Learning from experience we decide to set up multiple fires as well as station night watch closer to the clearing with 2 goblins at the top of the tree to overlook the whole situation. At the same time, we created a bigger fire in the middle to light up our surroundings as much as possible.
As for food, Celine skewered the meat and placed them close to the fire. Not directly over the heat as it would burn the outside and not properly cook the inside of the meat. She also prepared some vegetable skewers using some of the root vegetables and wrapping them in herbs to give them a slight change in flavor.
I walk towards Stellar who was under the tree, sharpening her knives using rocks. At the same time, I look at her status, confirming that she didn't have what I wanted to talk to her about.
Name: ??i?ll??? (Stellar)
Race: Night Elf
Health Points (HP): 40/40
Mana Points (MP): 12/12
Strength: 23
Vitality: 20
Intelligence: 24
Dexterity: 20
Agility: 33
Luck: 5
Skill: Stealth (Active) - 2MP, Shadow Bind (Active) - 5MP, Blessing of the Moon (Passive), Child of the Night (Passive)
Stealth (Active) - The user can become invisible for 10min. Cooldown 30min
Shadow Bind (Active) - Calling upon the shadows to pull the target into the abyss. If the target is swallowed by the shadow, the target dies, otherwise, it will CC the target for 1min or until it breaks. Cooldown 15min requires chanting.
Blessing of the Moon (Passive) - The moon god has blessed this individual. 10% Strength and Agility increase at night. If it is a full moon, the individual gains an extra 10% Strength and Agility.
Child of the Night (Passive) - Skills that relate to the dark element, will have 10% increased damage at night. Skills that CC or gives a positive effect or inflict a negative effect will last twice as long as normal while at night.
"Stellar. How is everything?" - Ian
"Fine." - Stellar
"Well, I have something for you." - Ian
I give Stellar the skill book that had dropped from the monster I had slain. Stellar, however, return my gift with a confused expression.
"What am I supposed to do with a book?" - Stellar
"Oh, no this is a skill book. You can learn the skill by opening and reading it." - Ian
"Sounds too good to be true. How can a person learn a skill just by reading?" - Stellar
"Give it a go at least." - Ian
Stellar reaches out and grabs ahold of the book, opening up the first page, in which the pages start to glow white. Eventually, the whole book glows brightly as the book disintegrates into small glowing particles as they enter Stellar's forehead.
With her eyes closed and her hands placed on her lap, she focuses on the information that was currently being transported into her mind. Once the book disappears, Stellar opens her eyes with newfound respect as she looks up at me.
"I never knew I could learn so much from a book. It gave me an opportunity to improve my skills and it also taught me more about how to move around places to reduce as much sound as possible. I think I would be more capable of sneaking up to monsters now because of this." - Stellar
I confirm with her stats, that the skill did get added to her status screen.
"How do you feel?" - Ian
"Honestly, great. There was more in that book than just the technique to move quietly which I still need to digest." - Stellar
"I see, well come and join the group I think Celine is almost done with the cooking." - Ian
"I have a question before we go." - Stellar
"What is it?" - Ian
"Why didn't you use this on yourself? Surely, you must have considered the benefits of moving quietly." - Stellar
"I did look into the benefits but it wasn't just my own. I looked at everyone's strengths, weaknesses, and role in battle. Most of us are frontline warriors or archers with Solar as an expectation due to her magical ability. However, you are both a frontline warrior as well as an assassin." - Ian
"But I don't do assassinations." - Stellar
"You might not, however, your skills are tailored towards it whether you like it or not. Having stealth as a skill already makes you less of a warrior and more of someone that attacks an enemy unsuspectedly. Adding to that trait will be the skill, Light Steps. It will make you faster as well as quieter making it easier to attack someone who has left their guard down." - Ian
"I guess but what about yourself?" - Stellar
"I have no use for the skill. Before I got cursed, I wasn't strong. I was protected by you, Solar, Kingston etc. However, with newfound powers, I grew stronger but that doesn't mean I forgot my roots. You have helped me before, now it was my turn to help and that is by giving the best who would use the skill to the best of their ability." - Ian
"Okay. I understand. I will do my best to live up to your expectations." - Stellar
I nod my head and the both of us headed towards the bonfire. I could smell the meat being barbequed and the aroma made my stomach growl. I pick up a meat skewer only to see the fat dripping onto the ground. My stomach yearns for food and as I look at it more and more I finally snapped out of it and took my first bite.
The soft yet slightly chewy texture fills my mouth. A true delicacy as I have not haven meat in the game before. The best we had were fish but I didn't count. I wanted it to be more like land animals as my first meat and was I glad to be having a piece.
"THIS IS AMAZING!" - Kingston
I could hear Kingston indulging himself on the other side of the bonfire as she devours skewer after skewer. I can't blame him though, since both of us eat meat on a daily. Having just vegetables and fish has been going on for too long and it was time to eat meat in the game.
Then I noticed it wasn't just him making a scene. Anyone who had eaten a skewer looked like they were in heaven, including Celine herself. Each slab of meat was cut into smaller cubes and combined with vegetables to make a skewer and with every bite, I fell in love even more.
Dinner eventually finished with the goblins coming back to eat while the shieldbearers went on night watch. Gibing and Gyumi were to the two hobgoblins on top of the tree looking into the distance and close by in order to see any potential monsters. While eating dinner with them, I asked them to report to me about their findings.
"Our immediate location is still far away from here but in between here and the mountains, there seemed to be packs of monsters in various sizes." - Gibing
"From what I could see, there were 3 more groups of the monster we had just killed before dinner. As well as, 15 other groups of different monsters." - Gyumi
"There is currently nothing around us that would attack us unexpectedly. So resting tonight should be our main priority. We have enough supplies for a 2-week journey and some monsters drop meat which makes it easier for us to resupply." - Gibing
'"I also noticed that our fight with the monsters just then was extremely easier than the other two battles." - Gyumi
"I noticed that too Gyumi. I believe it has to do with how stronger our previous opponents were compared to the monsters we are fighting at the moment. The monsters near us might be strong in their own regard but when facing a monster like Selino all other monsters look weak. I also think we all grew stronger as we face the 10 monsters cleanly and swiftly, helping each other out wherever we were in a bind." - Ian
"Understood, Leader Ian." - Gibing, Gyumi
After conversing with the goblins and making sure they were all okay, I start to pack away the rest of our loot. The claws and fangs can be made into higher quality knives and since they already have the shape of a knife we don't need to add extra materials into the forging process.
With not much left to do, I told the night watch schedule and made myself comfortable using the Jackalope shirts as a blanket and my basket as a pillow. I saw some of the other people doing the same as they try their best to keep the warmth in as long as possible. The temperature dropped quickly after the sun falls. However, with the large fires, I couldn't help but feel slightly hot. I close my eyes, praying that we don't fight anything at night again.
I guess I must have prayed to the right god as the goddess of luck shows me a clear blue sky as I open my eyes. Nothing happened at night and I smile to myself. 2nd day, clear!
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