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

When Logan reached the others, there were not two, but five dead prowlers. Flick stood triumphant atop Mishki's shoulders, and everybody was in a good mood.

"Looks like you did pretty well here," Logan said. "How'd it go?"

Mishki beamed. "I gained three levels! And Flick here gained 8."

"That's excellent! How about you, Cassandra?"

She shrugged, but Bromlin slashed a hand through the air. "The lass is being modest. She used the skill greatly." His supportive tone sounded a bit overcompensating.

"When she actually landed her punches," Senna added with a chuckle beneath her breath. Bromlin pressed his lips into a line to hold back from commenting further.

Cassandra didn't seem bothered by Senna's jab. "Yes, perhaps I stopped a little short of making contact a few times, but they are dead, and I'm not, right? It's certainly a unique feeling to rely so heavily on hand-to-hand confrontation."

"I've seen you do it before," Logan said. He recalled her placing a hand on enemies and leaving them with a radiant brand that dealt damage.

Her response was that laying a brand only required the slightest physical contact, unlike an attack, which took strength into account. She, though, had invested more of her stats in Intelligence than Strength, which made sense.

Logan bit his lower lip. Some great gift I gave her.

"But," she said brightly when she noticed his expression, "this is still proof that I am not a single-note spellcaster." She flipped her hair casually. "How about the two of you?"

Alden cleared his throat and stepped forward, chest puffed out as he held up the monster core. "We," he said grandly, "successfully defeated a Plagued Toadkin."

The others gathered in to look at the core, murmuring among themselves at the unfamiliarity of the monster's name.

"Are you gonna crack it open?" Senna asked Logan.

"No. We're going to look for eleven more." He turned to face Alden, who still stood proudly. "I'm curious to see what Alden will get from it. You know, with the new thing."

The others shared a shrug before Cassandra asked Alden, "What new thing?"

"Oh, nothing big." He cleared his throat for a second time, and for twice as long. "Just my Life affinity."

They all broke into cheers and took turns congratulating the mage, who accepted it with a wide grin.

Senna was quick to ask the same question Logan had earlier, about whether Alden would leave them now. He gave the same reply about waiting to see in Caerwyn, but Logan could already hear by the tone in his voice that the mage would stick around.

Now that Alden had had his fun, he pulled out the tube. "We also found this."

The group quieted so Alden could describe the details of the Mage's Guild-restricted quest. Before he did, though, he paused and made a face.

"This… brings me no pleasure. Someone named Amatra, who appears to have been following the Adventurers' Guild expedition in the blight closely and believed it was close to being eradicated, gave the quest. The goal is to notify the Mages' Guild in Caerwyn about interference that sabotaged the mission by altering the calibration's initial function. This last-minute quest discoverable was created as a back up in case Amatra died in expected calamity."

Everybody listened to the news silently. Back when chicken herding was his biggest concern, Logan had overheard Thessin worrying that the Mage's Guild might catch wind of the Adventurers' Guild advancements with mana-scarring detection. Thessin had also suspected Vellia of intentionally miscalibrating the monster alarm.

However, given this finding and the Mages' Guild's apparent awareness of the Adventurers' Guild's progress, it appeared that a combination of inter-guild deceit and Vellia's interference had resulted in the current ruin. It still didn't explain how the blight had started, though. But if they didn't find any signs of this Amatra or any of the others, Logan worried they now knew the final fate that had befallen the Adventurers' Guild members based on this If-I-die style message.

"Well, friends," said Bromlin, breaking the silence by adjusting his grip on his axe. "It seems we should keep along the edge of the blight and look for more clues."

"Agreed," said Cassandra. "If Amatra survived, they would likely be headed to Caerwyn anyway, and we may run into them."

"Or more clues," said Logan.

They decided then to keep going. It would give them an opportunity to confront more toadkins, too, to collect more monster cores for Alden. Plus, more opportunity to grind.

The pulsing thrum inside Logan's body was consistent with the Life Affinity, which Logan had re-assumed. They had to find these monsters and prowlers, and now that Logan had already upgraded Slipstream Mirage, he had his eyes set on Feral Echo's threshold perk. It was called Walls Have Eyes, and it allowed him to detect vital signatures through solid objects like walls, with the range increasing proportionately to the skill's level.

Moodprint's perk involved allowing the user to impart their own emotion on others. Unrelenting Hunt's perk allowed him to instantly string together several tracks to mentally recreate a brief motion. The emotion one didn't seem useful enough compared to the ability to detect life forces through walls, especially since the skill's strength was in tracking. As for Unrelenting Hunt, Logan's Perception was already high, and he could use a little deduction to piece the details together. Sure, it might be a convenience, but Walls Have Eyes was hands-down the most useful he could think of.

So now he just needed to raise the skill one level.

Feral Echo.

The patter of vitals from his companions became clear in his ears, and the faintest glow of heat emanated from them. He closed his eyes to block out any visual distractions and listened, just for vital signs. Small thumps, similar to those of Flick, popped up here and there, just at the edges of his awareness. Those were probably some curious flicktail squirrels that had been watching them. There wasn't any edible food here, but a few squirrels had been curious enough to see if these strangers had brought food. Mishki had told them as much, translating Flick's babbling chatter and clicking teeth.

But he didn't catch any sign of anything else.

He opened his eyes and walked another ten steps beside the others before closing his eyes and checking again.

After three rounds of this, he wondered if monsters actually had vitals, but then he caught the beat. It wasn't the telltale syncopated double-pump of a human heart, but more of a slow, steady knocking. It gave off the same rhythm that Logan felt in his body when he took on an affinity.

In this case, it was that pulsing sensation. Logan had seen short clips on the internet of weird sensory illusions where you saw a muted clip of someone jumping. When the person landed, the screen shook. Even though those videos played without audio or haptic feedback, it still created an illusion for the person watching the silent video, and make them think they had heard the person land or felt the screen shake.

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This sensation was like that, where he could almost feel and almost hear the pulsing rhythm that matched his Life affinity. He could also make out three distinct signatures, even though they all were near each other and beat at the same rate.

He lifted a hand, making the others quiet their hushed chatter, then he pointed beyond a cluster of trees on their right.

Feral Echo is level 25!

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

Threshold perk unlocked!
Walls Have Eyes
Remember how this skill called you a creepy biological eavesdropper? Well, you just took that to a new level! Walls Have Eyes will reveal any life forces hidden behind solid objects as many feet away as you have levels in Feral Echo.

The same vital signature Logan had detected from the others was now visible on the monsters, even through the trees. It was one thing to feel and hear the pulsing beats from beyond the forest growth, but to see the paired visual, he had them locked in his sights. Or, in his lack of sight.

"Three of them," he whispered, pointing to the areas. "Let's split up, like we said."

Logan couldn't do things the same way he had with Alden now that he was back to the Life affinity, so they devised a new plan.

Nugget guided Cassandra to the backside of the toadkins, where she created a force version of her wards, slowly pushing them forward. At first, the monsters just slid to the side, staying in the comfort of their rotten bed. Alden, though, followed up by creating a small divide in the sludge, almost like parting a mini Red Sea. Working with Cassandra and under Nugget's guidance, the two mages were able to divert the toadkins completely out of the sludge.

With the first one exposed, Logan cast Mindmirror Sigil.

Mindmirror Sigil (Dream) is now Wellspring Sigil (Life)!
Who needs self-sufficiency when someone nearby is just bursting with extra? Mark a target. You can borrow from their vital pool if yours is lower, but only up to 50% of their total. Rate of draw and targetable range improves with skill level.

"Whoa!" Logan said with a laugh.

"What is it, lad?"

"I think I can drain mana, health, or stamina."

You have marked a level 56 Plagued Toadkin.

The toadkin, which hopped once to the right to make it back to its sludge bed, suddenly stopped searching for a way back and croaked. The croak alone was enough to make everyone wince, and for a second Logan was seeing double.

You are staggered for 2 seconds.

As Logan struggled to keep his footing as the world seemed to tilt around him, a huge wad of sizzling black goop jetted at Logan and hit him right in the chest.

You are poisoned.

Acid Resistance is level 7!
…
Acid Resistance is level 10!

Pain Resistance is level 42!

Nugget squealed and zoomed from beside the two mages in a straight line for Logan.

Logan's health dropped by a quarter, and he sucked air in as it kept sliding down.

Bromlin recovered first and raised his axe, which kept the next barrage of goop from hitting Logan again.

"Thanks," Logan said, voice hoarse.

Nugget landed on his shoulder and hissed at the monster, but Logan just shook his head to calm the dragon.

"You all right, lad?"

"Yeah. Poisoned, though." His voice was barely louder than a whisper, and his tongue was swelling.

The dwarf called out to Senna for an antidote, but Logan wasn't in danger of his health bottoming out. Despite the pain, he wanted to test his new sigil.

Nugget flitted up and caught a thrown vial. He hovered midair for Logan to take it, which he did. But he put it in his pocket rather than drink it, which earned a chuff from the dragon.

"I'm not sure how medicine works back in your home world, lad, but you know you have to drink it for it to work, right?"

"I'm fine," Logan wheezed. "Let me test this first. Bromlin, cover me? And Nugget, can you help him?"

"You're a mad lad, aren't ye?" The dwarf shrugged and nodded.

The dragon glared at Logan, but also relented. It didn't take long for a faint golden flash, followed by Bromlin raising his axe and deflecting another blast.

The dwarf roared at the toadkin in taunt, and the monster flicked a long tongue at Bromlin. The dwarf just laughed when the tongue hit the flat side of his metal axe with a sticky fwoop and retracted with a fwip

Logan analyzed it, and saw it had 120 mana and 642 health. He pulled up his own pools for comparison, including stamina even though that wasn't something Analyze showed him.

Health: 265/398
Stamina: 520/618
Mana: 796/896

Placing the mark had taken a full 100 mana points. Now, Logan didn't know how to explain the Wellspring Sigil's mark beyond a kind of presence in his mind. He felt three tethered connections, one leading to his brain, another to his heart, and the last to his lungs. It was intuitive to engage them, like mentally pressing on a gas pedal.

He tried to tap into the toadkin's stamina, but nothing happened. With how lazy these things were, he didn't doubt that his own stamina was higher. It had more health than him, though, so he tapped into that.

A welling in his chest filled him and his own health ticked up. The rate was about 10 health points per second, although right now it was a little slower considering he was still actively losing other points from the poisoning. Math had never really been his thing, but now that his Intelligence was getting notably higher, he realized it was easier to run the calculations in the heat of the moment.

"You good lad?"

"Yeah," Logan said, his voice thin, with only a minor scratchiness. The poison was still in his bloodstream, and it sounded like he had a sore throat.

"Okay… Just give me the word when I can fight this monster." By the dwarf's glance at Senna, Flick, and Mishki, who were working together on a separate monster, the dwarf appeared eager to let loose.

"You can give it a small counter bash, but only when it gets to around 400 health left. I promise I'll make the wait worth your while."

The dwarf nodded, apparently happy for the concession. He looked strange as he attacked without his full strength going into the swings, but he brought the monster's health down so Logan could really test the fine details of the skill.

The dwarf stopped just above 400, focused just on deflecting blows as the monster retaliated. Logan, meanwhile, tapped into the toadkin's health pool.

Once Logan's health leveled out with the monster's at 350, he couldn't "accelerate" the drain any further. But when Logan's dripped down to 344 a moment later because of the poison, that connection opened back up, and the monster's fell and re-leveled with Logan's at 347.

Okay, I thought it might work that way. It only tops off as long as my health is lower than its.

According to the skill description, that would only go so far because once the monster's health hit the halfway mark at 321, he wouldn't be able to drain from it anymore.

It was time to test something else.

Bromlin lifted his axe to deflect another attack. He also let out another taunting roar, but there was less enthusiasm behind this one.

He's getting bored.

Senna and Mishki had taken down a monster already and were working on another.

"Hey Bromlin, how about we see how far we can get that axe of yours to launch its arc of war mana."

At that, the dwarf perked up. "Fine, that's fair compensation for making me wait."

Logan chuckled and then coughed. He was done with his health-draining test, so he downed the antidote, and the roughness in his throat cleared up. "Great. Give me a moment so I can buff you."

The acidic goop attack from the monster had used up some of its mana, putting it at 105, which was still above it's halfway mark of 60. In theory, Logan could drain from that, but only if his own mana supply was below the monster's current total.

Pressing on the sigil to siphon the toadkin's health had used up mana, sure, but he still had over 500 mana points, so there was no way his wellspring sigil would drain the mana.

Unless he burned a ton of it right now.

Invigorating Flame!

Bromlin's eyes lit and he laughed loudly. Invigorating Flame's was unique in that the person pulling from the buff could tug more out of Logan if they wanted, and the energy was clearly coursing into the dwarf and the gem on his axe began to glow.

"Pull as much as you want, Bromlin! Keep charging it until I say, then you can release."

"That's my lad!"

Logan's mana leeched away into Bromlin.

Nugget helped divert two of the monster's next attacks, one by darting in front of its face and making it shoot a stream of goop at him and miss, and the next by dazzling it with a shower of sparkles.

Whoa, that has to be a new skill of his.

Finally, Logan's mana fell below the monster's. And sure enough, he could draw from it. The rate at which Bromlin was draining his mana was faster than he could refill it from the monster's cache, all the way until the monster's reserve hit the halfway mark. What Logan didn't expect was for that to cause the sigil to break.

Good to know. Once I hit that 50% mark in any single pool, it cuts the sigil off completely.

Logan called out to Bromlin. "Now!"

"Ragh!"

The dwarf's eyes were so wide open, Logan thought they might pop out. He reminded Logan of a tiny Viking barbarian.

A massive arc of war mana from everything that had been drawing toward his axe swept forward, slicing the monster completely in half. It also felled a few rotten trees standing just behind the monster, extending for several yards before the dwarf's weaponized-mana attack dissipated.

You have helped kill a level 56 Plagued Toadkin! Shared experience earned!

Congratulations! You are level 30!
+1 END, +2 DEX, +3 INT, +4 PER, +2 WIL
You have 4 free stat points.

"Aha!" The dwarf cheered in victory, embracing Logan's legs and hoisting him off the ground, nearly causing him to fall.

Logan couldn't help but laugh at the dwarf's satisfaction.

Bromlin set him down and then looked about wildly. "Come on, lad, use that detection skill of yours to track down some more!"