Gaia's Gambit: Evolution Online I (A LitRPG)
Page 11
We spent the rest of the afternoon alone in the forest, hunting, and getting to know each other better while we waited for the animals to respawn. The hunt itself was quite successful. We managed to take down six bears, and twenty wolves. Not only did that gain us thirteen pelts each to sell, but also thirty-two hundred and twenty experience points in total. Two hundred per bear, and a hundred for every wolf, then there was the extra twenty from bringing my Hunter skill to level four. I couldn’t help but be a little excited about that, I’d just gained level four, and the jump to level five was eight thousand experience in total. But between the battle, bears and wolves, and other gains, I was already at just a thousand and ninety experience left to gain level five.
It was tempting to keep going until we leveled, but it was close to dinner, and our packs were loaded down already, so we returned to camp.
I started the fire for Gwen who got started on dinner, and I decided to get my bath out of the way. I’d offered my assistance, but Gwen turned down the help. I walked over to the concealed bathtub, to notice there were some changes. Anlyth had put in a water tower of sorts, with about five times the volume of the tub, he also put a drain hole in the bottom of the tub, that led to a small trench to drain the water into the brook.
I smiled, and filled the tower with water, and then the tub. I heated the water in the tub, and then heated the water in the tower until it was about at the boiling point. Then I took my bath, and drained the tub.
Anlyth’s idea was quite clever, and meant I didn’t have to prepare and empty five baths a night, I could just fill the tower and heat the water once a day. It would stay hot long enough for everyone to take a bath in succession, and made my job a lot easier.
I pulled on my clothes, and returned to the fire.
I spent the time while waiting for dinner meditating, although Gwen was a bit distracting I managed well enough. I needed to review and fully understand all the sub-concepts for initiate level four in Fire, Water, and Life, if I wanted them all to level when I reached level five. It wouldn’t take long to reach level five, I imagined the next battle would do it. The goblins would probably be back early tomorrow morning so that didn’t leave me a lot of time.
I ran through the new concepts one by one, considered how and when I’d want to integrate them into spells, and moved on to the next one. There were no major breakthroughs, just small bits of knowledge in the new concepts that would make my spells slightly more effective. The fire just a little hotter, the water better controlled. Life added new concepts to learn more about my targets while using Assess for an example, I’d be able to learn more about them. Maybe not their exact hit points, but I’d be able to judge what it would take to kill one in general terms, along with the usual level information and sense if it was tougher than me or not. My water and fire elementals would be just a bit more powerful.
I looked forward to the apprentice level, when I’d get some more major concepts, instead of just small degrees of understanding.
I was about done when Gwen’s voice broke into my thoughts, but I could finish up later, or even in the morning when I did my morning meditation.
“It’s almost done.”
It smelled delicious. Venison steaks, and a vegetable stir fry.
“I’ll get some plates.”
I got up and went to our cottage to grab five plates, and forks. I also grabbed cups and headed back outside to the fire. The elves weren’t far, and came over too as Gwen loaded our plates one by one, and then grabbed her own.
She sat down right beside me, close enough that our hips, shoulders, and legs were touching.
“Thanks Gwen.”
She nudged my shoulder in acknowledgement.
Lyre nodded, “Thanks for cooking again.”
Gwen shrugged, “I enjoy it, it’s relaxing and keeps my hands busy while I consider my new magical concepts.”
It was silent for a while, as we all focused on eating dinner.
Wynn grunted, “Tomorrow they’re going to attack again, we need to consider changing our tactics. I imagine they’ll both use scouts, and split their force right off next time, so that either force will be able to flank for the group that hits our ambush head on. There’s a chance they’ll send one of their minor shamans as well, but that’s just a guess. The goblins can be clever and sneaky, but they’re really not smart enough as a rule for many of them to be able to use magic. They excel in the physical disciplines.”
“Anlyth, how hard is it for you to dig out a tunnel?”
Anlyth shrugged, “It shouldn’t be hard, but it will take time. Moving a lot of earth takes a lot of mana.”
I nodded, “What about a fortified wall, like we made yesterday, except we can place three other much taller stone walls to the sides and behind, which will negate any flanking maneuvers. They wouldn’t be able to target us with arrows, and Anlyth and I would feel them if they started to scale the walls. We can put pits and stakes in front, to make it virtually impossible for them to quickly overrun the shorter wall.
“Lyre and I will take care of archers, and any mages that might appear, while you three take out the chargers.”
Wynn nodded, “That would bleed them fast, but it would also trap us in a box once they breached the fortifications.”
I smiled, “That’s why I asked about tunneling. When it’s time to retreat, we can leave through a tunnel and come back up in the forest, and lead them to that same second ambush point. Right before we leave I’ll summon my elementals to cause some havoc and help cover our exit. We should also shift those pit traps, just in case the one that lived reported their locations, or tries to guide the rest of them through.”
Anlyth said, “I like it, I can summon an Earth elemental as well. I can work on setting all that up after dinner, before we turn in for the night.”
Lyre interjected, “I’ll watch your back.”
Wynn said, “Alright, that works as a plan. If you do see a goblin in robes, kill him fast. I’ve no doubt they’ll send an earth sphere shaman if they have one, to wipe out any fortifications. Hopefully, that won’t even be an issue.”
Gwen asked, “When do you think your people will get back, so we can stop defending and go hunting instead.”
Wynn replied, “It’s hard to say, they might be here late tomorrow. My guess is we’ll have to defend against tomorrow’s wave, and maybe one more the day after while they set up the outpost day after tomorrow? By then our scouts should have some target information for us as well. Assuming of course, they do get here either late tomorrow, or early the following day.”
Two more waves? We could do that. Then it would be time to go hunting, which I looked forward to as much as Gwen.
I put my plate to the side, and then took Gwen’s hand on impulse.
She gave me a startled look, which turned into a shy smile as she squeezed and then gripped my hand lightly. Our fingers intertwined. It felt… good to hold her hand. It’d been a long time since I felt anything so strongly toward a woman.
We broke up then, Anlyth and Lyre went to prepare for tomorrow’s battle, while I used a water spell to pretty much power wash the plates, forks, and cups, and returned to them to the cottage. I also took care of my daily chores, burning out the refuse and human waste pit, turning it all to ash. We took the time to replenish the wood used, and just generally made sure things were clean.
While Gwen took a bath, I went ahead and finished up my meditation on the rest of the new concepts for initiate level four. I thought I had a pretty good handle on them, enough of one to advance all three spheres when I leveled anyway. I’d even use a few in the battle tomorrow, though the spells were essentially going to do the same thing.
When she got back from the bath, I dried her off. Hopefully the outpost would bring both bed sheets, and towels, not to mention linen napkins and better soaps, candles, and a great number of other things we needed to make our lives easier. I don’t know when it happened, but suddenly things like candles and napkins,
had turned into luxury items.
She surprised me like I had surprised her earlier when I took her hand, when she pulled her armor off, and leaned her weapons against her bed, and then got into mine. She snuggled into my side, and I put an arm around her as she rested her head on my chest. I knew it wasn’t an invitation for physical intimacy past that, she just wanted to be close to me, which I wasn’t going to argue about. She felt entirely too good in my arms. Just that simply intimacy warmed my chest, and blew my mind.
She said, “Thank you for not pushing.”
I replied teasingly, “I’d rather pull,” and pulled her against me a little tighter for a moment.
She snorted, “Goof. I just… don’t want to rush. There’s too much going on. I’m sure I like you, but I’m not sure how much of that is our present circumstances and past.”
Huh, I hadn’t thought of that second point before. Yes, the intense situation we were thrown together in would have the effect of artificially pushing us together, to seek comfort and support in the only one available to us, but we had also both been loners in the other world. It’d been a long time since I’d had an intimate relationship with a woman. Most of the human minds in the virtual world Gaia had created as an ark to survive long enough for the Earth to recover and support human life again were shallow. I’d tried a few relationships, but they hadn’t lasted for one reason or another. They’d either resented my pursuit of knowledge, or didn’t want a true relationship. They were obsessed with momentary happiness and partying, instead of the true joy that hard work and deeper connections yielded. That old world with no pain and instant gratification had made most people lazy, entitled, and shallow. It was human nature, and I hadn’t been immune to it either, but I’d backed away from it before it drove me crazy.
It was different here. After three days I felt a deeper connection with Gwen than some women I’d slept with in the last world. It felt… real.
I replied, “I get that too, and I’m more than willing to take my time, our time, and make sure what we have is built on more than stress, attraction, and convenience. For what it’s worth, I don’t really believe that’s the case, I’m not that shallow, and neither are you.”
She sighed, “How can you be sure? We’ve talked a lot, but we don’t really know each other that well yet.”
I shrugged, “Actions speak louder than words. Because you were a loner in the old world like me. If you were shallow you would have been going to the endless parties, and hooking up with any man that caught your eye. That kind of thing didn’t appeal to either of us back then, I don’t believe the added stress of hunger and threat of death has changed that. It might have helped drive us together faster, but it’s the woman I see and want to get to know that attracts me to you so strongly, not just a drive and need for transitory pleasure to forget for a little while.”
She giggled, “So we aren’t shallow, simply because we aren’t mussing the sheets right this second?”
I laughed, “Yup.”
She patted my chest, “I agree, to a point, but we should still take it slow to make sure.”
“Definitely, but just so you know, I don’t share.”
She laughed, “Neither do I, no playing the field, for either of us?”
I nodded, “Exactly. This… isn’t casual for me.”
That I was happy about. We were just dating, just getting started, but it was good to know we shared that rule. If she wanted someone else instead at some point, she had better kick my ass to the curb first.
She sighed softly, and nuzzled my chest, “Me either. Do you suppose Gaia set us up?”
I laughed, but then broke off abruptly, “Umm, that’s an interesting idea.”
She shrugged, “I’d given up on the idea of finding a man who knew what commitment was in the old world. Not that most of the women were any better. What are the chances we both ended up in the middle of nowhere, and find someone compatible like that?”
“Good point. Although it could have more to do with the type of people we are. Independent, smart, adaptable. I don’t imagine too many people would have done as well as we did starting with nothing, too many people in the old world didn’t bother growing at all. At the same time, that means we are compatible as an intimate couple, I just don’t know if Gaia gave that any thought at all. Why would she?”
She said, “More reason to fight, the impulse to protect what you care for. You make me feel safe, but at the same time you make me want to excel and push myself that much harder. I can’t imagine it didn’t at least cross her mind. Remember, she put six of us out here, three men and three women.”
“Good point. Well, I suppose we’ll have to thank her, right after we get done yelling at her.”
She giggled.
We talked for a while longer about our likes, dislikes, and what we did on the old world as the sun went down, and we even shared a soft lingering kiss or two. Then she retired to her own bed and we went to sleep. Tomorrow was another day…
Chapter Twelve
Meditation the next morning was difficult. It took me a while to clear my mind. On my old world, meditation was a lot easier. My thoughts about my self-education, or the book I was in the process of reading, was really pretty easy to push out of my head. I’d read and self-taught to stave off the madness of the weight of years. This new world, Gwen, the elves, the coming battles and struggle against the goblin tribe, future levels and powers, and even the thought of a full on race war on the horizon for this entire continent at some point in the near future were a lot more persistent.
There was passion of thought, for all of those things. They were hopes, dreams, and fears. It wasn’t all that hard to meditate on my magical sphere concepts. Despite the fact they weren’t all based in science, and it led to violation of the laws of the universe through magic, they were quite fascinating for me and real enough in this world. They kept my mind engaged and occupied. It was the emptying of my mind completely that was a challenge.
During one of those stray thoughts that I let linger a little too long, a thing I feared finally happened.
Congratulations! You’ve gained the magical sphere of Air, initiate level one! You have earned ten Experience Points!
If I’d been at all sleepy, I wasn’t anymore as the rush of new major concepts swept into my mind like a hurricane. It was a rush, and intense. It also wasn’t the end of the world, I just wouldn’t make spells, or use the ability, and it shouldn’t level, my other ones should. Still, I did consider the concepts a bit. An air elemental, sound control, air control, air weapons like blades or spikes by tightly compressing the air, air wall which was more a personal shield that spun around a person like a vortex, and control weather.
I considered that it might not hurt to know what the other spheres were capable of, even if I didn’t use them or advance them myself until I’d maxed out fire, water, and life. If I ever found myself fighting against one of them it would be very useful to know what I was up against. It didn’t take long, to grab the other four.
Light too, had six major concepts. I think they all did. At apprentice, I think the new concepts would be shared concepts, such as enchantment which will apply to all. Regardless, light had Protection from magic, with sub concepts for the eight magical spheres. Enhancement, which would temporarily raise any attribute. Dispel, with sub concepts to remove curses, and dispel the various different magic. Cleanse, which would remove poisons from food, and destroy disease, even clean clothes. Light as a weapon, or as simple light. Lastly, light magic could Influence others.
The major concepts of darkness were Shroud, which was invisibility and being quiet. Curse, which had several sub-concepts, from weakening attributes to engendering recklessness and heated emotions. Darkness in the sense of the lack of light, to blind enemies. Consume, which stole mana from a target, or from an enchanted object. Surprise attack, which would triple damage of a blade strike. Lastly, shadow strike which would cause damage, much like Ice Spike or Fire Blast.
The last sphere, Death also unsurprisingly had six major concepts. Drain life, sacrifice life which yielded a mana for every hit point sacrificed, and create undead which made a dead enemy fight for you. Preserve dead, which wasn’t as bad as it sounded, it would stop flesh from corrupting which would be a great way to keep meat fresh, or an undead corpse from rotting. Raise dead, which was weak at initiate level, the sub-concepts weren’t good enough to grant true life to a human, or even an animal, just insects and plants, but I imagined at higher levels it would be. Commune, which would allow commanding of undead monsters. Lastly, it had rot, which could directly harm someone, or even create nasty diseases and germs.
I considered all of that for a while, and then I went back to meditating and emptying my mind.
I managed it for a while, and then quit as the sun came up. If today was anything like yesterday, the goblins would march at dawn to arrive at the forest in about an hour. I hoped our preparations and planning would be sufficient. Sure, if we failed we’d come back, but Wynn, Anlyth, and Lyre wouldn’t.
“Good morning Gwen.”
She groaned out a sleepy sound as she sat up in bed.
“This world needs coffee.”
I laughed, “I knew I liked you.”
She snickered, “And bacon.”