Parallel (A Virtual Gamer's Story) [Vol.1 - Vol.4 Complete]

Chapter 10: Fladnag the Mad

Redwood Forest.

6:45 a.m. 4th Ryanem 1091.

Kashi hunted down the denizens of Redwood Forest throughout the night and into the early hours of the next morning. The night provided perfect cover for him as he used stealth to sneak between targets, taking them out individually and silently.

Occasionally, he would let himself get attacked and then take advantage of his 80 points in Agility to quickly escape if the situation turned hairy. He would then resume the stealthy approach until his HP fully recovered, at which time he would once again allow himself to get attacked.

Kashi willingly sustained injuries to increase his Endurance stat, which only increased when someone took damage. The body would then toughen up to better resist that particular damage in future. In this case, the wolves and hyenas' bites and claw attacks were a type of physical damage. As a result of the continuous damaging and healing, his skin's toughness had increased, reflected by a rise in his Endurance stat.

With the sun rising over the horizon, Kashi decided it was time to call it a night. He had leveled up to fourteen during the night. His skill [Silent Feet] increased to Beginner level 7, and [Stealth Takedown] increased to Beginner level 4. [Silent Feet] increased rapidly because the daeben realized he could use the skill both in and out of combat. As a result, he ensured he was always using the skill.

Kashi pulled up his Stat Table and inspected his progress.

As the sun rose, several monsters, including the wolves and hyenas (who at any other time would be ripping each other apart), gathered at the forest's boundary and collectively let out sighs of relief as they watched the mass murderer exit the forest. There would be no attacks on each other or on other adventurers that day. There were many — too many — to mourn.

Oblivious to the bleak picture behind him, Kashi arrived at Kerta and immediately made his way to the Adventurers' Guild. The clerk stared wide-eyed as he submitted sets of wolf claws, rabbit pelts, feet, and other items he'd harvested from his kills. Kashi happily received 300 Syros for his troubles and then exited the guild.

Kashi initially wanted to start his crafting monopoly but eventually decided against it. He was not sure if this Fladnag lead was time-based or not. The sooner he got it over with, the better. The daeben found a weapons shop and purchased one thousand arrows for the low price of thirty Syros. Usually he would have crafted the arrows himself, but he did not have time for that at the moment.

Kashi mentally ran through the information he had on Nama Woods as he walked out of Kerta. Serti had seen direwolves as the most significant threat in the forest. Direwolves were, in essence, demon wolves. It was unknown who was responsible, but eons past, a high-level demon had kidnapped wolves from the earth and turned them into his minions. The wolves eventually evolved as a result of hell's infernal mana-rich environment and assisted the demon in conquering the world. Unfortunately, the demon eventually lost the battle, and the direwolves scattered across the face of the earth.