Chapter 41: Chapter 41: Bed Before Maintenance

The wolves started to scatter while Sara got lost in thought.

Mother? Can the Residents have children?

"Yes. The feature was activated at launch, but none of them were set to be already pregnant at that time. So it will be many months until we see the first child born."

Isn't it risky to allow children into a world where everyone respawns when dying?

"In a sense, but the Residents can still die. Respawning won't fix old age, and there are certain diseases and ailments that persist even through respawns that can cause true death. That's why the Treatment skill still exists. But yes, there are only a few conditions under which Residents will experience true death, so their life expectancy is quite high. Whether any adjustments will need to be done to this system remains to be seen."

So mobs...

"Currently do not age, or get sick. Those would have to be implemented alongside a breeding system in order to try to keep a balance. I am sure someone is working on that, even if only to figure out if it is feasible, and viable. But any design documents or code related to that matter has not been put on the server where I am able to view them, nor does anything exist on the test server regarding that issue. So it might be a long way off."

Which meant that more things than she had expected would change once Sara became a Resident. She had somewhat expected ageing. It would be weird to not grow old, after all. But she hadn't really considered that she would also run the risk of getting sick.

Considering it was a fantasy world, she wouldn't be too surprised if there was some way to gain immortality, but she wasn't sure if she wanted to. One full lifetime was likely going to be enough for her. If she stuck around for too long she might go crazy. Though she didn't know how long the beastkins' lifespans were, nor did she particularly want to ask. She felt like if she got too focused on how much time she had left, she wouldn't really be able to enjoy life.

If she ended up finding a romantic partner at some point, it would be nice if their lifespans were more or less equal. While there was always going to be one that died before the other regardless, it would be weird if you saw your partner remain young while you grew old. But that was definitely a future problem. Not something to worry about in the present.

She headed towards the trees, and called out:

"Hey, ravens! Are you there?"

"Yes! We are, we are!" There was laughter up above.

She'd had a hunch, and found a whole flock of them sitting up in the branches. They had probably been watching.

"Then maybe you already heard, but I want to ask you for another favour," Sara said. "If you see anyone wearing the truce symbol who still attacks either the wolves, or yourselves, then please blast them immediately."

"Ooo, yes!"

"Fun, fun!"

"We have good memories, so we will know if they return, and blast them again!"

"Yes, yes! Cooperation breakers will not be allowed back!"

They laughed merrily, and vigorously. It was definitely ominous. She would have to warn the elves next time she saw them. Maybe it would act as an extra deterrent.

"Oh, and please don't worry too much about the ones who come without the symbol. We are planning to treat them much like before. Only the ones who purposefully break the alliance matter. And it might be fun if the Adventurers decide to form a raid to attack us. We can have a large-scale battle in the woods, and see who comes out on top." Sara was actually kinda looking forward to the possibility.

"Battle!"

"Battle battle!"

"We will join battle!"

"We also think it would be fun! Yes!"

"I'm glad we're on the same page," Sara said, hoping dearly that they were. "I'll talk to you later."

"Later!"

"Later!"

"Yes, later!"

She wondered just how late it was in the day, and whether it was too early to go to bed. She had told Mirielle and Luneria that she would go to bed in the evening, which she would usually say started at six o'clock, but she had no clock.

How do people tell time in this world, mother?

"The Wanderers have a clock display on their UI, but Residents need a timepiece, like a magic item, or a pocket watch. Some are able to afford clocks to have at home. And there is usually a large clock in the centre of every town, and city that rings every hour. But for a lot of people they simply get a feeling for it, read the position of the sun, or something along those lines."

The position of the sun, huh?

Since Sara had somehow acquired an instinctive feeling of where the compass directions were, she decided to climb a tall tree, and have a look at where the sun was at. Midday it should be south, right? More or less? Its current position was closer to south-west, meaning it should be around mid-afternoon? At least that would be her guess. So if she went to bed already, it would be a little before evening. Maybe she was completely wrong.

She was a little tired, in part because she wasn't used to talking so much. Even back in her old life she hadn't been much of a conversationalist. She could probably last for another hour or two, assuming she had something to do.

Working on DFA while getting the last level of Air Control was something she wanted to save for when she woke back up. So the three most viable options were:

1) Chase more hedgehogs. That would level Bear Form, Charge, and Pursuit.
2) Continue volley-firing spells at deer. What she had left to get to tier 2 was Water Needle, so if she loaded up a bunch of Poison Needles with Paralysis, that might slow the deer down enough that she could attempt to aim for headshots. She didn't think the Water Needles penetrated deep enough to strike the heart.
3) Play with Spider Silk in the den until she fell asleep. Maybe she could figure out how to make some rudimentary furniture.

The last option was the most appealing the moment. She felt like she'd had enough action for the day.

The issue with trying to make furniture was that she could basically just make cushions, and mattresses of various sizes. She couldn't make it particularly firm. The best she could do was stick them to the floor so at least they wouldn't move. Being able to set up some sort of frame would be nice.

If she had any tools, maybe she could actually use her Logging and Woodworking skills with Tree Form (maybe it was a little ironic to have a tree cutting down trees), and at least set up some logs, or planks into a rough frame. But that wasn't an option at the moment. Maybe she could look for some rocks to place in her inventory that she could set up, but rocks were not known for being flexible. She might be able to shave them into shape with Life Magic, or cut them with Water Needle. It might be better to work with something that was softer to start with. Like dirt, maybe. But if she started digging inside the den, she'd just make a big mess, and get holes in the floor. She would have to bring the dirt in from outside, but she didn't really have a way to do that...

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A thought occurred to her. She went and read a skill description in the skill store.

[ Skill Purchased: Burrow. ]

Sometimes you had to pay a little extra to gain some convenience in life. Though the real test came when she checked if it worked the way she wanted it to. She headed over to a spot where removing a bit of earth wouldn't be an issue, and started digging. Thankfully the plan worked, and she was able to shovel the dirt directly into her inventory, where it started to pile up.

[ Burrow Skill Level Up! ]

That should probably do it.

She headed into the den, dumped a bunch of dirt on the ground, divided it into smaller piles, and started working on shaping them. Since she was applying Life Magic to help set their shapes, and didn't really require hands for it, she might as well do that in Bear Form.

Then when the shapes were decent enough, and hardened so they wouldn't break too easily, she swapped into Tree Form, and started spinning together cushions to place on them. She spun them so they went over the armrests as well, and made sure to attach everything so it wouldn't slide off. Once she was done she had two large chairs that would fit a wolf's butt, and two couches that should fit three butts, and be possible to use for naps. Even though she already had her shelf bed close by. But it made the place feel more like a home, which was the important part.

She did a quick cleaning sweep of the cave, and then looked at the handful of popups that had queued up while she was working.

[ Bear Form Skill Level Up! ] [ Life Magic Skill Level Up! ] [ Spider Silk Skill Level Up! ] [ Tree Form Skill Level Up! ] [ Spider Silk Skill Level Up! ]

She had used quite a lot of silk, so that was probably about right. While she wasn't sure how long that had taken, it felt like it was time to crawl into bed. The final tradition was to look at her skill list before falling asleep. She had some things to move around. All the evolved spells had gone into Concealed, so she had to move them back up into revealed. Leech went down. Mass Thorn Bind too. She felt like she wouldn't actually use that against Adventurers, it was more of an anti-mob measure, so there was no point in bloating that section any more than she had to. She could always change her mind later.

Should she reveal Poison Cloud, or Thorn Armour? Would she use them openly? With friendly fire on, Poison Cloud could be as much of a hindrance, as a help. Thorn Armour seemed like an okay swap for Mass Thorn Bind.

No need to move any passives, so that should do it.

[ Skill List ]

[ Active: ]

[ Chomp Lvl 7 (Max) | Rend Lvl 5 -> 6 (Max) | Body Slam Lvl Max (Max) | Savage Blow Lvl 3 (Max) | Pack Leader's Howl Lvl Max (Max) | Sprint Lvl Max (Max) | Root Bind (New) Lvl 1 (Max) | Poison Arrow (New) Lvl 1 (Max) | Frost Arrow Lvl 1 (Max) | Great Fireball (New) Lvl 1 (Max) | Water Needle Lvl 7 (Max) | Arcane Blast Lvl 4 (Max) | Thorn Armour (New) Lvl 1 (Max) | Growth Lvl 6 (Max) | Regrowth Lvl 7 (Max) | Rejuvenate Lvl 6 (Max) | Mass Rejuvenate Lvl 4 (Max) | Sense Presence Lvl Max (Max) | Bear Form Lvl 1 -> 4 (Max) | Cat Form Lvl 7 -> Max (Max) | Tree Form Lvl 4 -> 6 (Max) ]

[ Concealed Active: ]

[ Charge Lvl 4 -> 8 | Ambush Lvl Max | Throw Lvl 1 | Strong Poison Strike Lvl 6 | Death From Above Lvl 4 | Solid Kick (New) Lvl 1 -> 2 | Back Attack Lvl 2 | Struggle Lvl 1 | Stomp Lvl 1 | Poison Needle Lvl 1 -> 7 | Mass Thorn Bind Lvl 1 | Poison Cloud (New) Lvl 1 | Poison Enchant (New) Lvl 1 | Leech Lvl 3 -> 7 | Leap Lvl Max | Roar Lvl 1 | Taunt Lvl 1 | Erase Presence Lvl 10 -> 11 | Thermal Vision Lvl 7 | Sense Mana Lvl 5 -> 6 ]

[ Passive: ]

[ Keen Senses Lvl Max (Max) | Danger Sense Lvl Max (Max) | Environmental Sense Lvl 7 -> 8 (Max) | Insulation Lvl 8 (Max) | Firm Grip Lvl Max (Max) | Balance Up Lvl 9 -> Max (Max) | Solid Coat Lvl 5 -> 6 (Max) | Leadership Lvl Max (Max) | Nature Element Up Lvl 7 -> 8 (Max) | Mana Manipulation Lvl Max (Max) | All Attributes Up (Small) Lvl 7 -> 8 (Max) ]

[ Concealed Passive: ]

[ Trap Sense Lvl 4 | Intuition Lvl 1 | Claw Expertise (New) Lvl 1 -> 2 | Dig Lvl 4 -> Max | Burrow (New) Lvl 1 -> 2 | Spider Climb Max | Spider Silk Lvl 6 -> 9 | Paralysis Venom Lvl 1 -> 7 | Cat's Feet Lvl Max | Air Control Lvl 8 -> 9 | Swim Lvl 5 | Dive Lvl 1 | Quick Feet Lvl 6 -> 7 | Chameleon Lvl Max | Pursuit Lvl 1 -> 5 | Copy Cast Lvl 1 -> 4 | Fire Element Up Lvl 5 -> 6 | Poison Immunity (Upgraded) | Fire Resistance Lvl 2 | Dark Resistance Lvl 1 | HP Regen (Small) Lvl 1 -> 3 | SP Regen (Small) Lvl 1 -> 3 | MP Regen (Small) Lvl 1 -> 3 | Skill Gain Lvl Max (Hidden) | Commune With Animals ]

[ General: ]

[ Identify Lvl 8 -> 9 (Hidden) | Communicate: Family (Hidden) | Conceal Status Lvl Max (Hidden) ]

[ Concealed General: ]

[ Languages (Hidden): Common, Goblin, Elf | Life Magic Lvl 5 -> 8 | Decryption Lvl 1 | Double Skill Experience (Hidden) ]

[ Disabled (All Hidden): ]

[ Tough Scales | Flight | Spider Net Trap | Logging | Cleave | Chop | Bow Expertise | Woodworking | Power Shot | Glide | Disarm Trap | Smack ]

[ Skill points: 15 -> 19 ]

So Poison Immunity doesn't have a level? I guess that makes sense. You're either immune, or you're not. So will maxing Fire Resistance make me immune to all fire? That seems a little too strong. Immunity to status conditions is one thing, and to an entire element is another.

With her biggest spells evolved now, she would actually have her damage output reduced until she got some levels on them again.

More things were approaching max than she had expected. It annoyed her a little to notice Spider Silk at level 9 after she had already gotten into bed, but she wasn't about to get back up. When she woke up she could just make some more of those silk balls it looked like Luneria and Mirielle had liked. She'd get a small stockpile of them set in her inventory for future trading.

[ Intuition Skill Level Up! ]

What? Why? No, never mind.

She didn't understand that skill, so she wouldn't be able to puzzle out why it had levelled up. It was better to not worry about it, and move on.

The aforementioned Air Control was what she should aim for next, but Charge had also gotten closer than she had thought. Just from terrifying a bunch of hedgehogs.

Water Needle, and Poison Needle should both shoot up quickly if she kept using Copy Cast to bombard some deer. They had it coming.

Otherwise she had several passives at level 8, but there wasn't a lot she could do to speed up their levelling.

She wasn't sure when Life Magic had gotten so close, but there was probably no need to rush that one. It seemed unlikely to her that General skills would unlock anything new. She might be surprised, but she wouldn't bet on it. Perhaps 10 wasn't even max level for it. Getting better control was always nice, though.

That was about it for what Sara was capable of thinking about for that day. She needed to sleep. At midnight maintenance would start, and the login server close. Moorhold would be without Wanderers for at least 24 hours. Things would probably manage without them for a day, but no one was truly sure what they were going to come back to.