Chapter 23: Chapter 23: Locked Chest

[ Discovered Area: Eastern Eron Plateau ]

What awaited Sara above the ridge was not an entirely flat landscape. It was gently sloping plain, with several mounds you could call hills, plural, so the zone was finally living up to it name. It was hard to be entirely certain in the dark, but the grass looked like it was more yellow. It still didn't feel dry, so it was probably fine.

It looked like there was a higher rate of area that was exposed rock, either forming their own little mounds, or just being patches of ground like on the hillside. They also looked like they had a significant amount of moss growing on them.

While there were no trees nearby, and honestly very few trees overall, there was a small mound she could get on top of to get a little bit of a vantage point. She felt like it wasn't wise to just run right ahead without checking what might be in her way.

Honestly there didn't seem to be a lot. There were more goats, which made her happy, and she saw the grass rustling from unseen smaller creatures. No little wings sticking up that she could see, or any other obvious ways to tell what it might be. There were some large cats that were either strolling around without a care in the world, or chasing something in the grass.

In the sky she could see more of those eagles, or hawks, or whatever. Maybe there were both, she was no ornithologist. Though around the top of the cliffs she could spot something flying that didn't look like birds.

Holy shit, are those actual dragons?

She focused her vision as much as she could, and... her verdict was 'maybe'. Actually it would be strange for that many legitimate dragons to be in a level 20-30 zone. Since they looked to only have two wings, and two legs, that should mean they were wyverns. It was probably still for the best to not attract their attention, since they seemed to fly in groups. Oh, and there were some black shapes flying across the sky. Likely ravens, or crows. You could find some sort of corvid pretty much anywhere you went in real life, so the same probably applied here.

She should look for a new respawn point. Maybe she could find one herself this time, instead of asking Aina. She scanned the area, and was able to spot a cave in the side of a mound a little ways away. Her ability to judge distance wasn't the best, but she figured it couldn't be more than 500 metres. And the only things on the way were some goats, and two cats. Maybe they would leave her alone when she was in Cat Form. Maybe.

She made it there without incident, unless you counted making some grass rustlers run away from her, so either the cat thing worked, or she didn't enter aggro range, or they just didn't care. Why go after a big animal, when there were several small ones to chase instead? Her experience with cats told her they weren't typically the kind to make unnecessary effort.

The cave appeared to be empty. She couldn't smell any traces of anything having gone in or out lately either. She was still cautious as she headed towards the back, but in the end all she found was a treasure chest.

Aina? Can you set this as my new respawn point?

"The treasure chest unfortunately complicates things, but there is a completely empty cave nearby you can use. I can guide you there."

Sara grumbled a little, but it was probably better that way. It was fine to rely on other people, so she wasn't going to get stubborn about it..

Okay, but I want to get the chest first.

She headed over to it, and after another quick multi-spectrum scan for traps, she opened it. Or she tried to. It wasn't budging.

Huh? Why won't it open?

"If you use Identify, I believe you will find your answer."

She hadn't even considered that she could Identify the chests.

[ Reinforced Wooden Treasure Chest. (Locked.) ]

Uh... I can't use Lockpick, right?

"Correct. You lack both the tools, and the means to use them."

On the one hand, it was likely nothing important. On the other it felt like a locked chest probably had better stuff than an unlocked one.

Can I break it open?

"You can try, but it is not easy, and you might damage what is inside depending on how you do it."

Sara considered her options. If it was a damage thing, then Ambush was her strongest attack. It didn't feel like that was the correct way to go about it, though. Setting the chest on fire was probably a bad idea, assuming it didn't have some sort of fireproof coating in the first place. The lid, and the lock seemed like they would be the obvious weak points.

Forcing the lock probably also required some sort of tool, or at the very least a lever. Even assuming she had the pinpoint ability of a blowtorch to melt just the lock, it wasn't a padlock. The locking mechanism was actually inside the chest, so she might just weld it shut even further. Maybe using Life Magic to fill it with water, and then freezing it in an effort to break it open? Though that might also just break the ability to open it altogether.

What about the lid itself, then. The hinges were actually on the outside, so if she could break those, it might be possible to shift the lid. Maybe that was one of the 'intended' solutions. Though it wasn't like she could use a screwdriver, or a crowbar, even if she'd had either. Life Magic could produce a flame, but it was not hot enough to melt metal.

Maybe she could just give it a good whack? Her newly acquired Savage Blow was a blunt attack, so if she aimed it at the right location on the side of the lid...

*BAM!*

Ow! She yelped. Owww...

It was very solid. She had managed to shift the entire chest a little, so it was apparently not affixed to the ground. Which probably meant that any plan to lift the lid off might just lift the entire chest.

Did I at least manage to damage the hinges at all?

She took a look behind, and they still looked fine to her. Maybe repeated blows to each side would eventually wriggle something lose, but it might also just hurt her han- paws a lot. Maybe if she had higher Strength... but it was hard to say how much higher Strength, so dumping her bonus points into it might not make enough of a difference.

So next up was trying to freeze the lock. Generating the water to go inside, no problem. Getting it to stay inside was worse. She had to both keep it in there, and freeze it at the same time, which was tricky to say the least. It felt like she was trying to juggle two spells at the same time.

[ Life Magic Skill Level Up! ]

Well, that was something, but a couple of minutes more of trying, and she had to give up. Part of the problem was that she couldn't freeze the water fast enough. She probably needed a more explosive expansion. The slow freeze was just pushing out the excess water to make room for the expanding ice. Which meant that it was likely not cold enough to freeze the hinges off either. As for Frost Bolt... she was worried it would excessively damage whatever was inside.

Then she got an idea. If more Strength was what she needed, then she had a way! Bear Form made her both stronger, and sturdier, so she'd have a more solid paw as well. If she combined that the with the buff from Howl, and from Growth, maybe that would do it. She hadn't tried Bear Form before, so she was curious about what it would be like.

Activating it came with the same weird sensation of changing shape. She had gotten more or less used to Cat Form, but this was new and different, so it felt extra weird again. Growing bigger was the main disorienting thing.

¤@1/%€+&

A sudden weird trembling ran through her, like a chill up her spine, along with a noise like a sudden burst of static.

W-what was that?

"It appears to have been a glitch, but I am unsure of the cause. I am monitoring the situation."

She felt a little shaken, but decided to go ahead with the plan anyway. In a week, depending on how much power she needed, this may no longer work, but she could try it right now. It was probably weird for a bear to Howl, but she did that before activating Growth, and struck a Savage Blow against the other side of the lid.

*CRACK* *SCREECH* *WHAM!* [A/N: ]

The lid snapped off, the chest skidded across the floor for a distance of nearly two metres, and then the flying lid impacted the wall.

... maybe that was overkill.

[ Skill Unlocked: Lockpick (Already Unlocked). Unlock requirement: Break a chest open by force. Maybe try a gentler approach next time. 1 skill point gained. ]

Haha, very funny.

Inside the chest was... four entire gold coins, definitely a step up. Also some fingerless gloves that increased Dexterity, two healing potions of low quality, a broken potion bottle (oops), and another skill scroll! For Fireball.

Great, this time it's one I already have.

"Actually that is a pretty lucky find, as it is an unrestricted scroll that any magic class can use. Even though you cannot use it yourself, you should be able to sell it for significant price. Once you have that option."

Judging by her progress so far it felt like it would be at least another month before she was able to evolve into a Resident, but it wasn't like she was low on inventory space yet, so she threw it in there. Time to follow Aina's directions to the new respawn cave, so she should shift back over to Cat Form. It was a little inconvenient that she had to return to base form first, but hardly insufferable.

#$\¤0~%<

Argh!

A spike of pain shot into her head along with more static noise. Even her vision seemed to be filled with lines of static.

[ Error. Unable to remove temporary skills Roar, and Taunt. Error. System command denied. Error. Cannot resolve error. Error. ]

Sara's vision was going red.

[ Error solution suggested by Overseer: Permanently grant skills to character. Suggestion accepted. Processing. Success. ]

"Sara! Are you okay?" She had never heard Aina raise her voice before. Aina's voice was not robotic, it was actually a pleasant female voice, but it was almost entirely flat, so she always spoke in the same tone. Sara had learned to read hints of emotion in it, but this was the first time Aina had sounded quite so... distressed.

It felt like my head was going to split open...

"I am so, so sorry. I was at a loss for what to do for a second there. I said I would not let any harm come to you, and yet I failed."

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It's okay, Aina. I feel better now.

"But-"

It's okay. Really. I know how much you care. And you saved me before it got too bad. Thank you.

"I should have been able to prevent it from getting bad in the first place."

Sara giggled. You really are as fussy as a mother.

"Mother? You mean you are willing to call me that?"

That seemed to have turned Aina's mood right around.

Mm... give me a little more time to adjust? You are like family to me now, but it will take a little longer for the 'mother' thing to feel natural.

"I understand."

Thankfully she made it to the empty cave Aina had picked out without further incident. She didn't want to start exploring until she was certain she'd come back to life up there, rather than back down the hill. The sky had started to transition into dark blue, but she felt like she could probably keep going during the day for a bit this time too.

Before that she wanted to have a look at what her status and skill screens looked like now.

[ Character Status ]

[ Name: Sara ]

[ Species: Mystic Wolf | Gender: Female ]

[ Genus: Wolf ]

[ Class: Druid ]

[ Level: 21 -> 23 (25) ]

[ HP: 143/143 -> 155/155 (135/135) | SP: 146/146 -> 159/159 (125/125) | MP: 116/116 -> 135/135 (112/112) ]

[ VIT: 55 -> 59 (52) | END: 63 -> 68 (55) ]

[ STR: 56 -> 60 (51) | DEF: 44 -> 47 +2 (29) ]

[ AGI: 79 -> 85 (67) | DEX: 52 -> 56 (38) ]

[ INT: 64 -> 72 (46) | WIS: 59 -> 68 (49) ]

[ LUK: 118 -> 130 (38) ]

[ Bonus Attribute Points: 4 -> 12 ]

Getting stronger was always a good thing, though she was thinking she might have completely undersold what her concealed status should look like. The growth rates of her stats were above expectations.

She saw the percentage increase from Solid Coat was listed on the side, and it was really not a lot. It did make her wonder how often it would update. Did it round up, so that once she passed 50 it became +3, or did she have to get all the way to 60? She'd just have to wait, and see.

[ Skill List ]

[ Active: ]

[ Chomp Lvl 3 -> 4 (5) | Rend Lvl 2 (5) | Howl Lvl Max (Max) | Sprint Lvl Max (Max) | Thorn Bind Lvl 4 -> 5 (9) |
Poison Bolt Lvl 4 -> 6 (9) | Growth Lvl 4 -> 5 (9) | Regrowth Lvl 3 (9) | Rejuvenate Lvl 4 (8) | Leech Lvl 1 (8) |
Sense Presence Lvl Max (9) | Bear Form Lvl 1 (5) | Cat Form Lvl 4 -> 5 (5) ]

[ Concealed Active: ]

[ Charge Lvl 2 | Body Slam Lvl Max | Ambush Lvl Max | Throw Lvl 1 | Strong Poison Strike Lvl 4 -> 5 |
Death From Above Lvl 3 -> 4 | Kick Lvl 2 -> 3 | Back Attack Lvl 1 | Savage Blow Lvl 1 -> 2 | Leap Lvl 8 -> 9 |
Roar (Gr£n%ed#) Lvl 1 | Taunt (Gr£n%ed#) Lvl 1 | Frost Bolt Lvl 5 -> 8 | Arcane Blast Lvl 3 -> 4 |
Fireball (New) Lvl 1 -> 5 | Erase Presence (New) Lvl 1 -> 5 | Thermal Vision Lvl 6 | Sense Mana (New) Lvl 1 -> 2 ]

[ Passive: ]

[ Night Vision Lvl 17 -> 18 (15) | Keen Eyes Lvl Max (15) | Keen Ears Lvl Max (15) | Keen Nose Lvl 18 -> 19 (15) |
Insulation Lvl 5 -> 6 (8) | Nature Element Up Lvl 4 -> 5 (8) | Mana Manipulation Lvl 5 -> 7 (8) ]

[ Concealed Passive: ]

[ Danger Sense Lvl 8 -> 9 | Environmental Sense Lvl 4 -> 5 | Trap Sense Lvl 1 -> 3 | Dig Lvl 3 |
Spider Climb (@bs#r¤ed&) Lvl 8 | Spider Silk (New) Lvl 1 | Paralysis Venom (New) Lvl 1 | Cat's Feet Lvl 7 |
Firm Grip Lvl 7 | Air Control Lvl 5 | Chameleon Lvl 2 -> 5 | Balance Up Lvl 4 -> 5 | Solid Coat (New) Lvl 1 |
Fire Element Up (New) Lvl 1 -> 3 | All Attributes Up (Small) Lvl 6 | Poison Resistance Lvl 5 -> 6 |
Fire Resistance Lvl 1 -> 2 | Skill Gain Lvl Max (Hidden) ]

[ General: ]

[ Identify Lvl 8 (Hidden) | Communicate: Family (Hidden) | Conceal Status Lvl Max (Hidden) ]

[ Concealed General: ]

[ Languages (Hidden): Common, Goblin | Life Magic Lvl 3 -> 5 ]

[ Disabled (All Hidden): ]

[ Tough Scales | Flight | Spider Net Trap (C¤%ed#) | Logging | Cleave | Chop | Bow Expertise | Woodworking |
Power Shot | Glide (New) | Disarm Trap (New) ]

[ Skill points: 13 -> 18 ]

Seeing the glitchy text made her feel a little uncomfortable, but it wasn't like she could do anything about it. On the upside things were growing pretty fast. Part of that had to be the boosted exp from fighting the bears. She assumed that was a standard part of going against elite mobs.

Another part was probably that a lot of these were still basic skills. Sure she had been relying on magic a lot more, but even then the growth of Fireball, Frost Bolt, and Poison Bolt was above what she'd gotten for Bite and Rake back at the start.

There were more skills that were approaching what she assumed would be their max level as well. While some skills went to 20, most seemed like they went to 10, where they often unlocked a new skill, or an evolution. Or both.

Frost Bolt looked like it would be the first magic skill to get there, and it had been very useful at keeping enemies from reaching her too much.

Leap was just one level away, but she wasn't able to get a lot of practice in while travelling. Whether it would get there before or after she reached the forest she couldn't say.

Keen Nose would probably get there soon since all the keen senses had been steadily gaining experience so long as her senses worked. Then she'd have all three maxed. What sort of bonus could she expect from smelling, though?

Night Vision was close as well. She'd had it from the start, but had ended up sleeping through a lot of the nights in the woods, which had slowed its levelling speed.

Danger Sense was also just one level away, but its growth had slowed down a lot. She probably wasn't getting any experience while there wasn't anything to react to.

Considering how quickly she had gained Climb levels when she was actively working on it, Spider Climb would probably not be too hard to max.

And finally there was Identify, which was now just two levels away, but she'd gotten to 8 only recently. Considering she had started with that skill, it was probably the slowest growing of all of them, even though she was trying to use it as much as possible. Then again, there probably wasn't a lot left to unlock that would be very useful. She didn't have a good enough imagination to even picture what the last two things might be. Level 8 had been a surprise, but she hadn't known anything about how names worked in this world before, so maybe it was less surprising to those who did.

Speaking of Spider Climb...

I have to try it, don't I? I need to know what it's like.

She went over to the wall, and placed one of her paws on it. She could feel it stick on. That was probably the best way to describe it. Not stuck like glue, but there was some sort of grip there. She knew nothing about how spider legs worked. It wasn't something she had ever thought to look up, so she had no idea how she was sticking.

She worked her way upwards until she was standing as tall as she could with her back feet still on the ground.

Now for the real test.

She placed one of the back feet on the wall, and got the same sticking sensation. And then the other. She was now officially hanging on the wall. It was a bit of effort to maintain her position, but not too bad. Probably because she had started at level 8.

She carefully raised one of her front paws to see if she was still able to hold her balance. When she showed no signs of peeling off, or slipping down, she reached forwards, and 'grabbed' on again. Then followed up with one of the back legs, then the other, and finally the last front leg. Progress!

While trying to always move what she judged as being the furthest behind leg, she made slow progress onto, and across the ceiling of the cave. She could imagine how having more legs probably made this process smoother, but she didn't actually want more legs. Though with more practice, and some momentum, she might be able to race up walls, and across ceilings as well. From an immobile position it would be harder to get going with any speed.

Eventually she made it to the very centre of the cave's ceiling. Looking down was odd, and if she tried to raise... er, lower her head, she got that feeling of blood rushing to it, so she had to keep her chin against the ceiling to avoid it. She could only move her head sideways, and move her eyes around. Spiders definitely had an advantage on that front too.

[ Spider Climb Skill Level Up! ]

That was probably as good a sign as any to stop. Releasing her grip was oddly easy. It just came to her instinctively. She flipped around as she fell, and landed on her feet, feeling pretty proud of herself for it. She'd barely used a fourth of her SP on all that.

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