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TMLoCL - Chapter 36
🕑 Added 2020-11-12 05:22:31 +0000 UTCHope you guys like this one!
***
Now I know that you came to these lectures to learn about killing monsters and becoming a better adventurer, but todayâs lecture is about the Races.
No need to groan kiddos, this is important information for any adventurer. Many of you will travel to exotic places and meet all kinds of individuals, some of which wonât be human. So you need to know the basics of how to interact with them. Since all of you are humans - I think anyway, Iâm not about to strip you and check - we are going to mostly skip talking about humans in this overview.
The Races are divided into Demihumans and Sapients, and confusing the two is a good way to get yourself killed. Demihumans are monsters. They have Classes and they can be as smart or smarter than you, but they level their Species and Evolve. Sapients, on the other hand, do not have a Species Level but can take many more Classes.
The Sapient Races are Humans, Elves, Dwarves, and any half breed between them. Despite what you might think, there isnât a âsuperiorâ Race - among the Sapients anyway, Half-Elven Dragonkin are qualitatively better than pretty much everyone else - but rather each Race has its own talents and flaws.
Humans gain experience much faster than any other Race or monster. If you feel that you arenât Leveling fast enough, you arenât working hard enough. What takes an elf one hundred years to do might take the average human only ten years, while a talented and determined human might do it in one.
Of course, elves can afford to spend a hundred years gaining a Level. Those rumors of elven immortality you have undoubtedly heard? They are pretty damn accurate. Elves naturally gain Vitality over time, so they never actually grow old. They also have monstrously large Health pools and can survive injuries that no human would.
If you stab an old elf in the heart they can just pull it out and walk away without a care in the world.
And they very well might, because the oldest elves tend to become less and less interested in the world as they age. Eventually, they stop moving altogether and enter a meditative trance called âreverie.â These ancient elves in their reveries rarely ever interact with the world again, completely uncaring about their surroundings. People can and have walked up and slit their throats without them bothering to react.
For the record, slitting their throats came nowhere close to killing the ancient elves.
-part of a lecture from S-Rank Adventurer Dre the Massacre given to new Adventurers.
ReiâReihammara Solily POV:
â-just didnât think we would be traipsing up and down hill sides to hunt toads of all things!â Ylma was complaining as she blasted another Juvenile Boreal Toad away. âThese things are hardly even a threat, so what is the point?â
âThey pay in gold,â the normally quiet Karlin growled out as he skewered one of the smaller Hatchlings on his sword. âThat is the only point that matters.â
âWell of course they pay in gold, Evergold is a gold mining town! Gold is the only thing they have!â
âIf it helps Ylma, there is a good reason to have us do this,â I interject before Ylma can start ranting again. âEven though these monsters are weak, they serve to give experience to stronger ones. The more experience in the ecosystem, the more powerful monsters it can support.â
â...so if we cull the weaker monsters we prevent the more powerful monsters from Evolving,â Ylma was able to figure out the rest from what I had told her. Giving her just enough to figure things out for herself was much better than telling her something; Ylma would argue against anything that she hadnât thought of herself.
âThat might be true, but Iâm with Karlin here,â Chaurl - who was doing absolutely nothing but standing by watching us kill swarms of toads - said. âDo we really need a reason beyond, âthey pay in gold?â Weâd be unlikely to get silvers for work like this anywhere else, theyâd pay us in coppers.â
âNah, this wouldnât be a coppers job,â Rauvin didnât even bother to stab the smaller ones, dispatching them with a single kick instead. âSure, the lower stages are just trash, but the babies have to come from somewhere. The Adult Boreal Toads would be a threat to many adventurers.â
âOne of them could kill me, for sure.â Tamlin spoke up, taking a moment to wipe his brow. âMost people donât have Rauvinâs durability or your firepower Ylma.â
It certainly was true that we had expected a bit more out of the âsavage south,â but I canât say I am disappointed to have an easier time than I had thought I would. For that matter, we were only a couple of hours out of Evergold; for all I knew, there were rampaging Elementals right over the next hill.
âIf you have this swarm handled,â I certainly thought they did, toads were hardly dangerous for Adventurers like us. âI will scout ahead and get an idea of the lay of the land.â
Rauvin waved me ahead and I dodged away from the toads and ran off into the trees. I might not have an advanced Class, but with both the [Hunter] and [Scout] Classes and my Elven heritage it was easy to fade into the forest and avoid fighting the monsters that prowled around.
Our party was out on a basic three day âclearingâ quest. We would travel one day away from the town, kill everything we could find for a day, and then come back. We would have to take a trophy from every kill and turn them in at the local Guild to get our pay, and this kind of job usually paid poorly except in very dangerous regions.
This was, supposedly, a very dangerous region and Evergold had gold to spare, so we could expect a very nice paycheck for our efforts. Personally, I planned to use the money we earned here in Evergold to receive training in becoming a [Tamer], as the Class would help me in my goal to become a [Ranger]. It was far more efficient to have a professional train me in the Class than it was for me to just abduct a toad or something and try to teach it how to behave.
That was a few decades away though. It would take time to learn the Class and I wanted to stay with my party for as long as they were adventuring. I might be young and yet to feel the weight of time on my shoulders, but I knew well enough that a decade or a century here or there wasnât really important. I would still be considered barely above a child by other elves long after my current comrades were dust.
For the most part, my scouting was uneventful. Although the further out I traveled the more dangerous the monsters were; the town guard likely helped to clear the areas around the town itself. Stone Lynx were some of the most common and in some places I even saw Wisps, which meant there had to be a place with a very high mana density somewhere nearby. Wisps themselves werenât particularly dangerous, but their presence could mean that Elementals and elemental monsters might be nearby.
I was fairly sure that was further west though, and not in the direction we were heading. I would still mark it on the map and ask about it back in town, it would be best to deal with it before it started spawning monstrosities and twisting the local monsters into more dangerous creatures.
Other than that, everything looked clear. I was able to head back and say as much to Rauvin and eat a delicious lunch prepared by Chaurl.
âThe innkeeper back in Evergold took me aside to ask if you ate meat, you know.â Chaurl chuckled as he ate his stew. âIf we had a copper for every time we were asked that question we wouldnât even need to work.â
âIt always surprises them when I say that I prefer meat over greens,â I muse, admittedly I preferred fresh fruit to either of those though. âI have no ideas how these rumors spread so much, although at least he didnât think I ate human children raw or something.â
After lunch, we continued on our way while killing all the monsters in our way. It wasnât until we had descended down into one of the valleys and were following the path up the other side when my [Dangersense] twinged and I threw myself to the side just in time to avoid a bolt of lighting striking the ground where I had just stood!
âMONSTER IN THE SKY!â Rauvin called out as I scrambled back to my feet and knocked an arrow, squinting against the glare of the sun while I tried to see the threat. It didnât take long to see, I have no idea how we missed a massive eagle like bird that seemed to be partially made of lightning but none of us had noticed it until it had struck.
I had an arrow flying and another nocked in a second, meanwhile I heard Ylma shout: âIt is a Thunderbird! But I thought they only lived in the Far South!?â
My arrow struck the monster in its shoulder, it looked like barely a pinprick but I was actually glad that my arrow was able to penetrate the monsterâs feathers and skin at all. This battle was all up to Ylma and I, and this was proof that our fight wasnât hopeless! But my [Dangersense] started to scream again and Ylma started shouting for everyone to run as all of the frontliners scrambled for cover.
The Thunderbird responded to my arrow with a blast of lightning like nothing I had seen before! I was half blinded, but I could feel the ground shaking; the path had been buried by rubble!
âShit, we need to run!â I shout to everyone, âwe canât fight this thing, but if we can get to coverâŠâ
The only way to go was along the bottom of the valley, going back the way we came would leave us too exposed. Rauvin cursed, hauling Tamlin to his feet, and started running. Meanwhile, when I thought the monster was going for another bolt I sent another arrow into it and the lightning dissipated. I could make it flinch!
Our fighting retreat down the valley eventually led us to despair; the valley opened up into the plains! If we went there we would be hunted down with ease, there was only one option leftâŠ
âRauvin!â I called to him as I shot another arrow at our pursuer, âWe need to split up, Iâll lure it away!â
âNo! You canât risk your life like that! You-â
The Thunderbird had dodged my arrow and another bolt descended from the heavens like the fist of an angry god. It didnât hit us, but it did collapse another part of the valley, we would have to go out on the plains and worseâŠ
âShit, the damn thing is intelligent!â Karlin growled and I cursed in my head as we were forced to run out of the valley.
And now we get picked off, one by one. I thought to myself, seeing the Thunderbird swoop down and - get grabbed by a giant tentacle!
âThe hell is that!â Tamlin shrieked as the Thunderbird fought against the giant tentacles wrapping around it.
âNo time to ask questions, one of those tentacles is coming for us!â Ymla yelled, throwing a fireball at a tentacle snaking towards the party. âDonât let it grab you!â
The tentacle came close to Tamlin who struck out with his spear only to be thrown back in a shower of sparks!
âFuck, the lightning is being conducted through the thing!â Chaurl shouted as he rushed to the fallen Tamlin. âYmla, canât you do something about this?â
âWarding against lightning is difficult, I could if I had time but it would take a while!â
The Thunderbird had managed to fight its way free and was now screeching at⊠Well it looked like a turtle with octopus tentacles coming out of its mouth.
âNevermind, the bird is running. Grab Tamlin and get out before that thing sends those tentacles after us!â Rauvin ordered, but the tentacles were fast and didnât seem to care about my arrows at all, no matter how many I hit them with! Tamlin seemed to be unconscious and there was no way they could drag him away in time, the tentacles were already closing in and about to strike-!
They were knocked away by a blast of compressed air, yet another monster had joined the battle!
âThat is a Gale Wyvern,â I shouted, recognizing the species as one that lived in the upper boughs of some of the Great Oaks that also contained Elven Groves. âWhat is it doing here!?â
Was it⊠protecting Tamlin? That was crazy, but the wyvern had even landed! Who had ever heard of a Gale Wyvern landing in the middle of a battle!? The fact that it was fighting against whatever the hell that was instead of trying to grab one of us was a good sign in my opinion.
âCome on, back into the valley!â I shouted, sending another arrow into a tentacle as the others ran back into the valley before following them myself after I saw the wyvern take off and get away from the other monster.
âChaurl, how is Tamlin?â Rauvin asked as soon as he could catch his breath. Tamlin did not look good, he had taken a massive shock and was still smoking.
âBad.â Chaurl said tersely, his hands glowing with power. âToo bad for me to handle, Jakkus is powerful but I am not; he needs to make it to the healers in Evergold and fast.â
I saw Rauvin glance at the collapsed rubble. Now that we werenât being chased by a murderous Thunderbird, we could climb it but⊠There was no way we would be able to get Tamlin to Evergold quickly.
I heard a small sound and immediately whipped my head around, fearing the worst only to see a curious sight. The Gale Wyvern was sitting on a nearby boulder, watching us intently. Suddenly, I had a wild idea. Wyverns were smart although they werenât really sentient, but it would have known what it was doing when it helped us.
The others had turned a little after I had, prepping their weapons with hard looks on their faces. I, however, set my bow down and slowly walked forward with my hands up to show my empty palms.
âHey there,â I tried to say calmly, praying to whichever god that would listen that I was able to get the idea across. âCan you help us?â
The Wyvern cocked its head, looking at me intently as I approached.
âRay, I know you want to be a tamer but now is not the time,â Rauvin said quietly, warily. âAnd Wyverns are Dragonoids, they are basically untamable by anyone but an expert anyway.â
âWill you help us,â I asked again. âPlease?â
The Wyvern responded by rolling over, which was not quite the response I had hoped for, but it wasnât a dangerous one. I have no idea what proper Wyvern behaviour was, but there was no way that it was anything but an invitation to come closer and I did. I inched forward until I was able to touch it, feeling its scales and feathers beneath my hand.
Getting it to get back on its feet and allow me to climb on its back took all the courage I could muster, but it let me do it! It even let me guide it!
âChaurl, you know what I am thinking,â I said, as I looked down at Tamlin. âWould it work?â
âThe risk-â Rauvin began, but was immediately interrupted.
âIt is our only chance,â Chaurl replied grimply. âTake him to Evergold, we will make it back as soon as we can.â
The Wyvern allowed us to get Tamlin onto its back, where I held him as we took off. The ground that it had taken us hours to traverse melted away as we sped through the air, and soon Evergold was in sight. Alarms were sounded almost immediately, so I had the Wyvern set down in front of the gate - to do otherwise would risk us all being shot down.
âGuards!â I shout from the back of the Wyvern, âWe need help, we have an injured man here!â
To their credit, the guards quickly managed to understand that the Wyvern was under my control. Kind of⊠Technically it wasnât, but I had no intention of telling them, at least at first, but after Tamlin was rushed away to the healersâŠ
â[You have met the requirements for the Class: [Tamer]!]
[You have 4 open Class Slots.]
[You have Classes available, would you like to see them now?]â
I quickly chose [Tamer] and gained a new ability: [Wild Pact], which I immediately used. I felt the bond, the link, reach out to the Wyvern and the Wyvern accept it!
â[You have met the requirements for the advanced Class: [Ranger]!]
[You have met the requirements for the advanced Class: [Wyvern Rider]!]
[You have 3 open Class Slots.]
[You have Classes available, would you like to see them now?]
[Note: [Ranger] is a consolidated Class. Classes combined into [Ranger] will have their Slots opened again.]â
I didnât think much about the choice I made then, but I knew it was the right one to make. I was sure that I would never regret it.
Comments
lenkite
The next chapter tells us Cadence doesn't know the language. So, please describe the [Flight] in a bit more detail -as in how does she know where to fly, etc
Keifru
Foolish elf, you're getting the short end of a deal! You don't even get scritches out of the partnership, just flown around I hope part of the [Wild Pact] is that she learns what skills her bonded-creature has. Her head would spin- "Dance? SINGING?!"
Escalatus
Ok, I have just read this chapter on RR, and the last sentence was changed. She picked both classes
Benjamin Schaefer
There are a lot of comment saying that she's gone be one class or the other, but she can be both.
Dylan Coles
I think he's fixing the math and stats
Daniel Sifrit
The fact that it TAKES an expert to tame a dragonoid normally pretty much means that it isn't a one-way relationship. As someone stuck as a "monster" or a "demihuman" - both of which are likely not tolerated by sentients... she is moving sideways with a "sponsor."
Daniel Sifrit
She IS going to live thousands of years. :) Technically she is immortal.. in small pieces.
Markus
We already know Willpower is a thing. Even if a normal Wild Pact would mean total submission. This does not mean that it will happen like that. We do not know how high the willpower of a normal beast is.
Mr. Bigglesworth
4 old chappies, no new ones :(
Deinos
Confusing. Did you just repost old chapters or why do I get multiple notices for old stuff?
NarksTv
I mean what your saying is not wrong but it still feels rushed which might not be that bad in the long run but sucks alot when your not binge reading (also just did not find the elves POV very interesting)
Mai0e
You can only write so much in a lizard, Goblin or Toad Evolution stage. This life is far from over and I am excited for the next chapters!
BabaNovac
I get that the author is seeking a different goal, that he is looking forward to getting to more interesting lives and that these ones are mostly filler. Well for us they aren't and if you keep rushing your story just so you can get to the more "juicier" parts you either might not have much of a story at all since people won't be bothered to read through crap just so they can find some gold in it. Take your time do it properly nobody is hurrying you to get ahead inside the story.
tibbish
Yeah what happened? Obviously she killed the plant otherwise she'd be dead but just not giving the conclusion, especially after a cliff hanger is a no no. That was a big fight for her not just some rando trash mob she was wiping out.
tibbish
We can only speculate at what Wild Pact does but going by other stories generally Tamers essentially mind control their pets most of the time. It really is usually a master/slave relationship and the thought of willingly getting into that "relationship" is horrifying. You'd have to deranged to even want to risk it. Yeah the MC really wanted out of her situation but this is quite possibly far FAR worse. Be much better just to evolve into something humanoid when you can by killing stuff and then try joining civilization on your own terms.
Kevin Caffrey
We didnât really get the details on what Wild Pact does. I got the impression that it wasnât as one sided as being a pet, but more about communicating with each other.
StormyAngel
It's more like Cadence was stranded on an island. Sure this metaphorical boat might turn out to have metaphorical pirates on it, but at least they could get her off this rock.
Deinos
So you're telling me if you see some guy on the street in another country you've never heard of, and no nothing about, you're going to sign a contract of servitude without even exchanging a few words( since you can't yet anyway) because he Might be a nice guy that could Maybe show you his culture?
lenkite
Ability to get into [Civilisation]. No doubt Cadence will force her rider to enter [Inns] and grab some [Cooked Chow].
lenkite
I think Cadence won't mind an [Enchanted Ribbon] with +Stats on it.
Kevin Caffrey
I can see one "catch" being that the life could be boring for Cadence. Imagine being confined to a stable most of the time when not out on adventures, that would suck! I doubt it'll come to that though. I have a feeling Cadence will go "well that was fun, PEACE!"
Deinos
Hmm why would she become someone's pet/stay as a wyvern when she ultimately wants to become somewhat human again? Helping them out I can get behind but shackling herself whimsily to someone she just met, without knowing anythin about them or their customs? After 3 lifes I she would know better than that.
Heber
Also if she lived thousands of years os a dragon at this point it would be almost as if it was a dragon reincarnating and not a human anymore.
Heber
It would also be interesting to see her live through the end of a world, maybe as a dragon or some other (semi)imortal life.
Mai0e
Great chapter that was fun to read! What I missed was the first reaction to flying on a Wyvern. Especially since flying seems to be only possible in this world to the best tamers. There is only one paragraph that says "we have flown" but I think it a bit too short to describe a first experience like that. But there was also the wounded man on board. I hope the joy of flying will be emphasized in the next chapters.
reji
The catch is he will ride on Cadence. ;) And if author decided that, she will have no will in this
Dominic French
Your right it would probably be a little dry if we had to sit through a thousands of years of boring life, Im interested to see what the author does
Chawki89
Hopefully she can take thousand year naps so time doesnât affect her as much but she racks up points.
Luke Scheffe
Kun Peng
reji
What do you think, "demihuman rider" sounds good!
Dominic French
It would also be interesting to see how a long life changes her, right now she still feels like a twenty something year old, maybe I'm getting the wrong impression because she was actually pretty mature as the princess. The longer she lives in this life the more it will shape who she is. I mean living for a few thousands of years as a dragon has got to shape your personality somehow lol.
Dominic French
True enough, lol I'm just hoping she has a good life for once and a powerful one and that. I can imagine that imagine she lives 10k years in this life and in the next she is a freaking space marine or something that would be awesome too.
Master of Bunnies
Imagine she lives for 10000 years, next life she is human and just can't deal with the short lifespan and fails.
Dominic French
I hope she survives thousands of years in this life as a dragon with an elf dragonriders she's been dying so fast in all her previous lives.
cathia
I mean, she is a pet and even if she can travel to places with higher sapient concetration, she has to be with her tamer or wore some kind of collar and other stuff, showing her ownership
cathia
I mean, I think she didn't have feathers earlier, so she probably evolved into that [gale wyvern], which could be bigger
foldedcorners
Not what I expected at all, but definitely an interesting development regardless.
StormyAngel
Wyvern rider, huh? I have to admit that I was feeling pretty skeptical of this 4th life being interesting when it started, but I've come around as it has developed. I like the direction this looks to be going. The way that you've managed to tell such a great story with Cadence's 3rd life, as well as make this vastly different 4th life interesting is an impressive accomplishment. You've got some real skill as a writer, so thanks for sharing it with us.
Mr. Bigglesworth
Every single Dragon ever just got snubbed. You a meanie.
Mr. Bigglesworth
Yes, and the reason to choose Ranger is it frees up a massive amount of Class Slots, from what has been shown already she doesn't 'lose' the option to choose Wyvern Rider. Ergo she's left with the choice of opening up a ton of slots and picking WR 2nd go around, or picking it now and basically screwing her entire build while locking a ton of Slots.
Patrick S.
I hope they can talk via the bond. I would love to see the reaction when the Wyvern introduce herself as Cadence đđ EDIT: + I really love the direction of this Life. The "wild pet" situation gives her a sort of protection from the three races + get carried to high monster concentrations. But what's the catch? There is always a catch đ§đ€
Patrick S.
I think an Elf knows how the class evolves if the "tamed" beast evolves.
Patrick S.
I think the Ranger class in the text is associated with the Elf.. or am I wrong?
BabaNovac
I need the next chapter! This cliffhanger is killing me!
Vorquel
I hope there will be a brief flashback to show how Candace got to that point. Depending on how long it took, just a thought could do, like: "I didn't think I'd find people so soon after evolving."
Critical Hit
Oh wow, this was sometime well after the fight with the blood plant. Not what I expected. I wonder how long they'll be working together this life, and if she'll be able to species up to dragon... or something beyond/better than a drong? Who knows what kinds of things are available in the multiverse.
Zackman2k12
Cool
K Hilliard
Would make sense for the rider to get a class upgrade to match the eventual wyvern to dragon evolution. ...but if she goes humanoid again, that might be awkward...
Viva01
That escalated quickly. Hmmm certainly have to wonder how this will play out. Probably be a good idea for her to learn about the [Class] system.
Mr. Bigglesworth
Glad she chose Ranger, so that she can just choose Wyvern Rider later with one of the newly opened Class Slots!
Beeees!
And there may have been something about killing the blood rose thing giving enough exp to evolve again so that might just be it
Beeees!
Ya, seems like that's the only answer. Seemed like she was pretty big even as an infant, so she may only be young on this scene. Guess we just gotta wait till she turns full on dragon or something
Saaski
Oooh!!
Call0013
Cool, If he takes the Wyvern Rider class I wonder how it will interact once she evolves again? like will the class change with her or would he be stuck with a dead class? or would that class merge with another one.( I hope he went with the Ranger class because it would be the safer one to take).
ŃŃŃ vàčàčàč
Thank you for the chapter. Will there be a part 2 chapter to the one where the Prince is summoned from her life as a Princess? Would be cool to see her tale from his point of view after she died, and if the Necromancer the archeologists used is from her sons side of the family.
CryoHydra357
I thought she was an infant? Was there a timeskip or are baby wyverns just massive
