindfold? Check.

Gag? Check.

Restraints? Check.

He tucked them into his belt, spaced apart for quick access to each strip.

Now, for the distraction.

He lifted his peashooter and loaded a thorn before aiming at the discarded lute.

He aimed, took a breath, and fired.

The thorn shot forward, striking the lute's strings with a sharp twang.

Sharpshooter is level 3!
Sharpshooter is level 4!

The goble flinched hard, nearly dropping the book in his hands. His head snapped around as he thrust it out of the canvas awning, eyes darting wildly. So close! The goble was right beneath Logan, but Logan needed him to come fully out of the wagon to investigate.

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The goble was acting cautiously now, though, and Logan bit his lip. Then he stifled a small gasp before it gave him away. Those Bone Skitterer ants… corpses drove them into a food frenzy.

He ran his finger along the underside of the branch. Perfect! There was a steady stream of ants here too.

From his gear pack, he removed the severed flicktail squirrel's tail. He held the ant on his finger near the tail and then jerked at the painful bite of the incited creature before flicking it away.

With his theory proven, he dangled the squirrel's tail beside his perch. Within seconds, the insects were swarming it. He waited until they coated it, resisting a few of the burning bites before finally tossing the ant-covered tail underhand onto the goble's head.

The diminutive bandit yelped and jumped from the wagon, swatting at his wiry hair to rid himself of the insects. That was all Logan needed.

He dropped.

His weight slammed into the goble, sending them both rolling.

Aerial Combat is level 4!

Logan jammed the first strip of fabric into the goble's mouth before he could scream, then yanked it tight. The goble writhed, clawing at him with lanky limbs, but Logan's Dexterity was pretty solid.

Just when Logan reached for the strip to secure its hands, though, the goble twisted and used its smaller size against him. Logan's father had forced him into every sport available at school… except for wrestling. His dad excelled at every sport except wrestling, too, and Logan now believed he hadn't wanted to be outshone.

But thanks to his father, Logan had zero tricks to pull when the goble clambered onto his back and kicked the crease of his knees, which sent Logan stumbling to the ground.

In an unexpected turn of events, the goble had snatched the readied cloth and now used it as a garrote on Logan's neck, twisting it. Logan tried to gasp, but his airways were cut off. Frantically, he scrambled, but every movement made the chokehold worse.

In a panic, Logan changed gears completely and meditated. The skill didn't work in battle, so he took a chance and stopped resisting the goble's attack just for a chance to clear his mind. The skill resisted him, but then something broke.

Meditate is—

Logan dismissed whatever notification had come up because he didn't have time for the longer message. Clearly, though, something had worked because time slowed. He felt his pulse in his neck beating against the cloth like a battering ram trying to break through a wall, but unsuccessfully.

As if he saw himself from a third-party perspective, he could detect the goble's position on his back, the angle he held the choker… and the angle Logan needed to smash his back to the ground to pop free of his nimble enemy's grip.

He did just that, and then sweet, glorious air filled his lungs once more. As the goble reeled on the ground, Logan snatched back his cloth and restrained him, then used the last rag to blindfold him.

As the goble tried to break free, Logan just sighed, grabbed the captive by his bound wrists, and dragged him toward the imprisoned bards.

"I'm not with those bandits," Logan whispered quickly. "I'm here to get you and your wagon back to Farrowstead. Stay quiet, that big guy's still out there."

Both bards nodded, and Logan untied their blindfolds first so they could see him and the captive goble.

The moment the drummer was free, though, she lunged and throttled the goble by the throat, slamming a knee into his stomach.

"Hey, hey! Enough of that," Logan hissed, pulling her back.

"He was going to eat us," she spat.

Logan made a face. "Really?"

The goble jerked.

Logan suppressed a shudder. "Okay. Still, he's not exactly a threat right now." He swallowed, forcing the disturbing image of the goble chowing down on a human arm like a smoked turkey leg. "Listen, the other one's going to be back any moment."

The fiddler frowned at him. "Why didn't you take him down too?"

"'Cause it's just me right now," said Logan, wondering why it sounded like he was being accused.

The drummer mumbled. "Couldn't you have waited to free us until after you took out the human?"

Logan shook his head, unable to comprehend how ungrateful she was, too. "He's like three times my size. I need both of your help."

"We're bards, not adventurers," retorted the fiddler. "We wield instruments, not weapons."

Logan glanced at the pile of instruments laying in disarray. "Today, instruments and weapons are the same thing."

They stashed the goble in the wagon's undercarriage, burying him beneath layers of clothing in case he thrashed around.

To keep things simple, Logan handed the two musicians items familiar to their fortes and rushed through his instructions.

"Smash this," the drummer said, patting her bongo, "on his head?" She eyed the drum with reluctance, but nodded. "It'll make a pleasant beat."

The fiddler looked less sure. "And you're sure this will work?" He waved the fiddlestick in his hand.

Logan clapped the fiddler's shoulder. "If you wait until he's in place, yes. Just don't move until after I ambush him from the branches, okay?"

Logan climbed up the nearest tree, using only one hand and his knees.

Climbing is level 27!

Nice. He didn't have time to revel, though, because the lumbering thug's loud stomping announced his return.

Below, the drummer and fiddler were each in position.

Logan prepared to jump in 3… 2…

The drummer charged out with a war cry and alerted the hairy human before he reached Logan's position.

The fiddler ran out next, since the drummer was supposed to be his cue. But that meant the fiddler rounded his tree to thump into Kresh's chest rather than sneak up behind him. Kresh threw the fiddler to the ground and raised his foot to stomp on his chest while simultaneously dodging the charging drummer with surprising agility.

Logan repositioned his angle, gathered the mana bouncing inside him, and flung himself toward the thug.

Null Pulse!

His foot connected to the bulky man's raised knee before he could bring his heel down on the fiddler. Without thinking, Meditate kicked in, but Logan could see his mana was burning rather than regenerating. I didn't even try to Medi—

Whatever the case, time slowed enough that he saw the meaty fist coming to pommel his head. Logan still felt the mana bouncing inside him, so he redirected it now and used the thug as a launching point, sending him back toward the trees.

Meditate ended immediately, and Logan had successfully bounced away like an errant pinball.

He didn't wait, and instead leaped to another tree, relying on foliage and stealth to hide him. It worked, too, with the oaf below scanning the canopy, but in the other direction.

Null Pulse!

Logan rocketed toward the man again, claws swiping and slashing the thug's hairy right arm.

The left arm caught Logan, though, and threw him to the ground ten feet away, where he rolled until he landed with the neck of the discarded lute biting into his ribs.

Logan staggered to his feet, holding his side. He clenched his fist and frowned. The leather strap Senna had upgraded his gauntlet with had broken, and now the claws didn't snap to attention the way they should on the one hand.

The burly man grinned and charged.

"I only came here for this," Logan shouted, reaching down to grab the lute. When Kresh came toward him, he used Null Pulse to push himself just far enough to the side to dodge the incoming steamroller of a human and smash the lute into his face as if it were a bat.

Discordant notes sang from the lute's bowl as strings snapped and wood splintered.

The drummer had apparently gotten back to her feet, because she came over and smashed the bongo on his head as planned. The fiddler dawdled over too, rubbing his jaw.

Logan shook his head and grabbed the fiddle bow from him before thrusting the thug's wrists between the rod and the strung hairs.

"Aw fiddlesticks," Logan said, secretly pleased at how fitting the expression was. He twisted and brought the man to his knees.

Thrilled, Logan panted and leaned back, hands on his hips, brimming with satisfaction. Gauntlet Mastery had risen one level to 13 and Null Pulse bumped two times to 15. Now, what was that notification he had dismissed in the heat of battle?

Meditate is level 25!

Synergy detected with Exalted Kin bloodline.
Meditate is level 25, with Willpower at [50] points or higher.
Unlocking threshold perk…

Threshold perk unlocked!
Pacifist Mindset
Slow things down a notch to get your bearings! Doing so requires full concentration. This now functions in battle, but taking any other actions will break your concentration. So go ahead and recover as long as you have someone watching your back or can make a quick escape.

That didn't make sense. He had taken other actions. Then again, his Bounty of Silence made it so concentration no longer required singular focus at the expense of added costs.

He was still distracted looking at the screen by the time he heard the crack of the fiddle's bow.

Even blinded by the drum kettle covering his head, the brute thrashed and knocked out the two bards in quick succession. The drum flew off his head with the second takedown.

Then he pulled a knife and charged, thrusting his blade into Logan's chest.