NOVEL NEXT Chapter 38: The Expedition
Leif didn’t know what to do. Should he do his advancement trial right now? He was currently at the skill threshold and Marcus and Sieg could be gone for a few hours to a few days.
To advance beyond this point you must overcome an advancement trial!
Warning! Advancement trials difficulty is based on your total number of skills. For every skill above a total of 10 difficulty will dramatically increase!
Current skills: 10!
Warning! Failing an advancement trial may result in the loss of class levels!
Advancement trial may only be attempted while at level 25!
Any experience gained while at level 25 will be banked until trial is completed!
Warning! You are vulnerable while undergoing the advancement trial!
Good luck! Begin advancement trial? Y/N
On one hand he wanted to do it right now. But on the other hand he didn't know how long it would take. On the other, other hand he was alone and it was a good use of time. On the other, other, other hand if he was attacked while undergoing the trial he would only have a few hundred hogs to defend him.
Hundreds of hogs wasn’t an awful defensive strategy…
While he was trying to make up his mind Leif did what he often found himself doing while nervous. Look through his status.
===
Name: Leif Vin
Race: Amber Blight Spriggan
Age: 11
Attributes:
Free: 2
Might: 37
Alacrity: 44
Intelligence: 27
Willpower: 25
Spirit: 33
Charisma: 34 (+50%)
Total Level: 25
Monster Classes: 1/1
Amber Blight Spriggan: 11/20
Skills: Gold Iron Physique / Amber Sympathy / Blight’s Bounty / The Well Within II / Settle
Classes: 1/2
Brawler: 4/10
Skills: Grounded Stance I
Auxiliary Classes: 1
Noble: 10/10
Skills: Aura of Nobility I / Grand Action / Under My Protection / Legacy
===
Every few lines he would glance into the distance, looking to see if there was any movement from the expedition camp. Marcus had said it was about a mile away and behind a series of low hills.
Leif fidgeted with the communication device the two humans had left him. It was their only one but since the expedition was so close they had let him hold onto it. It suddenly hummed in his hand, for an instant Leif panicked thinking he’d broken it.
“H-hey L-af we-” Came a crackling voice through the device. After a moment the connection stabilised, the voice becoming clear. “Meeting Hera a day south of here, shadow us as we move okay?” Said Marcus.
“That's fine.” Leif said. It was odd talking into the device but he would get used to it. Leif knew at least one member of the expedition would rather he was dead, rushing things would only hurt him in the long run.
“Thanks buddy. Johan is having a fit so I’ve gotta-” The device cut out.
Leif sighed and placed the orb into the small sack he’d been given to carry the delicate object. “Alright.” He said to the animals. “Let's get moving.”
===
As the sun began to set and the quarter cracked face of the moon rose in the night sky, Leif came across something odd. Singing.
Cautiously he approached the sound and came across an older lady. Wrinkled with age and slightly rotund, she was ankle deep in a slow moving stream. She was humming a melody to herself as she washed a large pile of clothing. She wore a large smock and apron, both slightly frayed on the edges.
Who is this? A member of the expedition? Or a local from a nearby village? He contemplated.
If there was a populated village nearby he would honestly be surprised, from what little he understood of the region's history, the kingdom of Pherin had been invaded and annihilated by the enslaved legions, with goblins moving in after the fact.
So not a local.
He looked over his shoulder at the mass of animals. He indicated with his aura for them to stay back and stepped towards the stream.
The old woman happily went about her work, seemingly clueless as to his approach. Leif got within thirty metres then waited. She just kept singing away, working through the pile of dirty clothes.
He waited some more. Feeling awkward, he tried to get the woman's attention. “Um, hello?”
“What is it deary?” She asked, not looking up.
“I’m sorry?” He asked. Not expecting that response.
“Dinner is on the pot, it's the twins night for serving duty. Did they burn the campsite down again?”
“No… Um.” He floundered internally. It would be a lot easier if she just looked up. “I’m not from the camp. Are you with the expedition…?”
“Hmm? By the heavens!” She exclaimed having finished a particularly dirty burgundy undershirt. “It's… It's… Come a little closer, this old woman can’t see very well.”
Leif shuffled uncomfortably in place, then did as she asked.
“Tall, well built. A nice ivory exterior. You know boy, with how our dear coordinator was going on about you I’d imagined you having horns and fire.”
“Ah.” He stopped. “You know of me?”
“Leaf was it? Or Leif, that's a fairly common name in the northern kingdoms is it not?”
“What?”
“With an ‘A’ or an ‘I’?”
“Oh, with an I.”
“I see, we will head off once I’m done here, I wasn’t joking about it nearly being dinner time.”
“You… you want me to come along. Wouldn’t that be a problem?”
“It won’t be a problem if you help this old woman with the rest of the laundry.”
Leif looked over his shoulder to check if he was being pranked. Dozens of pairs of eyes watched him with great interest, but it was the usual animal suspects. He shrugged and joined the old woman. Leif supposed he had more than enough hands to help out.
===
The spriggan carried the basket full of wet, but thoroughly cleaned clothes. The old woman happily chatted away about the time she was told the story by her friend about the time someone had told her that a cat had been rescued from a tree.
Leif didn’t even know the older woman’s name, but as he listened to her ramble on about one topic or another Leif felt he knew far too much already. The spriggan, followed by the animal horde quietly plodded along as she launched into a story about parsnip prices.
What am I doing? He thought to himself.
The old woman was surprisingly spry for her age. She walked and talked without missing a step, and the incline they were climbing was quite steep.
When the tents of the expedition camp finally came into view she was regaling him with a tale of how she correctly timed the imperial markets. But Leif quickly found himself distracted. He also had no idea what she was talking about.
Three dozen people milled around a small clearing. They were all different shapes and sizes, but they wore the same style of clothing as Marcus and Sieg, a well fitted uniform of grey and blue.
The humans gathered around a central fire, bowls in hand. Several loudly chatted about one topic or another.
The spriggan froze, unsure what to do. “Come boy, those clothes won’t carry themselves.” The old lady beckoned. Leif briefly panicked, reflexively opening his system window before calming himself.
Am I really doing this? Should I be doing this? A hundred worries raced through Leif’s mind. But he couldn’t return to what he was by standing still.
He stepped towards the camp.