NOVEL NEXT Chapter 6: My First Battle
I woke up quite early today and jumped down from the tree. I got surprised since there was a high grade potion under the tree. Maybe I know who left it.
There is only one explanation. When she was talking to me last night, she saw that I injured my hand due to my angry outburst.
When I was screaming while experimenting last night, she saw me and when I went to sleep, she left this under the tree.
Come to think of it, it's pretty luxurious. I bet if I went to buy this potion from store, it would cost at least 50 silver coins.
My hand was still injured, but it wasn't bleeding so I didn't wasted potion on it.
After that, I headed for the weapon shop.
"Welcome, shield hero"
"Thank you, you can just call me Naofumi. By the way, I wanted to buy a new shield, since this one is too small"
"Okay so which type"
"Can I check them myself one by one?"
"Of course"
I started copying the skills of the shields one by one. Of course he didn't found out.
"Hey Erhard, I also wanted to buy some daggers"
"I thought you can't use any weapons other than the shield."
"I can't, but I can throw these on the enemies."
"You're very smart"
After copying every skill, I told him that I can't use other shields either. I bought the five daggers for 25 silver coins and after giving him a tip of 5 silver coins.
"By the way mr Naofumi, did that girl left your party?"
"She's in spearhero's party right now"
"I feel sad for you"
"Thank you for thinking that way, but I'm too weak, so I didn't deserved her"
With that, I went away.
I teleported to the fields using my shield. I started collecting the herbs and let my shield absorb some too. After a while
Leaf Shield: conditions met
I changed my shield into the Leaf Shield.I reached for a clump of grass.
Blip!
A positive sound rang out, and the clump of grass tore free easily. The clump of grass glowed with a faint light.
Absorption up 1
Aelo: quality: fair to excellent: medicinal herb for treating wounds
It's working just fine.
I soon came across Bluemushes and Greenmushes.
Mush Shield: conditions met
Blue Mush Shield: conditions met
Green Mush Shield: conditions met
Mush Shield: ability locked:
Equip bonus: plant appraisal 1
Blue Mush Shield: ability locked:
Equip bonus: simple recipe 1
Green Mush Shield: ability locked:
Equip bonus: apprenticeship compounding
So now I got a compounding ability. No thanks, I will let my shield do the compounding.
I also made some medicines using my shield.
Healing Medicine: quality: fair to excellent: effective when immediately applied to the surface of wounds
Normal Medicine: quality: fair to excellent: effective on colds
Making medicines took only seconds by using the shield. And their quality is also great. I used the healing medicine that I made on my injured hand, it recovered after some time. Also let my shield absorb some medicines.
Small Medicine Shield: conditions met
Small Poison Shield: conditions met
Small Medicine Shield: ability locked:
Equip bonus: medicine efficiency up!
Small Poison Shield: ability locked:
Equip bonus: poison resistance up!
Now I should make something that would be useful right now.
Nourishing Beverage: quality: fair to excellent: effective for fatigue: quickly nourishes the person who drinks it.
After drinking nourishing beverage, I went to the fields to collect some Red Baloons. they are the strongest baloons and are very useful in battle. They were quite difficult to find. After searching for half an hour, I found only eight. I hid them all under my cape.
After that, I started heading for the town. I could just teleport but there will be people there, and teleporting will be too eye catching. I don't want them to know that I can teleport.
"got you!"
"as if I would let you"
*Slam*
I noticed that Ren was doing sword fight with the girl that I met yesterday. And he lost.
I went there.
Everyone noticed me
"hey there, Naofumi. I heard you're leveling alone" Ren said
"yeah"
"Oh, you two know each other?" the girl asked
"yeah, he's shield hero"
"Really"
She was looking me over in some sort of appraisal.
"So, what are you guys doing?"
"Let me introduce her to you. She's Alna, Alna Stepnova. She challanged us for a fight. and said that If we could defeat her in a duel, she would join our party for a week. her level is very high, so we accepted the duel, but one by one she defeated everyone." Ren said with hopeless eyes
"Don't be sad Ren, she only won because of her level. and you started using sword just yesterday"
Ren's level should be around 7. so its impossible for him to defeat her now.
"why don't you fight me? you said that you're stronger than me, right?" she said mockingly
"I'm not gonna lie, my level is 5, and even if I defeated you after so much trouble, what would I get?"
"You still think you can win against her?" Ren asked me, worried
"Yeah"
There is a very big gap between level 5 and level 33. But If I somehow won against her, I'll be able to level up very quickly.
"Alright, If you won, I will party-up with you for a week, because i have to go somewhere after that."
"No thanks"
"Okay tell me, what do you want?"
That's it.
"If I won, you'll be my slave for three days, No less, and certainly no more"
"Do you even know what you're asking for?" Ren shouted
"I'll only use her for battle. And don't worry, she won't have to put a slave collar on."
"But still, thats too mu-" Ren was going to say something, but Alna interrupted him
"What if you're hiding you're level?" she asked me
"I'll accept any punishment, even death"
"Sorry but I can't make these kinds of bets, my reputation will ruin"
"Okay leave it" I said and started walking.
"Hey, what if I win?"
Finally
"you want me to go that far for a bet, but you aren't betting anything, aren't you being greedy?"
"My chances of winning are less that one percent. why should I take that risk"
"We won't reach anywhere like this!" she shouted
she's right, even my head has started hurting.
"alright, if you lose, you'll have to party up with me for three days. but I won't buy any equipment for you. you can't laze around. you have to follow me if i told you and leave me alone if I told so. you have to level me up with the best of your ability. also, you can't tell anyone what you saw last night"
my mouth started hurting
"Alright, lets fight"