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Energy Eater - Chapter 68 - Leaving with company
🕑 Added 2024-12-17 07:43:57 +0000 UTCOnce Astrid said she wanted to come with me, I imagined we would stay in the village for some time before leaving. In my mind, she was going to say goodbye, prepare everything, and make sure someone took care of her house. But that is not what happened.
Not that we left right away. After all, since I offered, there were a couple of things she wanted to do. First, she cut out one of the carvings that was in her house. It was a long piece of wood near the door. On it was a beautifully carved eagle with an interestingly shaped baby bird. That was the first carving she did with her father. It was too big to be carried properly, but with a quick {Compression}, that problem was solved.
Next, she took some time to pack properly. There were a couple of things she was forgetting, such as lighter clothes and an extra pair of underwear. We also took time to gather directions we could take and separate the things that would not be good to bring along the road.
There was one last thing she wanted to do before leaving, but that was not in her house. We stepped out, leaving our packs behind. Astrid wanted to take them, but I said it was a bad idea. If we walked into the village clearly about to leave, people would stop us and want to know what was going on.
Astrid did not say where we were going, but I was not going to ask. When she felt it was time, she would tell me. It took us about half an hour to find what she was looking for—or more specifically, who.
"Astrid? What brings you here? I told you, you can rest. We will take care of protecting the village, at least for a few days," Jason said. He was Scott's dad and the leader of the guard.
"I'm leaving."
"But you just got here," Jason paused and took a good look into Astrid's eyes. "You are not talking just about here, are you?"
"No."
Jason sighed. "Honestly, I imagined you would do that sooner. Ever since your dad… you have not been the same. There was a madness in your eyes. I couldn't tell if you were chasing after something or trying to find something. Maybe it was both, which I guess is what was happening since you wanted to go after the Ice Devil. But yesterday, instead of all that frenzy being gone, it looked like just part of it had been fixed. Whatever you were chasing is gone, and you are truly lost."
I was a bit surprised by his insight because most of what he was saying went completely over my head. I had no idea Astrid was going through all that. Sure, I knew about her dad and how that devil killed him, and that she was chasing after it, but it had only been a few days since we met. I had not known her long enough to understand that kind of internal struggle.
"Am I lost?" Astrid asked.
"Not anymore. You found something you want to do, did you not?" Jason asked, getting a nod in reply. "Well, then I am the last person who is going to tell you to stay. Go after what you need. I will take care of your house and do my best not to let people mess things up too much. Even if we end up having to give it to someone else, you will always have a place to stay here. I promise."
"Thank you," Astrid said, putting out a hand for Jason to shake.
The man did just that, but the Frosted Lumberjack held on to his hand, not letting go for a few moments. She frowned and turned to me. "The command?"
"You want to give it to him?"
"Yes."
"Ingrain. And you do not need to say it out loud," I replied.
Astrid nodded and turned to Jason, who had an expression of utter confusion. After a moment, his eyes went wide as the confusion changed into bewilderment.
"What… what is this?" Jason asked, his eyes still glued to something we could not see.
Astrid turned toward me. "Can you explain? I am not good."
I rolled my eyes. "Fine, but that is going to be the first and last time I do this. We are going to have a conversation about sharing this with others later, deal?"
With a nod, the Frosted Lumberjack agreed to my request. I gestured for Jason to follow me, and we moved to a more private location.
"Right. So, what Astrid just gave you is called the System. It is something that you can talk to, and it will answer any questions that you have. Basically, what it does is help you get stronger. You will be able to level up, which means increasing a specific part of your body and acquiring skills that are kind of like magic powers. Like this one." With a quick cast of {Compression}, I made my staff smaller.
"What the hell was that?" Jason gasped.
"A skill. Pay attention. Now, an easy way to level up and become stronger is to go hunting. If you kill monsters, you will get… something that makes you stronger. It is complicated, and I do not want to get into that. Ask the System. They will be able to explain."
"They? Who are they?" Jason asked.
"The System, but it is more of an it. I just prefer to think that something talking to me in my head is a person, not just a strange tool. Either way, you get stronger by killing other animals. And possibly people, but I never tested that part. I just hope you understand why that is bad."
"Are you calling me a murderer? I am not going to go around killing people!" Jason protested.
I nodded. "Perfect. That is exactly what you need to do—not kill people. Now, moving on. Every few levels, you get a few skill choices. Those skills are magical powers that can make your life a lot easier. I showed you that one, but I can also do this." I snapped my fingers, and a small flame appeared in my hand. It lasted only a couple of seconds before vanishing.
Jason just stared at my hand. "How is that possible?"
"The simple answer is magic. If you want to know the complicated answer, then ask your System. Trust me, it will do a much better job than I would. And that is about it. Everything else you can ask your System, and it will tell you. But if you want, you can ask four more questions. I was not prepared to explain this to someone, and frankly, I did not want to," I said, glancing at Astrid, who sheepishly looked away. It was amusing seeing someone as big as her act like that.
"Is this how you killed the Ice Devil?" Jason asked.
"It is. Without that, we wouldn't have been able to survive. But we are also much higher level than you are right now. I'm Tier One and Level 10. Ask your System what that means."
Jason nodded and paused, trying to come up with a question. "If this really can make people stronger, can I give this to others?"
I shrugged. "The System is yours. You can do whatever you want with it."
"Then can we give this to everybody in the village?" Jason asked.
"If you want to do that, you're free to do it. The System is yours, and you can give it to whoever you want. The only restriction is the resources you have to spend. Ask your System. But, if you don't mind a piece of advice, do you really think everybody should have a power like this? Everybody? Keep in mind that everything I'm telling you right now also applies to everyone you give the System to."
"Of course it would help! If this can make people stronger, then we wouldn't have to worry about being attacked by bears or other animals. We would be able to carry more wood, build better houses, and if bandits or bad people came around, we could…" He trailed off, his eyes wandering to the ground. It seemed like he finally understood what I was saying.
I gave him a few moments and stood by the side, listening in. After about two minutes, Jason stopped looking at the ground and turned back to me.
"I agree. Maybe not everyone should have this. But I don't think it's fair for me to make that decision."
"Well, that's the price you have to pay for getting this power. Now you have to make that decision. And so does everybody else who has it."
"What was your decision?" Jason asked.
"That I would only give this to people I trusted. Of course, I don't expect that only people I know will ever get the System, but at least I can make sure I don't have anything on my conscience."
"Are you saying you trust me?" Jason frowned.
"That's technically your fifth question, but I'll give you a freebie. No, I don't trust you. But I wasn't the one who gave you the System." I glanced at Astrid. "And like I said, whoever has the System can do whatever they want with it."
Jason turned to Astrid. "Thank you. I don't know what to say. I honestly don't know what's happening, not really. But still, thank you. If this helped you kill the Ice Devil, I can't see this being a bad thing."
Astrid did not offer any response. We said our goodbyes again and headed back to her home to pick up our stuff before leaving the village. I did not say much during that time, only speaking when there was a need to communicate something to Astrid. Still, we spent about an hour walking west, following the road a little north of the village.
The beginning of our travel was very similar to what we did to reach the mines. But this time, we could really take in the sights instead of just rushing past everything.
Eventually, the silence might have been too much for Astrid, who stopped walking and gestured for me to do the same.
"You mad?" she asked.
"About what?" I genuinely was not sure what she was referring to.
"Me. Jason."
"Oh… I'm not happy about that, but I'm not mad. I just felt blindsided. You could have told me that was what you wanted to do, you know. Then I would have been a bit more prepared to explain things to him. And also, I don't know the guy. You are the one who chose to give him the System, not me. You're the one who should explain things, or just tell him to figure it out on his own."
"I'm sorry."
I shrugged and continued walking. "Don't be. It's okay. I had no idea I would be that upset because of something so minor. But it might be good for us to set up some ground rules for our travels. That way, I don't do anything that upsets you, and you don't do anything that upsets me. What do you think?"
"Agreed," Astrid said, following me.
"I think the first rule should be that each of us is free to do whatever we want with the System. If you want to give the System to everybody we come across, you can do that. We can even ask each other for help, like, I could say, 'Hey, I want to give the System to three people; could you give it to one while I give it to the other two?' But if the other person says no, that's it. They're not going to help, and we can't keep insisting or trying to convince them otherwise," I said.
That was something that had been on my mind ever since I left Madison. I should have talked to Pops about this specific setup, but I could not remember if I had done that.
"I like," Astrid nodded.
"How about you? Do you have any rules you want to put in place? Let's keep bouncing one rule from each of us back and forth so we don't overwhelm anyone."
"Maybe. Need to think," Astrid replied, crossing her arms. The Frosted Axe hung from her back, just over the Ice Devil cloak she made.
We ended up with a considerable number of rules, but they all sounded reasonable enough. We also added a clause that allowed us to ignore the rules in case of danger. We talked about that for most of the first day of travel, and by the end of it, we had reached the other side of the dungeon's influence.
The snow was starting to slow down, and we were once more reaching open land and open roads.
