The figure once more was cooking some meat, and to Zarin, it looked like the person was exactly as he left him. Obviously, hours had passed; he thought he wasn't there that long.
"You did well, young one. You have some potential, "the figure said out of the blue.
Zaryn didn't know how to respond, as he wasn't sure what had just happened. Then, he heard him saying that it was a test that he had passed, but he wasn't sure what the test was for.
"Greg has chosen wisely this time, "the figure added before Zarin could ask anything.
"Greg? Who is Greg?"
The figure turned towards Zarin, and even if they didn't have eyes, Zarin could imagine some confusion on them, by the way, the rest of their body, and the sudden turn of their head.
"Oh yeah, he doesn't speak to you people. Just points around and gives silent orders."
With that sentence, Zarin understood who the person talked about.
"Greg, is the Judge in the afterlife?" Zarin asked as he didn't want to have any assumptions without knowing the truth.
"Judge? Is that how they call him now?" the figure paused for a second like they had given that info some thought.
"Sounds like something he would use."
"I am actually uncertain if anybody else uses that term for him. I have had no information about him, and his name, Greg, is actually one of the first I had."
There was a chuckle from the figure after hearing Zarin's response.
"If you ever meet him, don't use that term on him. Also, don't call him Greg either…. actually don't speak to him if you two meet again."
Zarin couldn't tell how serious was this suggestion, but he didn't dismiss it entirely and kept it in his mind. It could be something to discuss with Ais next time they meet.
"Mister, may I know your name? "Zarin asked next as he was curious about this figure.
"Hm…? We don't have a name. But if you want to call us something, you can call me The Faceless One."
Zarin didn't mind that response, as he knew that not all people were open to their identity. After all, he was one of them, as he hadn't mentioned his name yet either.
"Then, Mister Faceless One… may I ask what the test you just put me through for was?" Zarin said with as much respect as he could offer.
He understood the person could easily overpower him and put an end to him if he desired to. But fortunately, it looked like Zarin was on their friendly side.
"Why don't you check your Status to find out?"
The mention of his Status momentarily surprised Zarin. But then he thought that if that person knew 'Greg, 'then it probably knew who he was already. Or at least could detect it somehow.
So Zarin opened his Status, eager to see what had changed.
There were actually two changes on it. First, his current MP wasn't zero anymore and had increased to one. It wasn't much, but it was the first time it had happened, which excited Zarin.
Then he noticed the second change, which was a new Skill. Just reading its name excited Zarin, but he focused on it to learn fully what it did.
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MANA REGENERATION (B-Rank Passive Skill)
Lvl: 1/20
Description: You have upgraded your Mana Pool to allow it to refill itself by borrowing the Mana of your environment. The user's [Mind] affects the rate of regeneration. During Combat Mode, the effects of the Skill will drop by 50%.
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Zarin got excited seeing his new Skill, but then he had thought of something. [Mana Regeneration] was a B-Rank Skill, like his [Pain Tolerance], with which he had made no progress on leveling it up. If this one was just as challenging, he most likely wouldn't be able to level it up any time soon.
But after he reread the description of the Skill, he felt that it wasn't the same situation. His Mind Stat affected this Skill, meaning he could make some progress by just increasing that Stat. But, unfortunately, a stat did not affect [Pain Tolerance] in that way, or its description didn't mention it.
Zarin kept staring at his MP to see how long it took him to recharge another MP. So he waited, and he noticed that he restored 1 MP every 2 minutes.
This meant that he needed over three hours to restore his entire MP. As for this Skill to be helpful while he fought, it wasn't the case, as it would be even slower.
Still, Zarin wasn't disappointed for long, as it could be because his Mind was still low. He had now three Skills that were affected by his Mind Stat, increasing the how valuable it was for Zarin. Especially considering that two of those Skills were his only offensive ones.
His Agility was also crucial as he knew that the best defense would be to be fast to get out of the way. Also, it affected his [Stealth] Skill, which Zarin was confident would be more useful in the future.
The Endurance affected his HP and SP, which he could always use more of, while his Defense would lower the damage he would take from an attack that he couldn't avoid. That left Power being the less useful one, at least for what Zarin currently had as his Skills. His Luck was already too high, and he didn't have to worry about increasing it for now.
Zarin turned his gaze towards The Faceless One, but they were nowhere to be seen.
'Why do they keep doing that? 'Zarin thought to himself as it reminded him of Ais, who had already done the same thing to him.
He also noticed that nothing of the camp was left other than the stone that he was sitting at.
Since he had nothing to do here, he went back to his base. He wasn't sure how long it passed, but it was at least half a day, meaning that the chance of his clothes being back at the lake was minimal.
On the way back, he paid attention to his environment since there was a greater chance of encountering an enemy that late, and he didn't look forward to getting hunted again. He wanted to use his [Stealth] to grind it but decided not to use it unless he had any signs of an enemy being nearby.
It didn't take him long to reach his place, but he didn't go up to his tree base. Instead, he continued towards the village, heading to Eddie's place. He started using [Stealth] as he was too far from where monsters were hunting.
He wanted to head to the Mana Battery to train, to see if it could help him improve his [Mana Regeneration]. Still, first, he needed to get some change of clothes from Eddie.
Eddie was older than Zarin, but he was shorter than people of his age, so they had a similar size for clothes. Eddie wasn't purely human, only half-one. The other half from his father's side was of dwarfish ancestry. Zarin had noticed nobody else looked like they were of a different race, but he knew that there were multitudes of races.
Eddie's place wasn't too far from the 'gate,' Since it was late at night, Zarin knew Eddie should be at his house. Moreover, Eddie had told him where he left a key, under one rock in his garden, to get into the house without waiting after knocking.
He noticed some light from a room more profound in the house and on the right as he entered the house. Zarin knew that there it was, the dining room, and most likely Eddie had his dinner there at that point.
As he reached the room, he noticed no person actually there, just a lit candle and a plate on the table with a half-eaten meal. Zarin looked around to see any signs of Eddie, but everything was quiet.
He checked the food, and he noticed that it was still warm, meaning that Eddie shouldn't have left it too long ago. He checked his surroundings more and noticed a fallen wooden tankard down on the ground close to the chair. A small 'lake 'of red wine would have been in the tankard before it fell down there.
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QUEST-EDDIE'S KIDNAPPING
Description: Unknown forces had taken Eddie. Investigate further to find what happened to him and rescue him.
Time limit: Until midnight
Reward: +100 Eddie Reputation, 1x Random Item
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