The actions weren't recorded in memory, but in the next second I was already standing with one foot on the branch and put the other on the next one. Wait! Viziliy might need help!
I stopped and looked down.
The night forest was filled with the sounds of battle: roaring, stomping, swearing. Even the clang of a sword from hitting something, possibly the claws of the night creature. At least I had no other ideas.
Damn, it's too dark, and the opponents are moving too fast... Can't make out what's happening and who's winning. One thing is clear: the old man is in trouble mainly because of Lynch. He's forced to protect his sleeping comrade and is severely limited because of this.
To make out at least something, I squatted down. It didn't get much better: shadows flicker, the huge creature roars, the old man swears.
Only after a minute did I see progress: Viziliy managed to lead the opponent away from Lynch, and in the next moment something suddenly flashed. The monster roared even louder, but no longer from rage, but from pain. Another flash. Now I noticed that it was coming from the blade of Rubil, and the roar turned into a pitiful whining.
The creature recoiled and, turning around, limped back into the same bushes from which it had appeared.
"Stop, bitch!" the swordsman yelled and rushed after it.
The monster was limping under my branch, and I froze again, just like during the day when I rushed at the two undead. Am I a trembling noob or do I want to level up and become the ruler of the world⁈
If this beast looked into our clearing and is still alive, it means it wants to share experience and loot with me! And if this postulate is not taken as a basis, it's better to immediately sign up as a farmer and plow the field for the rest of your days.
All this flashed through my mind when I was flying down, holding the sword in both hands.
The blade entered the opponent's neck, deviated slightly, scraped the spine, and, breaking through the thick skin for the second time, came out of the night creature's throat. In the next second, I jumped back and just in case hid behind Viziliy.
The monster turned out to be tenacious. Before dying, it even managed to crawl ten meters and half hide in the bushes.
[You have killed a level 23 night ripper.]
[Congratulations! You have reached level 5!]
[Your internal organs work better.]
[You receive one skill point.]
[Congratulations! You have reached level 6!]
[Your ligaments have become more elastic.]
[You receive one skill point.]
"In polite society, you'd get hit on the head with a candlestick for such a thing," Viziliy muttered, dazed. "Or rather, with a candlestick if you just finished off someone else's monster, and if so brazenly and such a strong one, then immediately with a club."
"Well, we're leveling me up..." I mumbled, embarrassed, and changed the subject. "By the way, is experience shared between those participating in the fight? Because I got two levels at once."
"No! Everything goes to the one who made the most significant contribution to the death. Otherwise, I wouldn't have cut off those guys' legs. What are you standing for⁈ Take the reward!"
"But you usually take..."
"Only light green boxes can be taken immediately by anyone, and the rest only by the one who killed for the first ten minutes. And after a day, everything disappears."
Only light green? And what are there here?..
The leaves of the bush blocked the view and it was only visible that something was glowing there. I dived into the bushes. A green box and a blue cube were hovering over the body of the night ripper. I took everything and climbed back out.
"Give it here," Viziliy held out his hands, and when I handed over the loot, he added: "Loot depends on luck, and for now yours is much lower."
"How do you know how much luck you have?" I was surprised.
"Later we'll..." the old man began his standard evasion, but stopped short and decided to answer: "When a strongman gains levels, he mainly improves his body. When a rogue does, it's other parameters, including luck..."
"Are you a rogue?"
"No, of course not, but there's rare food... By the way, it mainly drops from such blue cubes. So, it can also permanently increase some characteristic or improve some skill. Including non-profile ones. Thanks to it, a strongman can cast the simplest magic, and a mage can improve his body."
"And what level are you?"
"It doesn't matter. And why are you suddenly interested in this?"
"Well, this night ripper was only level twenty-three, and you barely managed with it..." I began, but stopped short, fearing that I might offend him.
"Ah," Viziliy drawled, still holding the rewards in his hands. "Let's sit down. Need to apply ointment to the wounds. The bastard got me good."
We returned under the tree. Lynch continued to snore as if nothing had happened, and the old man took some ointment from his bag and began to apply it to his wounds.
"Monsters are divided into classes," he spoke after a minute. "Each class has its own peculiarity. Night ones greatly increase their parameters after sunset. And you were very lucky, by the way. This creature can strengthen its skin, and you miraculously hit in the interval when it didn't do it. Under this enhancement, even my sword wouldn't have taken it. In compensation, they give much more experience at night, hence the two levels. Okay, let's check our luck."
For the first time, he opened the rewards in front of me and surprised me very much with this. Apparently, my action again switched something in his head.
The green box flashed and disappeared first.
"Rubbish," Viziliy commented and activated the blue cube. "Hmm... You should have opened it. Take it. The jacket is for you, and you can sell the stone to the blacksmith in the city."
He tossed the loot in front of me with disappointment and returned to his healing procedures.
[Hunter's Jacket (Level 6).]
[Large Unification Stone (allows combining items from level 5).]
I need an explanatory brigade...
My interlocutor's mood is clearly not very good, but there's no one else to ask.
"How do identical artifacts of different levels differ?"
"Durability, elasticity. After the third level, when putting on through the inventory, they adjust to the owner's size. Very rare ones can enhance or even have built-in abilities... And I'll immediately answer your next question. With the help of the stone, you can combine two level six items and get a level seven. Of course, only a craftsman with the necessary skill can do this."
Yeah... RPG is so simple...
There's already information for many hours of thinking and understanding, and I haven't even learned half of it.
I put on the jacket, and my old one was automatically added to the inventory. Then I leaned down to take something to chew on, but discovered that after the fight, except for earth and scraps of the blanket, there was nothing else here.
"Hunger? It's from two more levels. You'll be breaking at night, so we won't sit for long. You need to get some sleep." Viziliy took two large pies from his bag and handed them to me. "Let's go over the most important questions."
Feeling the smell of food, I suddenly realized that my stomach was empty, although I had dinner quite recently. The restructuring of the organism was in full swing...
I could speak only when I had devoured both pies.
"Will I be able to become a mage?"
"You're a shapeshifter. You can. But to become a full-fledged mage, you'll have to become an elf. On the other hand, you might be able to cast the simplest spells as a strongman, but that's not certain. We need to try."
Viziliy finally finished applying ointment to his wounds, put away the medicines in his bag and took out a new wineskin with wine.
"I only know of one sentient being with autonomous status. He liked being a dwarf the most. It was he who united the tribes, led them to the northern mountains and founded an empire there more than three hundred years ago. Much has been written about him, and it is reliably known that he could distribute the skill points he received separately for each race. As a dwarf, he was a craftsman. As a human and an orc — strongmen with different sets of skills. As a hobbit and a goblin — a rogue. As an elf — a mage. He was a cool guy."
"Was?" Taking advantage of the fact that the storyteller got carried away, I carefully freed the wineskin from his fingers and took a few sips.
"They say when he was already well over two hundred years old, he got bored and went after a black dragon. Didn't make it."
"Maybe I should distribute my skills then? Thanks to the same endurance, if I understand its work correctly, I'll recover better overnight."
"Yes, it will help a bit. How many free points do you have now?"
Another test?
"Five."
"Put one into strong arms. It will unlock powerful strike and strong legs. Put one into each. Then put one into tireless, it will unlock jumps and good sleep. Actually, you should take jumps, but you took four levels today, so take sleep."
I did as the mentor said and got:
[Strongman.]
[Skills obtained.]
[Strong arms (level 1, passive): increases strikes by 5%.]
[Tireless (level 1, passive): increases stamina by 5%.]
[Powerful strike (level 1, active): for one minute the power of your strikes increases by 10%.]
[Strong legs (level 1, passive): leg muscles strengthen by 5%.]
[Good sleep (level 1, passive): 10% less time is needed for full rest.]
[Outsider's blessing:
Experience gain speed increased by 100%.
Skill development speed increased by 100%.]
Hmm... If we disregard some oddities (for example, I would attribute strong legs to the endurance branch), the meager percentage increase was striking. And these are the very first and, consequently, the fastest levels and easiest skill points. What will happen next? What level do you need to become to really dominate?
The killed pockmarked guy came to mind. Then I was surprised that I easily dealt with him. Now everything is clear: the difference is minimal... And Viziliy is right here: we need to improve skills. And also get skill points wherever possible. Last time the old man didn't answer... Maybe he'll tell now?
"You said that skill points can also be obtained for guild ranks. What is that?"
"And that, my outsider friend, is your path to power."