Magic Made Simple

Chapter 6: Putting it in Perspective

I had a feeling that raising my body stat would reduce the amount of sleep I needed, and I was becoming more and more sure of that being true. Despite having been awake for probably close to 20 hours now, I still only felt a little bit sleepy, as if it had only been around 12 hours.

After dropping off one of the two swords I'd grabbed at what looked like a community stockpile, I spotted a large group that seemed to be deep in discussions. Ben was among them, and he was one of the few that actually seemed to be speaking.

The group discussing the issue was about 20 people, though it only took a moment to see that five people were actively engaged in the conversation. Those five included Ben, one tan woman with a scowl that just didn't seem to want to go away, a bulky man wearing his full set of chainmail armor despite the safety of the floor, an absolutely ancient looking old man, and a woman who wore the same purple mage robes that I did.

Ben spotted me and motioned me over. I walked around the group and made my way over to him, and we talked in a low voice while the others continued their discourse.

"Hey, did you make any progress on the next floor?" He asked.

"Yeah, I made it to floor three."

"Really? Were the goblins not too much of a problem?"

"Well, they were definitely an obstacle. The extra stats from our title made the fight far easier than it would have been otherwise, so let others know when going down there that a group is definitely recommended."

"Will do. So, what level are you now?"

"Nine." I say, and he looks surprised again.

"Nine? You gained seven levels in that short time that you were gone?"

"I managed to wipe out an entire goblin city on my own, including one goblin that was definitely supposed to be some kind of 'boss' monster. Damn thing cut my weapon clean in half."

"Still, doesn't that seem a little excessive?"

"Maybe, but who am I to judge how many levels the system gives me?"

"I guess so. Anyways, I should probably introduce you to the others. They'd feel a lot more comfortable knowing there was somebody at the camp that is this high of a level."

"Why's that?"

Ben grimaces, and I get the sense that what I'd feared might happen had come true. "There are people going around and killing smaller groups of people. We assume they are doing it for the easy levels."

I frown, understanding how serious the conversation was suddenly getting. "Do you have a plan for if they come after this group?"

"I don't think we need to worry about that." Ben assures me. "We could almost certainly fight them off with our superior numbers, and they will be unlikely to attack us due to that."

"I wouldn't be so sure." I say. "I know this isn't exactly something you are going to want to hear, but with my improved stats from the levels, plus improving my use of magic, I could probably take down half of this camp before somebody was able to stop me, and even then there is a very good chance I could get away with my body stats focused on agility. Individual power seems to matter a lot more here than it ever did before this whole tutorial shit started."

Ben paused, and it seemed like he was considering something. He was about to speak again, but the scowling woman from before intervened before he could. She had a thick accent, and while I couldn't quite place it, it was clear that Spanish was likely her native language.