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Chapter 148 - Worriers
🕑 Added 2024-10-03 20:26:48 +0000 UTCNick
A month had passed since Nick planted his pylon and he could hardly believe the difference. Where the area was once full of ruined houses and derelict roads, there now stood real houses and a palisade wrapping around them.
They were barely better than wooden huts and some were basically shacks, but that didn't take away from the accomplishment he felt. It was a far cry from the once modern city blocks but it was a luxury to most that made their way here from outside.
Stories of having to sleep on the ground every night and having to stalk through the woods to hunt and forage for food were abundant when new arrivals showed up.
The food part stayed the same, but it didn't require a whole town's effort to partake in. Rangers that evolved into Hunters could bring in far more meat than amateur civilians or other classes. So could profession-focused Foragers or anyone of similar professions.
They even had some Farmers attempting to grow crops before the season ended. It was a bit late to plant now but skills could make up for the time lost.
After building the first structures of his new city, they moved on to planning ahead. There was still the constant threat of monsters, but they were prepared and experienced for that.
The gashes and scratches in their palisade could attest to their experience. Nick wasn't even personally needed most of the time and he was the strongest man in the camp.
The only downside that he felt so far was the constant need for management. Everything needed his decision on placement, what people should work on first, and who should do what.
Plus, after claiming the 'Outpost' as the System called it, he had the chance to set a tax rate. Everything was way above him and the constant need for his time was beginning to frustrate him.
Nick didn't care about most of the stuff which made it feel like a waste of time to slog through. His dream was to rule a city, he didn't want to run one.
Which was why recruiting his 'Outpost Chief' had been such a game changer for him. She had been wonderful at dealing with all the nitty gritty while he got to watch from afar instead of having to do everything himself.
Her tutorial had been way different than his and she was already experienced with being in charge of a pylon. Her expertise in the matter made everything that much easier and allowed Nick to focus on other things.
He felt like his Law was getting close to upgrading and he could feel he was close. It helped that the dungeon next to them gave him ample experience to fight and grow in levels.
It was hard not to think further into the future. Nick knew that not everything would continue to run smoothly like it had, but if he had already done this much in only a month, how much further could he go?
He still only had the one pylon and he had heard that owning more was possible.
Nick's tutorial didn't have any pylons or anything close to it. His focused on fighting in Dungeons and all of the pylon information was completely new to him.
After hearing that controlling more was a possibility he couldn't stop his fantasies from building. What if he could build a Kingdom? What about an Empire?
~~
Gabriel
The constant rattling of the cart was enough to drive him mad but there was nothing he could do about it. He couldn't very well walk and the cart was the only option he had for transportation.
Ever since his legs were lost he had tried to not wallow in despair but there were times when it was hard. Bumping around in the cart was one of those times. He tried to keep up a happy face so the others around him didn't look at him with pity.
Those looks hurt more than when he lost his legs.
It was like they were looking at someone who was useless. Who couldn't do anything for himself and needed to be waited on hand and foot.
It was the reason he tried so hard to show people that he wasn't as helpless as they assumed.
If this had been before, and there wasn't magic to explore or keep his mind off of it, it would have been miserable. Then again, he wouldn't have lost his legs to a monster if that was the case but that wasn't the point.
The Arcane was wonderful. It was everything he could have imagined and then some. All the games and books he had played or read didn't even hold a candle to doing it in real life.
From the first skill he picked to his newest, all of them were a wonder to behold. To be able to affect the world with his mind was a feeling he would never get over.
Still, one of his greatest challenges right now was trying to walk with his mind and that was proving harder than he thought. He knew how to walk but it was different than sending commands to his muscles.
The carts slowed to a stop which finally ended the rattling. He wasn't sure why they stopped this time but it didn't much matter. He pulled himself off the cart and into his chair before finding a nice place to practice away from the carts.
Legs were hard. He had to move the Ice in a particular way, while keeping his balance, without affecting his other leg, and a thousand smaller things that would send him tumbling to the ground.
It was a true test of his skills and he was failing.
After another tumble to the ground, Christopher's voice cut in from behind him, "You don't have to continue this. Your legs are coming back and it won't be long until you can walk again."
He turned to see him leaning up against a tree with his arms crossed as he watched Gabriel practice. Gabriel knew that what he was doing was hard for him to watch, but Chris always found the time to accompany him. He had never been good at keeping his emotions off his face and Gabriel caught him cringe when he fell or his face tighten when he took a bad spill.
The instant reaction to reach out and catch him and having to forcibly restrain himself from doing so.
"No, I will get this." He said with determination as he pulled himself up off the ground.
It was what he spent most of his time doing and he wasn't going to give up now. Even if he knew that his legs would come back, he wanted to walk now. Not in months after the healers were done with him. He wanted to stop feeling useless. Needed it almost.
He made it a few more steps this time before he ended up back on the ground. Gabe tried not to get frustrated since Chris was here but some of it got out regardless.
What did surprise him though was the sharp laughter that erupted from behind him. His head whipped around to see Chris laughing while wiping at his eyes.
"What are you laughing at?" His question came out harsher than intended but he couldn't help but feel hurt at being laughed at.
Chris quieted down before explaining, "I'm not laughing at you, bud, but think about this from a different perspective. You are using your mind to control Ice in the form of legs trying to walk."
He let out a chuckle himself when it was put that way. It was so easy to forget where they came from. To get so focused on the problems of now instead of looking back and witnessing where they had started.
Even with the hitch of what happened, he had come far and it was easy to forget that. Even if his icy legs were a constant struggle for him.
It was also nice to have his brother back again. He didn't mean back, physically, Chris had been with them for over a month now, but back to almost his old self. Or what was left of it.
When Chris first came and found them, he had been full of tension. He had been wound so tight that nothing from how he once was got out.
It was nice to see him lose some of that tension as they traveled. Watch as it fell off with every step they took. Chris didn't like to tell any stories from his tutorial but they were easy enough to get from the others.
Austin especially. Gabriel didn't have the same bond with his cousin as Chris did but it was always easy to get a story out of him. He had to work through and decipher the embellishing Austin put on his stories, but the base information was always true, no matter how outlandish it sounded.
Like how they single-handedly charged through a gate and defeated a whole camp of thralls. That one had been a crazy one to listen to and he had called Austin out at multiple points of the story but it had all turned out true.
"You know you will probably have to go through this at some point as well. Do I get to laugh at you then?" He snarked back.
Chris sported a smile and covered it with a joke, "Are you wishing harm on your brother? And here I thought we cared for one another."
"Oh, come on, that wasn't what I meant." He responded, "Just with all the fighting you do you are bound to lose something at one point. Statistics demand it almost."
Gabriel watched as the tightness crept back on his face. As he went to brush off his comment and change the subject to something else after his joke hadn't worked. It was what he always did when him getting injured came up.
That or when anything dangerous came up. It was like he was allergic to having other people worry.
"My Fortitude is high and my skills are strong. My armor as well. It w-" Chris started but Gabriel cut him off.
He wasn't going to let him brush it aside this time.
"Christopher," Gabriel said in a serious tone, "I'm not going to baby you like the other two will. You may say your Fortitude is high and you are strong, I'm not claiming otherwise, but don't fool yourself. Don't forget I can feel your aura and I understand your confidence, but saying it will never happen is both arrogant and stupid.
"You know better than most that anything can happen in a fight. Frankly, you're lucky it hasn't happened already. Given your current path, you will eventually be in the same state I am and it's better to be prepared for that now."
He saw as Chris puffed up to wave away his concerns but stopped himself before going through with it. Chris visibly deflated, "I know, Gabe" He sighed, "I don't think it will never happen but how do you think Abigail would react if she saw me practicing just in case I lose an arm in the future? Or a leg?"
"Oh, she would give you a long lecture on how to face risks but that isn't the point. Both of them are worriers. They were born that way and they can't help it, but that doesn't mean you should let it affect you. You can't let how they will react stop you from doing something you need to do.
"I had enough of that during the tutorial when Mom tried to stop me from going into the dungeon. I admit, that specific example ended poorly but you can't let them dictate what you can and cannot do." Gabriel said.
"You're right, Gabe," Chris said softly, "But it's hard for me to do that. Our tutorial was... rough. Everyone is still working through issues and I don't want to add to that. I know I can't limit myself because of them but I also don't want to add to their struggles unnecessarily.
"Especially now, when people are just starting to heal."
The clearing they were in found its way back into silence as both just sat next to each other. Gabriel knew pushing too hard right now wouldn't accomplish anything and it wasn't an issue that needed it.
He was glad to have this conversation now but he also wanted Chris to add himself into that group of everyone. He talked about everyone healing like he wasn't included in that.
Like he was fine and it was everyone else who was going through it even though he was there in the same boat.
Still, Gabriel took what he could get and focused back on trying to walk.
"If you're going to stand there and watch, at least give it a try to find out how hard this is! It's not as easy as it looks, damnit." Gabe pestered.
"Fine, fine, I'll give it a go. Watch how the master does it." Chris laughed before building ice over his lower body.
Gabriel had to admit he was getting a lot better at that. The ice froze around his legs quickly and efficiently and Gabe could tell he had been practicing. His skill when they first started training was abysmal. He had let a skill do it for too long and had to work out that bad habit before they could start building new ones.
It was a nice change of pace to watch Chris fall flat on his face instead of doing it himself.
Chris's admission of it being harder than it looked only made it better.
Comments
Alexander C Hyde
"Oh, she would give you a long lecture on how to face risks but that isn't the point. Both of them are worriers. Both of who? Abigail and who else?
SpaceGoddess76
Gabriel should try adding a tail, tails can be used to help balance and are probably easier that trying to create perfect legs to begin with.
Baconwargod
Practicing ice arms sounds useful. Could even lead to the creation of a skill later down the line. A dozen ice arms attached to him or free floating punching people with his law and spirit anchor empowering them sounds strong to me. Though that maybe too much complication for what you get. Hmmmm
Thomas Issa
Non elemental laws for non mana users?
PWeygandt
I love this idea. maybe program the runes to do specific motions so that all he has to do is channel a little bit of mana into one kinda like pressing a button
Demonlord
Thanks for the nice chapter 😊
Thomas Issa
Runic prosthetics
ItWasIDIO!!
Oh Nick you poor sweet summer child
