The trio bore down the mountain like raging bulls toward a sea of red. They were getting close, Noah could practically smell the forest with every step they took. In reality, they were only days away from the precious orc village, a fact that wasn’t lost to Ta’Ku who eagerly scanned their surroundings. They had quickly found the stream that they often used as a marker when traversing the mountain in their early days and before the snow obscured its presence. So far their journey had been relatively uneventful, they had seen several large swarms similar to the cattle beasts near the top, but none of them had shown them open hostility. Noah felt that the mountain had indeed changed, just as Jeline had speculated. Where there used to be independent roaming beasts, there were now intelligent swarms led by leaders above the rest. If only the humans had such natural inclinations. Noah thought bitterly as he considered the peril his friends were in. If they had that same animal instinct to claim strength and ascend, perhaps he wouldn’t have to worry about them.
He sighed, knowing that he was allowing himself to be frustrated with something that he had no control over. Not to mention the fact that he had gotten himself into some serious trouble with the very mentality that he was now wishing on the rest of his kind. Perhaps if there was a way to balance the push for power while also boosting the wisdom stat. He mused. The thought struck like lightning as he suddenly remembered that he was supposed to be increasing his stats over time. He had already wasted weeks of quiet, easily-measurable time. Not wanting to waste another second, he assigned 10 points to wisdom without another thought. He braced himself for a headache or some other kind of change, but nothing came. He didn’t notice the effects until about an hour later when he was well into an internal crisis, rehashing the many poor decisions he had made. He wasn’t sure how to feel once he realized the source. Part of him was amazed that it actually worked, though the overwhelming feeling was dread as he considered the hell he was about to put himself through as he assigned the next 10 points.
He played the part of the scientist and lab rat over the course of the next three days, opting to distribute half of his available stats to wisdom. While Jeline had warned against further imbalances, he figured that any extra wisdom he got would only help to inform his future distribution. The difference was substantial. While each additional boost of stat points had less of a jolting impact than the prior, it was like scales were being pulled off his eyes. The fog of war that was his brain began to clear and he found himself feeling only relief at his new boon. The extra wisdom didn’t add to his shame, instead, it pointed to a brighter future, one that would follow a smoother path than the terrain he had stumbled through before.
His self-reflection was halted by a gasp and Noah turned to see Ta’Ku staring open-mouthed at something below. Noah followed his gaze and acquired a similar expression as he scoured what had once been the orc village. He had half expected to see a cobblestone castle, moats of lava, and a roaring wyrm atop it all but instead found a reptilian graveyard, the half-eaten remains of the once terrible horde scattered across the rubble. They approached with wary steps, and Recter paused to examine one of the corpses. His face scrunched and he appeared to struggle to stay close to the beast.
“Judging by the smell, this happened some time ago. I doubt that whatever caused this is still around.” He said, his eyes watering. Noah was glad to hear it too, from the looks of the remains, it wasn’t a foe he wanted to fight. He didn’t understand why some beasts fought for the lower territories while most aimed for the top. He couldn’t help but feel that anything that lived down there would be lesser than those above. Perhaps it was easier for them to establish themselves amongst weaker competition, but all it would take is one stronger monster from above to take everything they had worked for. For that reason, Noah felt it was better to just jump in the fire from the get-go, and even his increased wisdom saw the merit in that strategy.
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Even though the smells got worse as they pressed forward, it was clear that Ta’Ku wanted to see what remained of his first home in this world. Noah and Recter followed his lead as he stepped through the fallen gates and wandered through the cracked streets and broken buildings. Very little was left of the village, and soon Ta’Ku had had his fill. Together they passed back through the gates leading down the hill. As they crossed over the old battlefield Noah noticed a gleam of light poking out from under a body. He moved closer, curious about what had caught the sun’s rays. He rolled the stinking beast over, doing his best to breathe through his mouth. His eyes went wide at what he found. Lying half-buried in the mud was the enchanted sword that Matt had crafted for him. He pulled it out of the refuse and grimaced as slurping suction.
“I’ll be right back.” He called to others before jogging over to the stream. He thoroughly rinsed the blade, doing the best he could to scrape off the grime that coated it. It took some work but eventually, he was satisfied with its state and returned to the others with a wide grin.
“What’d you find?” Recter asked, gazing at the blade.
“My enchanted sword!” Noah exclaimed gleefully. Recter’s eyebrows raised.
“Enchanted weapons? What does it do?” He questioned. Noah grinned.
“Cooks meat as you slice it!” Noah beamed. Recter tilted his head in confusion.
“A weapon for cooking? That seems strange.” He commented. Noah nodded sagely.
“Typically that would be an odd pairing, but in this case, the weapon is used to fight monsters that you would then eat anyway. It simply does the work of cooking it for you. It works against blood loss but destroys regenerating enemies. It's hard to regrow a limb from a cauterized stump.” Noah explained. Recter nodded in understanding this time.
“Ah. That does make sense.” He replied. The three shared a laugh before continuing on their journey down the hill. Noah found the landscape to be somewhat nostalgic as he recalled his various trips up and down the mountain. This was where he first dared to throw himself into beast swarms as he chased levels. His body had been crushed beyond what his body could easily heal leading him to his first encounter with the orc tribe. Un’Dal had been tasked with healing him, a chore that he had complained about, considering him no more than a slave. Noah couldn’t help but shake his head at the craziness of the situation. If he told anyone on Earth what he had gone through they wouldn't believe him, and if they did they would likely enforce mandatory therapy until he was stable again. The times had changed though, and even though he hated thinking about it he knew that his wouldn’t be the only group of humans to have been enslaved. The dark thought was enough to cause another round of bile to rise in his throat so he willed thoughts to pass. There was plenty of trouble to be had without the speculation, if he saw more humans in that situation he would do everything he could to free them and that’s all he needed to know.
As they pressed forward Noah began to experiment, putting stat points into willpower and intelligence. Intelligence did in fact cause headaches, and he was thankful he had thought to start with five points this time around. The impact of the points was similarly explosive but in a different way to wisdom. There was no new knowledge stuffed into his skull, instead, it was like his vision had sharpened. Not in the physical sense, as his vision was already excellent, but rather he felt that the things he saw somehow communicated more information to him. Without extra strain or focus he perceived more detail and meaning from the world around him. It had cost 25 points before he came to that conclusion but it had been worth it. Willpower was harder to pin down. There wasn’t any physical reaction to assigning the points, nor was there a clear mental one. The only thing he really felt was a new sense of wrongness as he considered recent events. The more points he put in, the more wrong certain events felt. The most pressing example was from his last conversation with Jeline, for some reason, there were sentences that she used that seemed off. He would have to talk to her about the next time they met.
Soon however their trip came to a sudden end as the walls of the settlement came into view. Noah frowned as familiar sights caught his eye. Sights he had only seen in his dreams.
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