Luckily all the ticks from my premeditation eventually went away.That fact must've been shown on my face because Griffith made a slight chuckle before jumping to a higher branch and disappearing.
With my adrenaline beginning to fade I begin to feel hungry while my tense muscles begin to feel a little sore, I also finally begin to feel some fatigue. That last bit is surprising because its the first time I've felt fatigued since entering World Game.
I jump from branch to branch until I am back on the ground, standing over top of the beast I had just killed. Looking at how big the creature is makes the whole scenario seem even more surreal. I wanted to ask Griffith if this beast was worth any gold but didn't want to make a commotion by shouting to him so I just decided to just stow it away in my spatial satchel.
I realize at this point just how high of a tier my spatial satchel must be, so for the first time I look at its details to find out that its actually a blue tiered item. The enchantment on it is Increased Space. No wonder iv' never had a problem storing things I think to myself.
That unexpected encounter in the desert turned out to be even more beneficial than I had originally thought. Sure I had to kill someone to acquire all these benefits but judging from what everyone's been telling me, its only a matter of time before I may have to do so again. It's probably better that I've already experienced it once so that the shock of doing it for the first time doesn't catch me off guard emotionally when my life is on the line again..
I decide to take a brief rest and eat some trail rations for a half an hour to naturally restore my Energy as Griffith suggested. Besides I want to avoid using potions as much as possible, they are just way too expensive to be using them because I decided to not take a break when I could've, then end up finding my self embroiled in another battle before my Energy has had a chance to naturally regenerate. Less than a half hour later my energy reserves are completely full, so I stand up and continue my trek to Sapphire lake.
By the time the sun goes down I realized that iv made good time and that iv actually cut my travel time down by a day already, resulting from the grueling pace iv' set for myself. I know this because of the landmarks that are around me and the map i been looking at periodically.
Griffith told me while we were eating the other day that I can actually get a gps like device that will tell me my longitude and latitude for about one-hundred gold, I plan on that being my next big purchase. Knowing exactly where you are and how far away you are from your destination just seems like way too important of a thing to be going without for long.
Since the sun has gone down and I don't want to be moving around while the much more dangerous nocturnal predators are active, I decide to make camp for the night. I set my tent up a little higher in the trees than the height I had been using for travel. I set it up in the biggest tree around, the branch of which was big enough to fit two of my tents comfortably.
Before going inside my tent I decide to try something I had learned about in the beast encyclopedia that I had picked up, butchering the beast I had killed so that I could cook some of its meat for dinner tonight. So I pull out the carcass and begin the messy job of butchering it.
I must have been doing a terrible job because eventually Griffith showed up and practically ripped the dagger out of my hand while saying "You're doing it all wrong, you'll ruin the meat and make yourself sick if you keep doing what you're doing. Also the first thing you should do is remove the beast core." he then begins to cut into the creatures skull, then into its brain before removing a yellow olive sized sphere. After doing so he says " This beast is called a Shadow cat and they are actually pretty rare, if you use this core towards one of your tags it'll probably get you close to seventy-five gold. That's not only due to the fact that they are rare and finding them is a pain, its also because they are used to make certain Green tiered spatial satchels. You really lucked out on finding one."
He then continues butchering the Shadow cat, the whole time he's doing so he's narrating what he's doing and why. He says that next time I have to do it myself, and that if I mess it up he's not going to stop me even if i'm going to make myself sick from ruining the meat. After skinning the beast he says " I wouldn't sell the pelt of this Shadow cat. I would get it made into armor for yourself. The part of the pelt that was on the beasts back is exceptionally tough and light, it would make the perfect armor for a rogue like you.
Not to mention the color of the pelt will be perfect for sneaking around and staying hidden. That's a skill you're going to need to excel at if we cant find you a party to join. Not to mention that with your stats and abilities you're practically built for espionage and assassination.
Ill take you to a good armorer when we get back, he'll make the armor for you in exchange for the rest of the beast carcass and probably around twenty gold. Usually you'd have to pay more but they're a good friend of mine and every part of a Shadow cat can be used for something on account of the shadow like properties they can imbue themselves with. You wont find someone to make you a cheaper set of good green tier armor."
I get excited after hearing that I will soon be able to get my hands on my very own set of green tier armor. If it turns out as well as Griffith claims then I'll have a little more confidence in making it to D rank without joining a party.
After Griffith butchers the Shadow Cat I store away the beasts various parts but leave out a sizable chunk of its meat to cook for Griffith and i's dinner. I figured the guy is here to keep me safe, the least I can do is treat him to dinner. If there's one thing I was good at back on earth then it would be cooking. I picked up various seasonings when I bought the metal fire pit and cooking supplies, and I was excited to see how different the spices are in World Game compared to on earth.
After I'm done cooking Griffith and i settle in at the table and chairs I had bought. After taking the first bite Griffith looks at me with surprise. I can see by the look on he face that he thinks the food is delicious. He then says "I have to say I had my doubts when you insisted on cooking dinner but I'm definitely glad that you did. Something this tasty could be sold at the high class restaurants in the city." he digs into his food after saying his piece and doesn't stop eating until the food is gone. " I'm kind of upset now that this will be the only Job that I will be accompanying you on. Oh well at least I'll get to eat your cooking for another week or so. I'll be sure to hunt for something tasty to have for dinner for the remainder of the Job."
"If you want I can cook dinner for us sometimes while we're in the city. You can think of it as my way to repay you for all that you're doing for me. I already plan on upgrading my room at the tavern I'm staying at to include a kitchen. I plan to cook regularly to save some money, also because I enjoy it as it's something I would regularly do back on earth, i find it to be kind of nostalgic now." I reply back with a smile, all chefs love it when someone enjoys their cooking and I am no different.
With dinner being finished I decide to get some sleep so that I can get an early start on making my way to Sapphire lake the next day.
I wake up before the sun even rises and pack away camp. Griffith is nowhere to be seem but I just assume that he is close by. Once everything is packed up I reform my small buckler shields and pull out my Tantos. Then I pull out my two Simple Knives and have them float next to me. After checking my compass I start heading east again towards the lake.
The next few days go buy in an uneventful blur, I end up making it to Sapphire lake in three days because of my pace. I also didn't run into any more beasts while traveling across the branches of trees. The journey was almost too easy, that it gave me a foreboding feeling about what was ahead.
The true test was about to begin. It was time to use my nonexistent tracking skills to find the Tyrant Swine. Luckily Tyrant Swine are one of the beasts that I read about in the beast encyclopedia, so I did know a few things about them.
I knew that Tyrant Swines have hoofs, and that they would probably go to the lake to drink every day. So I began my search about ten feet from the waters edge. I figured that it was still close enough to the lake for the soil to be moist enough to leave clear foot prints while also being far enough away for the prints not to be washed away by the water. And I was right. After only searching for about ten minutes I found my first set of prints, unfortunately they weren't hoof prints, they looked to be from some kind of bird beast because the prints had three long "toes" that I associated to the talons of a bird.
After searching for a couple hours, eventually I pick something up on my premeditation. Except it's coming from a direction I don't expect, the lake. I turn to the lake just in time to see a giant salamander type monster charge out of the lake and come directly at me! I immediately send both of my floating daggers flying towards it while consuming the two hundred Energy it required to bring them up to max speed and power. The salamander manages to dodge one of the daggers, but it doesn't have even close to the same agility as the Shadow Cat, which means that the other daggers blows a hole straight through its head, killing it instantly.
Everything happened so fast that I'm kind of slow on the uptake on what just happened. The scenario was just like the Shadow Cat, where a beast pops out of nowhere to ambush me. This time though my adrenaline barely spiked as though I wasn't in danger at all. I guess I did have a lot more time to react on account of how far away the salamander was. I also had my Simple daggers out this time. I think the main reason why I felt the way I did was because of how much slower this beast was compared to the Shadow cat.The Shadow Cat was so fast that I could barely see its movements, while the Salamander moved like a snail in comparison.
The devastation I caused to the head of the salamander really put it into perspective for me how broken my telekinesis was while fighting E ranked monsters. I feel as though one of the best things I did while "creating my character" was pairing telekinesis with Stones Resolve. I know judging by what Griffith had said previously that if I didn't have the Stones Resolve passive buffing my mental stat while it was also giving me extra power to all my mental abilities, then I wouldn't be doing nearly as much damage with telekinesis.