Cultivating Talents [LitRPG Mana-cultivation]

"Well, that sounds bad," Lincoln said. His gaze flickered over to the group Hector had been eavesdropping on. Lincoln shifted his spear to his other shoulder and turned back to Hector. "Do you think that could be why those bugs were chasing Adrian yesterday?"

"That is a thought," Hector said. "The eruption was probably nearby. From the direction those things were coming, they should have originated from the Shade Forest's direction." Hector's chest tightened.

Glancing over his shoulder again, the man and woman had departed. The young man who'd stopped them walked to one of the quest halls. Concern lingered on the faces of a few groups that stood nearby—the ones who no doubt overheard, anyway.

With a sigh, Hector scratched the top of his head. "I think it will impact us. We're going to have to be a lot more careful. It won't just be Shadow Wyrms and Shadow Lizards that we have to keep an eye out for."

"Well, that's just great," Jodie said. Kicking at the air, she huffed. She crossed her arms as her gaze moved outside the grand hall. Staring at the surrounding walls, her shoulders sagged. "I can't believe I have to look out for a giant lizard dropping on my head and a bunch of human-sized mantises wanting to rip that same head off."

"Hector," Marcus said, shaking. His gaze flickered between the three of them, feet shuffling. "Do you think we'll be alright out there?"

"I think we'll be just fine," Hector said. "Though you're going to have to stay in the middle as we march with the triangle formation. No offence, Marcus, but if anything comes after us, it's going to tear you apart."

I can probably give you the [Aegis Veil] Talent I got a day ago. It will be a lot more useful to you than to me.

Hector levelled a gaze at him. Marcus gulped, shrinking back a little.

But if we time everything well, it should be fine. My new technique alone can put quite a dent in anything we fight. I haven't even fully gotten to see its limits.

"Alright, guys, finish your preparations," Hector said, gaze shifting between the three of them. The soft chatter in the Sanctuary grand hall faded as he focused. "I think we should buy some minor healing pills, just in case."

"But those are like 15 points," Lincoln protested. He looked to Jodie, but the girl ignored him. He turned back to Hector. "I barely have enough points as is. I'm still saving up for my cultivation technique."

Hector shook his head. "I get that, but it's worth it. Besides." As Hector turned to Marcus, the boy held his gaze with some confusion. "How many points are you going to get from completing this quest chain?" Hector asked.

"To full completion?" Marcus's head dropped, and he raised a hand, looking at the spot just above his wrist. "120 points, though that's assuming the quest doesn't get any more complicated once we enter the crypt."

Hector turned back to Lincoln. "Is that enough?"

Crossing his arms, Lincoln let out a sigh and dropped his head. He fell silent for a moment and then looked back up at Hector. "If my calculations are right, it should be fine. Alright, how many healing pills do we need?"

A group of female slum rats that Hector recognised strolled by. Their leather armour spoke of the progress they'd made. He turned back to Lincoln and shrugged. His feet scuffed against the tiles as he shifted. "I'd say two each, just in case."

—- —- —- —-

Metal clinked as the knives at Hector's waist shook in their scabbards. The midday sun overhead beat down on his cloaked shoulders, and he brought a hand to his forehead, peeled the mask away an inch with the other and wiped away the sweat.

It slapped back in place, and Hector's hands dropped. With a sigh, he checked their formation. Marcus stood just behind him, Jodie and Lincoln flanking on either side.

"You alright?" Hector asked. The boy's backpack slapped against him. He looked like a kid going on a school outing. If the children were told to wear cloaks made of Hairless Rat hide, that is.

Marcus nodded, panting a little. "I'm good. It's just, it's a lot further than I had initially anticipated." He wheezed, grip tightening on the straps as he walked.

Hector chuckled. Nodding, he turned back to the front. The Shade Forest, while not as close as the Amber Forest where they'd been the day before, didn't seem that far. Though to someone like Marcus, a mortal with no cultivation, it probably was.

Up ahead, the mist of the Shade Forest billowed from the tree line in waves. The dark, almost black leaves rustled in the wind, whispering secrets no one understood. Hector swallowed. They'd arrived.

Raising a hand, Hector signalled for the group to stop. He then turned. "Are you all ready?" he asked, his gaze flickering between his three friends. Marcus—for the most part—would be the one guiding them in there, though everyone needed to be on high alert. Any slip-ups and it could end with one of them injured or dead.

They all nodded.

Wind brushed across his cheek. A hill not too far from them stood out amongst the others. The funeral they'd held days earlier for Otter came to Hector's mind. The boy should still be over there, sleeping below the dirt, hopefully peacefully.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

"Do you smell that?" Lincoln asked, tilting his neck up and taking deep, mask-muffled sniffs.

Hector frowned. Focusing on his breathing, he took a breath and caught a whiff—blood, and a lot of it. Not thick, but definitely noticeable and strange. Human blood had a richer iron smell; something else mingled with this.

"It's coming from that direction," Lincoln said, pointing off to the side. There, a hill like all the others rose. Nothing was on top of it, though. Was the smell coming from behind it?

"Stay close," Hector said, crunching across the grass. The three of them fell in behind him, maintaining their triangle formation.

A moment later, Hector crested the hill, his heart tightening in his chest. Before him lay several bodies, a few of them human, though most of them were the mantis-like creatures that had attacked Adrian the day before.

Another type, as well. A few large, round beasts, thick hides covering their rears and horns protruding from their flat faces, dotted the field as they lay amongst the bodies. Tipped on their sides, guts spilt from some creatures. Many of the round insects were half-exposed. The rest of their form was deep in the dirt.

"What happened here?" Jodie muttered, her grip tightening on the hilt of her sword.

Hector raised a hand to his mouth, over his mask. Carnage. This fight had been bloody, though not one-sided. The poor bastards hadn't gone down without a fight.

"Should we go look for survivors?" Lincoln asked, turning to him. The tone was that of someone asking out of obligation, not out of want. Lincoln shifted his spear to his other shoulder, a twinge of worry in his eye. "Should we? If we go down, it's not like we can do anything, and from the looks of it, those things tore those people limb from limb."

An arm lay at the side of one of the mantis-like creatures. Submerged in a puddle of blood, whoever it belonged to had lost that arm sometime ago.

"They aren't nobles," Lincoln said.

"Why would that matter?" Marcus asked, his gaze filled with confusion. He stepped next to Hector. But as he laid eyes on the sight, his body shook, and he gagged. He then moved back down the hill a few steps.

"It wouldn't, but I don't think they would have torn apart nobles like that."

"Commoners," Hector said, "perhaps even slum rats like ourselves."

After all, even a slum rat with enough points could get good gear. Given enough time, they could outclass most of the minor nobles.

It had grown harder to tell who was a commoner and who was a slum rat over the last few days. Wearing the grey shirt and pants provided in the rooms, everyone became equal. The more skilled ones sported armour of various types. Some people had more talent and luck than others, after all, and could afford it with points.

"We should leave," Hector said. This hill exposed them too much.

The field stretched out before him. The wind blew through the grass in waves. Small hills dotted the area. No bugs and no blood trail of any escaping members. This team had either been wiped out right here or those who had survived had fled, mostly uninjured.

"I think I agree," Jodie said.

The four of them then left the hill and made their way into the Shade Forest, leaves crunching as they entered the tree line. The wind whistled through the branches above. Hector kept his eyes peeled.

Cautious and ready to pull on the [Iron Carapace] talent, Hector walked firmly, mist flowing by him in thin strands. He'd upgraded the [Iron Skin] Talent last night and was itching to try it out.

Behind him, Marcus's backpack slapped against his shoulders with each step. His friend should be safe, as long as he used the Talents he'd been given. [Aegis Veil] should at least block the first few hits; [Iron Skin] would keep him alive should any others slip by.

After a few minutes of pushing further into the foliage, Hector paused. A crack came from his side. Twig—no, a branch—had snapped. A bush, which hugged the tree a few feet away, shook, and out from it stumbled one of the mantis insects. Hector frowned; it had five legs, and one of the back ones was missing. The bug's triangular head turned towards them, and its mandibles clacked before it screeched.

Hector kicked off, leaves spraying behind him as he charged forward. He snapped his daggers from their scabbards and slashed. With a thin clang, one bit into the mantis's scythe, stopping Hector in his tracks. Leaves fluttered around him and the beast.

Using the resistance, Hector pushed off, launching himself up as the insect swung its second scythe, slicing the empty air. The thing was fast, but it wasn't something that he couldn't handle. He wouldn't need [Iron Carapace] for this.

As the mantis's head snapped up to him, and before the creature could swipe at him, his knife flashed. The blow took off the front half of the insect's face. A good hit.

The mangled chunk slapped onto the forest floor, and blood erupted from the remaining half.

The beast staggered back, the front half of its face missing. It couldn't screech; all that came out was a wet garble.

Hector landed with a soft thud, crunching leaves, and exploded forward again. It was time to end this.

His dagger cut upwards. The blade slammed into the creature's neck. The exoskeleton parted like butter as the edge sliced clean through its flesh.

With a squelch, the mantis's head landed off to the side. A second later, the mantis's body twitched, dropping to the ground, blood pouring from its neck.

A low whistle rang out. Leaves crunched at Hector's side.

"That was efficient," Lincoln said, nudging Hector in the arm with his shoulder.

Hector nodded, his brow furrowing. The mantis insect had been missing its back leg. Something had attacked it. Was it the party that had been fighting the creatures out in the fields? Hector raised a dagger to his eye, examining the edge. Definitely stronger than the kitchen knife he'd been using. That, combined with the creature's injury, had no doubt made the fight easier.

The trees overhead rustled as Jodie came to a stop at Hector's side. She narrowed her eyes at the creature, then stepped back, falling in next to Marcus. "It's been fighting something," she said. "I can tell you a weapon didn't make that wound."

Hector turned to her. "It wasn't?" he asked.

Jodie shifted her gaze, moving to the bush where the creature had emerged. She gestured at it. "I think it got into a fight with something and was running." Her hands then shifted into the disgusting scythe-like shape of the mantis at their feet. She'd kept that trait of the bug. "My dad's a smith, remember. He might not have made many weapons, but I know what a knife cut looks like compared to claws and bones."

Off to the side, the bush where the mantis had come from shook. A small creature popped out briefly. A shadow lizard. It glanced around and then ducked back into the bush, leaves rustling.

"Looks like it was being tracked," Marcus said. He tightened his grip on the backpack straps as his eyes darted around.

"That seems to be the case," Hector replied. He stepped away from the bug and flashed his blades to the side, blood splattering to the forest floor. He then sheathed them. "Which way now, Marcus?"

"We just have to continue in that direction," Marcus said, holding up a wrist. He poked at the air, probably adjusting his map, and nodded. "Yeah, I'd say a little further in that direction and we'll make it to the crypt."