Lone: The Wanderer

Book 2: Chapter 42: Second Attack and Massage

"All ready?" Lone asked Soph. "He went easy on you, right?"

She nodded in response. "Yup. My MP is full and I'm good to go!"

Her enthusiasm warmed his heart. He smiled and held her gauntleted hand. "Well then, let's go kill some more bats, shall we?"

Soph nodded again and then the two of them disappeared. A moment later and they were back on top of the guard tower.

Lone could immediately see the 11 corpses from just yesterday down at the square in the distance. The remaining lighting enchantments of the street lamps made it a bit hard to see since they were lacking and dim, but they sufficed.

Honestly, Lone couldn't help but marvel at such technology. Urd Grun had been abandoned for a couple of centuries according to his research.

For the magic to have lasted this long was a true testament to the skills of the dwarven enchanters as well as to the steamforgers who built the lamps housing said enchantments.

'Looks like they don't eat corpses. I wonder if Hamish already knew that? He came here to get the bodies of his brothers, after all,' Lone said to Soph.

Meanwhile, the girl was busy putting barriers in her ears and around herself. 'I dunno. I'm ready now, by the way. In and out as fast as yesterday?'

Lone narrowed his eyes. 'Probably. I doubt I've grown enough to last longer than maybe a second or two more. Depends on how resistant my armour is to them now, really.'

A moment later, he focused on his Bone Armour skill. Very quickly he was wrapped in his heavy plate black bone armour.

The telltale blue signs of Sky's influence on his bones glowed softly in the poorly lit cavern town.

Lone took a deep breath then spoke to Soph telepathically once more, 'Let's go.'

He activated his Ungrounded skill and headed to the square while Soph teleported there instead.

'Time to see how much these demon fucks can learn, if at all. They didn't seem very intelligent since they didn't have any concrete spells like the goblins, but I'm ready to be proven wrong,' he thought.

He then drew in a bunch of air to his lungs and used his Wide Taunt skill. "Tasty foxkin right here! Buy one tail, get two free!"

He didn't really put much thought into his shout. If what he had said yesterday worked, then damn-near anything would, surely.

Low and behold, the sound of screeches met his eardrums a fraction of a second later, completely ripping them to shreds and making blood leak out of his ears.

He didn't flinch nor react in any way. He was already used to the pain after yesterday. He just waited, swordspear in hand, for the Balor Demon Bats to appear.

The massive horde of flying monstrosities soon became visible. Just like last time, they were flooding out of every corner, every window, every possible spot they could have been hidden, all swarming to his location in the middle of the air.

Lone quickly used five Mental Destructions in rapid succession once again, resulting in five more bodies being added to the 11 already below him.

He then entered a defensive stance and said, "Tail Spears."

Lone's plan was to meet the bats at the front with his Swordspear Mastery's Pierce while the ones behind him would be assaulted by randomly and quickly moving tails of doom.

'Let's see how this work out...' he closed his eyes for a second before snapping them open again.

Now, nothing but focus radiated from his entire being.

Lone and Soph appeared in the middle of the camp again, causing a bit of a stir.

"Ah, welcome back," Hamish said. "Shoulda expected ye's but 'onestly, 'at teleportation shite isnae easy tae get accustomed tae."

Lone smiled as he willed his barely hanging on armour to recede back into his flesh. "You'll have to try because we're only getting stronger as we do it and I'm killing more and more bats."

Breena stepped forwards and offered him a towel. "Y-You look better than yesterday... Uh... Y-Yeah, better..."

He knew she was just being kind but she wasn't completely lying. Both of his eyes had been ripped out of his skull again and even a side of his head was missing entirely as it had been bitten out.

Three of his tails were nowhere to be seen and chunks of his flesh were missing all over his body. Though, in contrast to yesterday, he didn't need Soph's help to stay upright.

He shrugged as his body worked as quickly as it could to repair itself. "Armour's getting stronger so I can kill more of them before they break through it and force us to retreat."

Lone turned to his companion and smiled broadly. Thankfully, his jaw was still attached to his face this time. "Speaking of, you were fuckin' amazing, Soph. It felt cleaner, you getting me out."

He saw her smiling shyly when she removed her helmet.

She answered his praise by saying, "I'm getting better at using my skills. No rank ups but I did gain a level in Teleportation and Barrier Magic!" Soph was practically oozing joy. "I guess it liked that I double layered the ear protection this time. I don't even hear any ringing."

Hamish winced. "Sometimes ah feel like ah can. Phantom noises an' whatnot. Ya didnae grab ah corpse, did ya?"

Lone didn't miss the suspicion in the man's eyes but he ultimately nodded. "Yup. Got two of 'em, even."

He summoned the corpses from his Dimensional Storage and they immediately filled up the camp, so large were they.

"Fuck. They're ah lot bigg'r up close. Cheers. Ah'll take the claws oof 'em when ah've ah minute tae spare," the dwarf claimed.

Lone grinned. "Nah, I'll do it. I kinda wanna completely skin 'em and stuff 'em. Maybe there's a Taxidermy Mastery skill or something."

Hamish shrugged. "Aye, if 'at's what ya wan'. Ah've never 'eard ah 'at skill though. Mind ye, ma knowledge is limited."

Lone mirrored the dwarf's body language. "You could be right. I've tried lots of stuff to get new skills that you would assume have them, but to no avail."

Hamish nodded wistfully. "Every adventurer worth 'is stone 'as tried to earn new undocumented skills. Makes sense since dozens get discovered every year."

Lone smiled. "Indeed."

Ten minutes later and within the privacy of his and Soph's tent, Lone got to work reading through his notification log while his lover snuggled up to his tails.

Congratulations! The host's active skill [Wide Taunt] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 2.

Congratulations! The host's active skill [Wide Taunt] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 3.

Congratulations! The host's active skill [Wide Taunt] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 4.

An expected windfall. He fully believed Wide Taunt would rank up at least once, maybe twice before they were done here. Next came the long string of Sound Magic Resistance level-ups.

Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Sound Magic Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 10.

Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Sound Magic Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Intermediate Level 1.

Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Sound Magic Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Intermediate Level 2.

Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Sound Magic Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Intermediate Level 3.

Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Sound Magic Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Intermediate Level 4.

Passive Skill: Sound Magic Resistance

A skill that allows the host to resist all forms of Sound Magic.

Sound Magic used on the host will be weakened by 15% [+10%].

Cost:N/A Mastery:Intermediate Level 4

Lone nodded in approval. 'Not quite eight instant levels-ups, instead only five but the rank-up will help tremendously.'

Congratulations! The host's primal skill [Ungrounded] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 9.

'Hopefully I keep getting a level per attack. If I do, in two days it'll rank up and become less of a burden,' Lone thought about his only viable Primal skill.

Congratulations! The host's racial skill [Tail Spears] has levelled up! It is now Intermediate Level 5.

'Good, good. Can't complain with progress here either,' he commented internally.

That was all, sadly. Fear Resistance, Physical Pain Resistance, Basic Regeneration and Bone Armour hadn't gained any levels.

Lone suspected that was because, for the latter three, the Balor Demon Bats had reached their limits for what their attacks could reward him in those areas - of course, his Bone Armour would continue to get more durable, but that wouldn't be reflected with skill level-ups.

As for Fear Resistance, Lone simply wasn't afraid anymore since he had successfully done the hit and run on the bats once before, proving his and Soph's ability to do it and succeed.

"Soph, how many did I kill this time?" he asked, curiosity filling his mind.

"Hmm?" she pulled her face up from his fluff for a moment to think. "Um... Sophie says you got 17. Sorry. I was kind of paying attention to keeping myself safe and making sure I could get you out, not on anything else."

"No worries. I'm glad Sophie was keeping track though. So six more than yesterday... It didn't feel like there were any fewer of them though. Must be hundreds of the fuckers," Lone said.

He then greedily opened his status. While it was true that with each level gained it got harder to reach the next one, however, with 17 more B-rankers dead at his feet, he couldn't wait to see the gains.

Status Name:Lone ImmortusSex:Male Age:25Level:274 [+36] SpeciesFoxkinRank:D Race:Golden Foxkin HP:34,723/72,230 [+11,300]SP:2,626/66,980 [+4,830] MP:70,350/70,350 [+17,830]WF:1,200/1,200 Basic Stats Strength:3,384 [+278]Vigour:7,223 [+1,130] Dexterity:2,198 [+64]Agility:4,309 [+744] Vitality:6,698 [+483]Luck:194 [+1] Secret Stats Charm:127Charisma:132 Magic Power:7,035 [+1,783]

"So many numbers..." Lone was in awe.

He felt damn near ecstatic, even. The growth was insane and while most of the worth of his stats was hidden behind being applied, he had grown so much more durable over a short span of just two days.

"Hey, Soph, how much MP do you have right now?" Lone asked.

"Uh..." she didn't answer immediately, presumable since she had to check her status first. "234,395."

"Hahaha, yeah. I'm never beating you. You're a fuckin' grandmaster wizard is what you are," Lone said before he turned and brought her into a hug. "It was a great idea coming here. Clearing our name is fine and all, but the strength we're gaining... That means so much more," Lone claimed.

Soph smiled. "I'm glad you're happy. You've been, uh... kinda gloomy for a while."

"I know, and for good reason but I am sorry for it," Lone apologised.

Soph giggled before kissing him lightly. "It's rare I get to hear you say that. I'm usually the one apologising."

"Hey, I know when I'm in the wrong," Lone argued. "You don't, which is why you say sorry so damned much just to cover all of your bases."

Soph pouted in silence for a bit before they both burst out laughing.

Lone yawned as he woke up. He smiled at the sight of Sophie who was laying next to him.

Just before they had gone to bed, Soph swapped out for her other personality which was just perfect for Lone's needs.

He gently shook her shoulder and asked, "Hey, mind if I give you a massage?"

There was a dreamy look in her eyes as she lay there next to him in her usual adult form, fully nude. She shrugged then closed her eyes as she rolled over to present her back to him.

"Thanks, Sophie," he said as he cracked his wrist and then positioned himself atop of her.

Within seconds of his hands touching her fair skin, moans began leaking out of her mouth.

"You... you are pretty good at this, are you not?" came her muffled voice since her head was buried in a pillow.

Lone grinned. "It's the difference between skill mastery and actual talent."

Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Massage Mastery] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 5.

His smirk only grew upon seeing that notification. "Your muscles are pretty tensed up. Let's see how many knots I can undo and how many levels I can gain before I'm done, huh?"

As it turned out, he was able to use Full Body Diagnosis to identity exactly 21 knots in Sophie's muscles, most of which in her arms and shoulders.

Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Massage Mastery] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 6.

Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Massage Mastery] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 7.

Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Massage Mastery] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 8.

Sophie's face just oozed satisfaction as she ate her breakfast. Lone noticed that her movements were very slow and relaxed.

"Honestly, Lone, Soph was a fool for not demanding you do that every morning," she claimed. "Let us add that to the morning routine, shall we?"

"I'd love to," Lone responded. "You have way too many knots in your muscles, honestly. It's a great pleasure to help you by getting rid of them. Plus, I'm always a fan of more skill level-ups."

Hamish grabbed his pickaxe and asked, "Is 'at what ye were doin' in yer tent nae long ago? Massaging? Coulda swore ye were ploughin' 'er like there wae nae tomorrow in sight. Ah wouldnae be surprised if the folk back in Krieg Moor could 'ear 'er screams. 'Ell o' ah challenge tae block 'at much 'igh-pitched screeching oot, if nothin' else."

Sophie scoffed. "Good. Perhaps you will gain a level or two in your silly little scouting skills then. What other use do you have at this point when all you do is bring up how much my lovely voice is eating away at your sanity?"

"Ouch. Ah was being playful but 'at cut right tae the bone," Hamish said.

Sophie rolled her eyes. "Are you stupid? That's exactly what we do." She gestured to her swords that were resting at her side. "We cut things."

Lone glanced at Breena who glanced back at him. They shared a smile of uncertain meaning as they watched their companions bicker.