Lone: The Wanderer

Book 3: Chapter 22: Weekly Gains and Abomination

The host has developed the passive skill [Longbow Mastery]

Passive Skill: Longbow Mastery

A child skill of the parent skill [Bow Mastery] commonly used by rangers and hunters alike to kill from an incredible distance with notable power.

When attacking with a longbow the host will hear the Wind's voice and it will help guide the host's attacks. Clarity of the wind's voice: 5%.

Cost:N/A Mastery:Beginner Level 1

Lone was saddened to have only learned one new skill from the training session. He supposed it made sense. The more weapon masteries he earned, the fewer there were out there to copy.

Still, Longbow Mastery seemed like an interesting skill. It implied the elements were actual entities that somehow differed from their magical and mundane counterparts. Lone wondered if 'the Wind' referenced here was similar to the Stone. He had no idea but it was an interesting line of thought.

His mind drifted back to the training where he had earned this skill. The Downtrodden Dancers had attacked him relentlessly after seeing a hesitant and testing arrow aimed at his shoulder pierce his clothes before merely bouncing off of his skin.

By the end of it, the ladies had only barely managed to nick his skin, earning them a single point. Hazel and her friends would have thought Lone to be an angel when training them if they were here to see how he had treated the Downtrodden Dancers.

It was hardly Lone's fault though. His studies and tests had made it clear that real harm and a serious threat to one's own life were the most effective ways to gain or level skills. He had no intention to kill his fellow caravan guards but they didn't need to know that, did they? It certainly wasn't in their minds that it was for their benefit when he broke their bones without remorse.

While beaten, broken, and bruised beyond belief, the women could only hold one feeling for Lone in their hearts: hatred. The raw and unbridled kind.

However, as soon as he had used Creation Magic to undo all of his handiwork, the Downtrodden Dancers had all thanked him profusely once they had calmed down and vented their rage a bit, which he had expected and didn't mind. Six of them had gained a level in their respective primary weapon masteries, two had gained Fear Resistance and five of them had even learned Physical Pain Resistance.

Lone was keeping watch currently as he sat cross-legged atop the carriage that had Roderick and his family sleeping within it. Soph was at his side asleep with her head on his lap and a blanket wrapped around her.

'Tomorrow evening, let's start levelling up some of my beginner-level-one skills, shall we?' Lone decided.

After all, he did have dozens of such skills and they would be of little use if they weren't at least intermediate-ranked. It was his original intention to begin doing this once they had reached the Crimson Foxkin Clan but Lone didn't see why he couldn't start early now that he had some new sparring partners.

A week had passed like that with no following attacks or major incidents during their journey.

Lone's routine was as follows: guard the caravan in the mornings, tutor Rinrin in the afternoons, train with the Downtrodden Dancers or Soph, Sophie, and Breena, in the evenings, then guard the caravan and work on his own skills in the dead of night and early hours of the morning.

He's made a lot of progress on a lot of fronts, both personal and otherwise.

Rinrin still couldn't control her world skill at all but she was actively trying at Lone's urging and she claimed to be close, but then again, she was a child so Lone couldn't be certain she really knew what she was doing.

The Downtrodden Dancers has become a more cohesive group and one of the members, their only E-ranker, had even broken through the barrier and become a D-ranker.

Soph had levelled a few of her own skills and even gained a new one. Barrier Prison had levelled once, bringing it to beginner-level-ten. Her Wing Chun mastery which had been stagnant for months finally experienced some growth going from beginner-level-four to beginner-level-six. And lastly, she had earned Physical Pain Resistance thanks to Sophie's willpower and Lone's reluctant willingness to push her body to the point where it had developed the skill.

Without Teaching Mastery's help, Lone had no idea how hard it would have been for him to be the one to give her that skill as he did, but it was better the result of his work in a controlled environment than her earning it organically as he had.

Breena's Primal skill Shadow Walker and her passive skill Needle Mastery had both gained a single level, pushing them to beginner-level-four and beginner-level-five respectively.

Lone, rather obviously and expectedly, had gained the most during this past week of travel. He pulled up his notification log from the last seven days.

Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Teaching Mastery] has levelled up! It is now Advanced Level 10.

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

Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Blood Thickening] has levelled up! It is now Advanced Level 1.

Passive Skill: Blood Thickening

A skill often pursued by those suffering from haemophilia to offset the effects of that condition.

Quadruples [up from triples] the thickness of the host's blood without impacting blood flow negatively. Blood clots four times [up from three times] as fast and injuries heal 1.4 [+0.2] times faster.

Cost:N/A Mastery:Advanced Level 1

Lone wasn't as saddened by not getting an additional effect as he normally would have been since this skill on its own was just so useful. Any upgrades to it made him that much more unkillable, so he was beyond satisfied with the all-round improvements.

Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Throwing Mastery] has levelled up! It is now Intermediate Level 9.

Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Throwing Mastery] has levelled up! It is now Intermediate Level 10.

He'd gained these two levels by tossing the Downtrodden Dancers at each other during combat, which was unexpected by very welcomed.

Over the past week, Lone had focused on levelling two of his beginner-ranked skills in particular. During training, he exclusively used a steel warhammer and outside of combat when he had free time or was keeping watch, he practised his lockpicking abilities on locks he had conjured up using Creation Magic.

The results were encouraging.

Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Warhammer Mastery] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 2.

Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Warhammer Mastery] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 3.

Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Warhammer Mastery] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 4.

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

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

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

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

Just another day or two and the skill would hit intermediate rank which is when he would swap it out for another beginner-ranked weapon mastery skill.

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

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

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

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

Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Lockpicking Mastery] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 9.

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

One more level and this skill would be beyond the beginner ranks as planned. Lone wondered if it would gain any special new effects or if its percentage boosts improving would be the only upgrade.

He'd been levelling it very meticulously. Every time he created a lock he made sure it was barely possible for him to pick it and he also made sure he had no idea how to pick it, meaning he had to use his full capabilities and a diverse set of tools for every new lock. If he were to earn a new effect, the last thing Lone wanted was for it to be mediocre.

Using this method, over the last week, he'd only managed to crack open three locks but each one gave multiple levels so it was clearly a sound strategy.

"I-I think it's working! Lie to me," Little Rinrin suddenly said with excitement from within the carriage she was in and that Lone was sitting on top of.

Master Roderick and Mistress Fenlo who were also in the carriage shared a look before replying one after the other.

"We're not moving."

"I'm tired."

A brief moment of struggle emerged on the seven-year-old's face before she seemed to lose some sort of internal war. "That's not true. We are moving even if we're seated and you won't be tired for quite a while longer."

Not a moment sooner and the girl had returned to normal but it was clear she was upset at the failed attempt to control her world skill.

Lone shook his head and spoke through the carriage's sunroof. "Rome wasn't built in a day. You couldn't even try to resist the urge a week ago. Progress is progress, don't be so foolish as to deny its existence."

"I know, Mister Immortus, it's just hard..." Rinrin sulked.

Master Roderick and Mistress Fenlo offered her words of encouragement when Lone received a telepathic message from Soph.

"Um, there's a group of foxkin ahead of us on the road. They aren't heading for us specifically, but they look like a war party and we'll be in sight of each other soon enough. Should we do something?" she asked in concern.

Lone narrowed his eyes. 'That sounds interesting. What kind of foxkin?'

"Can't tell. Their magic is kinda scattered. I haven't seen enough foxkin to tell the race with just Mana Sensing yet. None of them feel like you though. They don't really feel like Breena either but she's special since she has so much Darkness in her," Soph answered.

Leaning back and speaking down into the carriage, Lone said, "Soph says there's a band of foxkin that we'll cross paths with on the road. They appear to be a war party of some sort. Thoughts?"

Master Roderick replied, "That's normal. There are always mock skirmishes between the clans but they never spread to travellers or merchants, so we have nothing to worry about. Thanks for the warning."

"Just to be safe," Mistress Fenlo said, "Tell Breena to enter our carriage. We don't want an argument or a fight to start because of her Crimson Foxkin heritage. Mock or not, deaths do happen in these local wars. You should be fine since your clan no longer has a presence on the continent given its disappearance."

"Was thinking of asking you to let Breena in regardless. Glad to see you're so thoughtful, Mistress Fenlo, and yeah, no one should have an issue with me for political reasons," Lone praised before he jumped off the carriage with grace and went towards Breena.

A few minutes had passed and now Lone was leading the convoy. He'd convinced Master Roderick and Mistress Fenlo that it'd be for the best if he were to do the talking assuming the war band of foxkin decided to start any trouble.

He had high levelled social skills and he was also the strongest person here, so being closer to their potential enemies was simply the wisest move if a fight was inevitable even if it was incredibly unlikely.

Not more than a few moments later and a group of roughly 50 foxkin with light-blue-tinged hair and tails, all wearing uniform armour and holding weapons, came into sight.

They were running down the road at a relaxed but alert pace and they slowed considerably upon seeing Lone and the caravan of carriages behind him.

One of the foxkin, the only one with more than four tails, this man having six in total, broke off from the unit and approached them. Lone assumed him to be the leader. His unit stopped a few dozen metres behind him while he walked towards Lone specifically.

He was as tall as him and just as handsome though perhaps in a more rugged way than Lone. His eyes were sharp and spoke of countless battles won. His hair was short and greasy. The man's body wasn't much better. Clearly, this group of warriors hadn't had a wash in a while.

"Do my eyes deceive me or are you a Golden Foxkin with nine tails and three awakenings, one of which belonging to the forbidden one?" the man asked, a tinge of challenge in his tone. "Tell me why I shouldn't kill you where you stand, Abomination."

Lone frowned. "Well, for one, you're only an S-ranker, and secondly, who the fuck are you?"