Chapter 142 - The Sad Part

The face the girl made at seeing her arrow bounce off my chest made me want to burst out laughing again but I held it in. The girl was terrified and laughing at her wouldn't help matters.

"It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you," I said softly, "Why don't you tell me your name."

She was hesitant at first but she eventually told me her name.

"It's Sarah," She mumbled.

"Well hello Sarah, my name is Christopher," I responded lightly.

Her eyes couldn't leave the spot her arrow hit and it seemed she couldn't keep her question in any longer, "How did you do that?"

"Do what, the arrow?" I chuckled, "Oh, you have to do a lot more than that to hurt me."

I didn't want to overwhelm the girl so I took it slow, introducing myself and talking for a moment.

"Why don't you come out here so we can talk? You can have all the snacks I have too." I said waving my bag of snacks at her.

I wasn't sure it would work but she eventually stepped out of the house for the promise of food. After she did, I introduced her to Austin and Hal. She made a face seeing that Hal was a Ranger but no one commented on it.

We did our best not to startle her any more than we already had, as no one wanted to get shot with another arrow. After talking for a short while and getting some food in her, the girl broke down into tears and cried while hugging onto me.

That was a development I hadn't expected. The girl was fine and then all of a sudden she was overflowing with tears holding onto me.

"It's been so hard *sniffle*. I did the best I could but I'm too low-level. Luke won't stop crying and I don't have anything to feed him *sniffle*" She sobbed into my shirt.

Austin had been trying to hold in his laughter at seeing my awkwardness around the crying child holding onto me, but at the mention of another, he searched the house and found a 6-year-old kid inside.

There were two kids in the house.

It took a while but we managed to convince her and her brother to come back to our camp for a warm meal. I didn't carry that much food with me and the rest was back at camp.

Coming back with two children in tow caused some confusion until we told everyone the story. The girl, Sarah, recounted her experience in the tutorial and I couldn't help but sigh at what I heard.

The dad was just trying to take care of her and keep her safe but he ended up causing more harm than good. Without any levels, the girl was woefully unprepared for when her father didn't come back and nearly died of starvation.

Still, she was a tough cookie and I had to admire that grit.

"I had to hunt for food and I managed to get a deer but that was a while ago. The meat went bad quickly and I wasn't able to find anything else I could kill. Everything's level was too high."

She told in between bites of food.

I was surprised she even managed that. She was only level 9 without even her first class evolution. Some of the beasts around here were in the E-rank already, let alone the amount that were higher level than her.

After getting her a meal and letting her wash up, I met with Austin and Abigail who were discussing something in whispered tones.

"Do you know what she has to evolve into for that to work?" Austin said.

"I'm not 100% sure but it shouldn't be hard to figure out," Abigail answered.

I caught the tail end of what they were discussing as I walked up and couldn't help but frown.

"Please tell me you guys aren't already discussing this. We haven't even asked the girl her opinion on the matter and you two are already hashing things out." I admonished them both.

"You can't say you haven't thought of it," Austin said back.

While he was correct, it wasn't something we should be talking about so soon. That was one of the first things that came to mind when I found out about her class and level but it wasn't time for that yet. Even if a Ranger pre their first evolution was the perfect chance to raise a Beastmaster.

I wanted to have a bit more tact going about it though. Let the girl get accustomed to us before dropping this on her.

"Why don't you take a beat and let her settle first? She was hesitant to even come back with us, let alone come with us. We should give her a few days before bringing this up. We've pulled the carts for a week already, a few more days won't hurt." I said.

"Yeah, but it sucks," Austin whined.

"Shut up, you don't even pull them most of the time," Abigail pointed out.

Austin was mainly on scouting duty around the caravan but there were times when he had turns pulling the carts. It wasn't often but it did happen.

"Plus, even if we raise her level and get her the class, it isn't like we have horses at the ready. There aren't any beasts around here we can use anyway." I said going back to the issue at hand.

"Fine, we can wait. But I'll be keeping a lookout for anything we can use," Austin conceded.

I didn't want to hear any more talk of that until at least a few days from now, there was no need to rush and I wasn't going to force the class on the girl. To switch topics, I brought up the other reason we had stopped here for the night.

"Has Hal found the dungeon yet," I asked.

He had been sent out after our run-in at the cabin to search for the dungeon that was around here. After over a week of travel, we had finally come across one of them.

We knew we were close based on the map but we hadn't managed to pinpoint it yet. It was also what Austin was supposed to be doing given his profession. I didn't know all of his professional skills but there should be one or two that would help him locate the thing.

"Not yet. It wasn't like we were able to give him coordinates to the thing, it's going to take him a while to find." Abigail huffed in annoyance at my question. I had been bothering her about it quite a few times.

"I know, I know. It's fine," I sighed, "I'm just looking forward to a fight is all. None of the beasts around here can hold up."

Abigail looked at me strangely but didn't say more.

"Austin, why don't make yourself useful and go help him," I added.

He mumbled a complaint but went out into the woods all the same.

Abigail and I stood in silence for a while before she brought up something new.

"How do you think the rest of the world is doing?" She asked out of the blue.

The question was sudden and I wasn't prepared to be asked something like that.

"How the hell am I supposed to know?" I answered, "You've seen just as much of it as I have."

"I don't know." She sighed, "I just can't help but think about if other people are out there like Sarah."

I took a second to ponder on it before I shook my head to move on. The sad part was that there probably were more people out there like Sarah.

~~

Nick

Crack BOOM!

Another lightning bolt leapt from his hand electrocuting yet another monster. Nick hadn't expected a wave of monsters to attack after he placed the pylon but he was more than enough to take care of the monsters.

He had received it at the end of the tutorial for a decent amount of points and he thought it would let him run a city. That it would turn him into a city lord or something like that.

He hadn't expected to be bombarded by monsters the second he placed the thing down.

Nick was lucky he had met up with other people before he went through with it or he would have had to face them all alone. The pylon gave off a beacon of sorts that people could feel from a distance away and he had people find him because of it.

Some wanted to take it from him but he easily fried those who would do him harm. He didn't slack off in the tutorial and he doubted many around were stronger than him.

Plus his rare mana affinity made him a step above the rest. The Storm affinity had been his stepping stone to higher power since it revealed itself when he hit level 10.

The Winds and Rain flared out as he pulled on more of his mana to fight off the horde. Bolts of Lightning shot out when he had the chance and he could see the beasts faltering.

His retinue did a wonderful job of keeping the monsters off of him which left him open to launching his skills without worry.

Most of the monsters were in the high 30s but there were a few that were higher. Those he had to fry a few times before they went down.

As the last beast he could see succumbed to electricity, he couldn't keep the satisfaction off his face.

Right as he was feeling satisfied, the pylon sent out a pulse of white light going out in every direction. The sphere of white extended out a hundred yards before it stopped and fizzled out.

A notification popped up after the light went away and Nick laughed at the sight. He had done it. He had claimed his first piece of land and he could now build his very own city.

Name Your Outpost.

He knew that he probably wasn't the first as a week had already gone by but he couldn't help but feel like he was one of the firsts.

Now all he had to do was name it. Nick's City had a nice ring to it but he wasn't so childish to name it after himself. He could rename it the same name as before but he didn't wish to do that either.

That name was for a city from before, this needed something new.

He minimized the notification so he could put it off for later. He didn't have to name it right this second and he wanted to think of a good one first.

Plus, there were other things to do right now besides naming his newly claimed land.

"Have you found any builders yet?" Nick asked his second in command.

Ever since people started to gather toward Nick and his pylon he had to come up with a way to keep things orderly. That all started with his second who made things so much easier.

She was perfect for the role and even had a profession dedicated to it which only made things easier.

"Yes, sir. We managed to find a few throughout the city and they are willing to help for the time being." His second responded.

"Perfect! Let's get started on turning this into an actual city rather than only a plot of land." Nick announced excitedly.

He couldn't wait to see what it would turn into.