Shielded by Seals [Chapter 12] (Patreon)

ToC: https://www.patreon.com/posts/132353583

Helpless and pinned to the ground, I could only shoot a few more Emit Mana’s into the hog’s mouth. It hummed in satisfaction. Also… it earned me quite a chunk of Proficiency in the Accurate Trait. At this rate, it would not take long before it would grow to Apprentice Tier. At the very least, a new avenue of grinding would open.

And won’t this grow passively, as I work on Emit Mana and Silk Shot? So long as I am at targets… I forcefully shifted my thoughts. My optimistic muscle tried to flex. Isn’t this not all bad…?

I looked at my Status Screen. A new bit of information had appeared at the bottom.

Status

Name: Osiris Scowl

Level: 3 (Score: C+, D)

Roles: Child (Proficient I, 12%), Genius (Basic, 66%)(1 Year, 2 Months, 4 Weeks, 2 Days)

Traits: Mana Hungry (Beginner I, 27%), Mana Adjusted Physique (Apprentice, 4%), Accurate (Beginner I, 18%)

Skills: Emit Mana (Usable, 41%), Clean (Apprentice, 12%), Silk Shot (Beginner III, 17%)

Tamed Beast (1/1 Permanent): Mud-Guzzling Hog Lvl 13

Relationship: Close

Potential: Low

Fighting Ability: Lvl 15

Potential… low… My heart sank. I couldn’t help but sigh as I looked at the dog-like hog in front of me. Its tail wagging shook its whole bottom back and forth. It was nice that its fighting potential was higher than its actual Level… but I had no idea if such a situation was common or not.

I shook my head. Forget it. I came outside for a reason. Since my own physical ability was limited…

I sent a mental communication to the hog. It tilted its head at me, but then understood. It settled onto the ground and let me grab fistfuls of its hair to clamber on top. Then I used Silk Shot, creating little reins that stuck to its shoulders. As I shook the reins, it stood. It started spinning around, its head twisted to the left, trying to see me, and then became confused because I kept shifting.

I quickly sent a mental pulse, calming it. The hog was unwilling. In the end, I had to send a mental promise that I would give it more Emit Mana bolts for doing this. Then its butt began to shake, almost throwing me off its back. Only by clutching the Silk Shot did I stay seated.

Bitterness calcified around my feeble attempts at optimism. I tried not to think about it and returned to my original task: discovering the lay of the land. After five minutes of miscommunication and tugging on the reins, we trotted up the meadow toward the top of the hill. I sighed. The meadow vanished beneath the large hog's feet at a rapid clip. “It took a while, but finally-”

The hog’s ears flicked as I spoke. Huh, what was this? Was there someone else here?!

The hog began to spin, chasing its own tail in search of the speaker. My stomach performed flip flops and I lay forward so I wasn’t flung off. I had to make another round of Emit Mana promises.

I gritted my teeth when the situation settled. You forgot I was here…?

We set out again. I remained entirely silent, fuming at the idiot beneath me for multiple reasons. Unfortunately, karma was not on my side. About halfway from the stream, we encountered a field of vivid orange flowers. The hog forgot my order and walked over to the flowers to sniff them. Finding the flowers to his liking, he flopped down to roll around. I could only swear and scramble off its back so I wasn't crushed.

The hog hopped to its feet, looking at me with vigilance. I could see its thoughts in its eyes: Wait, who are you? Oh, my tamed human?

Good! I was just looking for you! I have been quite hungry. Mana?

The hog opened its mouth to me. I had such an intense headache I wanted to lie down and take a nap.

In the end, the journey to the top of the meadow took another fifteen minutes. By this point, I just wanted it to be over. I gratefully slipped down off the hog’s butt, ignoring it as it was shocked at the sudden touch and spun around, trying to figure out where this ambush had come from. Ignoring it, I raised a hand and peered at the surrounding area.

The area I had come from lay before me. I saw the manor, the creak curling around it and forming a lake, before it flowed down into the forested area. In the distance, I could also just barely spot buildings poking up above the tips of the trees. In the other direction… I pivoted. Over there, the land sloped down a short way and ended at a strange barrier. 

My eyes narrowed. Five-meter spikes of obsidian poked out at regular intervals along the slope. Energy crackled between the spikes, forming a vast network of seals that stretched upward and gradually vanished. Yet somehow, the wall of energy was dull and cloudy aside from the seals, like frosted glass. I bit my lip. As expected, a world with strange fantasy elements… should I say I’m relieved?

Compared to climbing the meadow, going down required little energy. I stumbled slightly, but hurried. The hog trotted after me. As I neared the barrier, I slowed. I raised my hands and felt a humming. I hesitated, but still eased forward until my palms made contact. It was warm and solid beneath my fingers.

But at my touch, the cloudy opaqueness of the barrier faded. I could see through the connected seals. And beyond-

A two-tailed scorpion the size of a sedan paused in its settling on a blackened stretch of rock and pivoted to look at me.

Hellion Corrupted Scorpion, Level 117

“What the fuck?” The intensity of its glowing red eyes sent me stumbling back. The opaqueness returned to the barrier.

Yet a split second later, the stillness was shattered. The barrier trembled and the surrounding seals turned red. After the first impact, there were a half dozen more that thundered against the barrier in quick succession. The redness of those seals increased and small cracks began to form on the barrier. The cracks slithered outward--

Even as my pulse pounded in my head, the attacks ceased. The spreading cracks slowed and stopped. Then, gradually, they began to heal. The redness evaporated and the surrounding area regressed to its cloudy normal.

I looked at the barrier with wide eyes. What the hell is this! In my backyard, there is a secret enclosure with scorpions from hell?! I truly should have expected this behavior from Argyle-

Yet at that thought, I paused. The memory of the surrounding area from the high point returned to me. The barrier ahead of me was the closest… but I seemed to recall that the barriers existed in almost all directions.

My face was white. “Rather than this being an enclosure, are we… hiding behind seals in a world invaded by Level 100 monsters…?”

I hopped onto the back of my tamed creature, ignored its momentary confusion, and used Silk Shot to guide it back up the hill. Instead of passing over and heading down to the manor, I guided the hog higher. It snorted with unease, but followed my direction. Even with the hog transporting me, it took us almost an hour to reach the highest part of the hill.

There, I could look and witness the shimmering, partially opaque barrier in every direction. We were suspended in an island of seals. And beyond them…

I felt sick. I need to get stronger. As fast as possible.

*****

From the shadow of the treeline, Keekri observed the child. Somehow, the boy had managed to bend a common hog to his will and now rode it up and down the ridge. The child frowned into the distance, studying the edge of the county’s seal. Likely, the child had no idea how many dangers existed right beyond those seals.

Under the orders from the Madam of the Fang Family, Keekri had lingered in the area around the manor for several months, staying just far enough away so that the protections of the Chosen could not spot him. As per the instructions, he needed to gather evidence of the Chosen’s plot to deceive the Fang’s by passing off a common child as one of their own.

However… Keekri narrowed his eyes and looked at the child’s hands. That is likely a variant version of Silk Shot. That… cannot be faked.

Considering the implications, Keekri faded into the shadows. Tonight, he would need to return to the Fang Family Headquarters and make a report.

*****

I left the Mud Guzzling Hog outside and stumbled back into the house. The stupid creature was only too happy to wallow in its mud pool. Meanwhile, my mind was in turmoil. It was one thing to know that my father had been driven mad by the death of my mother and now craved a way to revive her…

Yet my escape plan hit such an immediate setback?! My backyard ended in a fence keeping out hell itself? The outside world had such latent dangers?

The more I thought about it, the more my eyes spun. So instead, I moved to a small cabinet by the kitchen and found some broken pieces of furniture and some paint. In order to distract myself, I dragged most of it outside and spent the rest of the afternoon painting sloppy targets. Then I marched ten meters away and pivoted around to look at my ‘foes’.

“There is too much… I don’t understand. All I control is myself. And I control myself… through effort…!”

Although this world’s scorpions could swallow me without choking and my father planned on sacrificing my ‘parasite’ body, I could forget those dangers as I squinted at the target and raised my hands. Silk Shot exploded out of my wrists.

You have missed the target. The Accurate Trait gains no Proficiency.

You have missed the target. The Accurate Trait gains no Proficiency.

You have missed the target. The Accurate Trait gains no Proficiency.

“Ahem,” I coughed into a palm and moved several steps closer. I laid a heavy lid on the frustration bubbling in my belly. Although I was over two years old, my hands swayed as I pointed them at the target. My muscles just didn’t have enough time to develop, even with Mana-Adjusted Physique. What could I do but make the target easier to hit?

You have missed the target. The Accurate Trait gains no Proficiency.

You have hit an extremely easy target. The Accurate Trait gains +2% Proficiency.

You have missed the target. The Accurate Trait gains no Proficiency.

You have hit an extremely easy target. The Accurate Trait gains +3% Proficiency.

“One step at a time,” I muttered to myself. Mana Hungry refilled my ‘ammo’ and I continued.