Elaine described Jason's new appearance, noting that he didn't change much. He lost a bit of body fat and his dark hair had become shinier and slightly longer. His Jawline was as sharp as ever while the green gems that nestled in his eyes lost their fatigue.
He hadn't grown, standing at an average height but he was muscular for his size. The old leather jacket that Jason always wore gave him an intimidating appearance, at least, it would have were he not wearing a [Neon Green Fanny Pack] on his hip.
Satisfied that he had been affected the same way the others had, even though he hadn't chosen a class, he held his tongue as the girls teased him about his fanny pack. The contrast between it and the jacket was just too much.
Deciding to look for civilization, the party came to the conclusion that the bottled water stream would be their answer. Following the water source should lead them to a town of some sort.
Elaine took the lead, when suddenly Jack spoke up, "We need to elect a leader of our group, my class needs-"
"Jack, No! Until we find out more about this world, we shouldn't discuss our classes' intricacies with anyone." Jason immediately interrupted him and covered his ears symbolically.
"Not even our own group. We can talk about skills if it becomes absolutely necessary, but don't give up your weakness so easily. What if we get a quest to fight each other?" He continued to explain, to lessen the suspicion.
Jason had no intention of explaining his lack of a class to his part members. Hopefully he could learn more about the world and unlock a skill before it became an issue.
"He makes a good point, Jack! We barely know each other." Elaine chimed in, siding with Jason, "What if we get into an argument or something?!"
"Plus, there's only four of us. It's not like we can't survive without a leader," Jason muttered under his breath.
Julie had been quiet the entire morning. In fact, Jason couldn't recall her actually adding anything to the conversation. He made a note of it and decided to keep an eye on the girl to make sure she was okay.
A while after their hike began, the party arrived where the water bottle stream was supposed to be, however it wasn't there. Instead, they stood in front of a swift moving river dyed a deep blood red.
"I don't understand… this is where we got the water bottles." Elaine looked lost. "It doesn't make sense that such a large river would appear… and why is it red?!"
'Do you have any answer?' Jason asked his own mind, attempting to communicate with the guidance system for the first time.
"I can't tell if that's water or blood…" Jack looked at the fast flowing water in disgust.
The man picked up a loose tree branch and reached for the river in an attempt to get the branch wet. He wanted to identify the liquid in front of them before they made any further decisions.
[Do you not recall the message?]
[The tutorial plane has merged with an actual world]
[The stream has merged with a real river]
[You're in luck, though; that's not blood. It's just red because of the sediment in this area.]
[There's probably something on the riverbed stirring up the silt.]
"Jack, get back!" Jason shouted, causing Jack to stumble backwards and fall on his back.
At the same time, a rough tongue appeared and disappeared over his previous location, shocking the onlookers. The waters exploded in a splash as a red frog the size of a mastiff leaped out of the river toward the party.
"We can't run! It'll kill us!" Jason shouted to rally his party as he wielded his [Whacking Bat] and rushed to his new opponent.
The tongue was fast, and he wasn't confident in his ability to dodge it, but he would die if he tried to fight it in a ranged battle. He didn't plan on protecting the others, but he knew he wouldn't have much hope if he let the beast get any more of an advantage.
'Here it comes,' he thought, as the frog lurched back and prepared to launch its fierce tongue toward Jason.
It shot out like a whip, it's target… his shoulder. He wasn't sure if the beast was toying with him, or its aim was that terrible.
At least he could dodge it!
Jason slid his feet to the right, not slowing down his sprint, when his body became lighter and he nearly tripped.
"Uhn Tiss Uhn Tiss Uhn Tiss" Julie was making a strange beat while pumping her fists and running in place.
'Is she freakin' dancing?' Jason couldn't understand what was going on, but he appreciated the effect it was having.
Taking advantage of the reduced burden on himself, he swung his bat toward the unfurled tongue, easily connecting with the close target. He couldn't tell if it didn't any damage, but it definitely drew the creature's attention to him!
Jason continued running toward the frog and refused to slow down. As he got closer, he leaped off the ground and pulled his left leg near his body. He turned his right side toward the frog, narrowing his profile, as he unleashed a kick on the frog's shoulder.
The attack made the giant stumble, but didn't slow it down. It recovered quickly and swung its arm at Jason, only to be blocked by Jack holding his tree branch from earlier in front of his downed ally.
Not willing to face the two of them in melee battle, the frog mustered its strength in its rear legs and leapt away. Landing in a spot with nobody around, it turned and spit its tongue at Jason once again.
Accompanied by Julie's strange song and dance, the whacker felt incredibly nimble on his feet. He had no problem dodging the frog's long-distance strike and he quickly chose to close the distance once again.
On his way toward his opponent, he noticed that Elaine had thrown a small stone, about the size of a finger. He didn't have much hope that it would do damage but maybe it would create an opening. It didn't matter much, as long as they were all working together.
Elaine's pebble seemed to be the game-changer they needed.
It struck the menacing foe and did no physical damage, but it didn't matter. A faint layer of frost emanated from the impact and swiftly covered the frog. Its movement was visibly slowed down as Jason arrived within striking distance.
He raised his foot and struck the frog on top of the head with an axe kick, disorienting it and stilling the target for his next strike. Pulling back with all of his strength, he swung his bat at the downed opponent.
The frog had no time to recover, while its head exploded and its corpse went limp.
Jason turned to look at his party. Who were these people?