Chương 88: (B2 Chapter 39)

"We can't do anything right now. Our focus should be on trying to locate more of our kind at this time. If we have more of us, we'll be in a better position to negotiate with the humans," Qritl said. He honestly made a lot of sense, and it was in fact what I would have thought had I been in their position.

"But what about the humans we have to meet in two cycles?" asked Uwoc.

"Don't worry about them. If we find more of us, we'll deliberate on the issue and then decide what's best. If we can't find others of our kind… we'll see. Maybe we won't even go to the meeting then," Qritl answered, again making some very valid points. Obviously, Uwoc and Eyatll agreed with the elder, and the three of them then started making plans on where to search next based on the places they had already been to.

I listened for a while, mainly to see if they discuss some of their skills or more importantly their abilities. If they even have abilities… it could very well be a human exclusive bonus, and other races could get something else… But I wasn't confident in that theory. I didn't believe the system would need to give other races something else upon reaching level 10, as the sheer flexibility the abilities all allowed was certainly enough.

I had kept my eye on my mana, and it was running a bit low now, so I left their building and entered one two blocks away to stop and recover my mana. During the downtime, I thought about the complications that these new races would now bring. Had I made too rash a decision in revealing myself…? Ever since the system arrived, I admit I have gotten excited quite a few times and made an impulsive decision or taken an impulsive action, rather than thinking about things more thoroughly.

It has been a personality flaw of mine since I can remember. Whenever I find something that truly captures my attention, I get impulsive and forgo most, if not all, logic. Previously, it had not been much of an issue, as the things that got me excited were few and far between, and had little to no consequences. However, I needed to be more careful now, and try and stay level-headed. Once my mana was full again, I went under concealed presence and sped away from the area.

Once I was certain I had put considerable distance between myself and the lizards, I located a weak looking spider and tried out the new skill I had gotten from my armour – silent touch. I had actually tried it a few times already when I was fighting the monsters earlier, but the skill didn't seem to have any effect. It didn't make my normal attacks any quieter when I attacked from the front without concealed presence, and neither did it silence any monster.

The monsters still snarled, roared, or made other noises despite me using the skill. This time though, I was trying another idea of mine. Previously, I had always used my dagger to apply the silent touch skill, but I realized that wasn't me 'touching' something, and maybe the skill required direct touch to work. It was in the name after all, so it was definitely worth a try. Therefore, I used my skill while touching the hairy spider with my bare left hand. As usual, the skill seemed like it had worked.

However, as usual, it didn't seem to have any effect. Back to the drawing board… I sighed. My dagger finished off the spider easily, and I went under concealed presence to find another monster to hunt. I was moving back towards the base, though in a wide circular manner to get maximum chances of using my new skill on monsters. No matter how I tried to use the skill though, it never had any effect.

I had a theory that perhaps the skill silenced mana, or drained it in some manner, or, keeping in-line with the dungeon's theme of negating regenerations, perhaps the skill 'silenced' regenerations. However, I couldn't be certain of it, even though I tried testing it out. I tried it out on a few foxes, not using it on some while using it on others to see if the skill made the affected foxes run out of mana faster. The result: I hadn't been able to observe any meaningful change at all.

One thought that kept circling my mind was that perhaps silent touch is able to silence a skill for a limited time. Back in the tutorial, the ogre boss and the buffalo alpha had both been able to use skills, and the dungeon bosses all had a few different skills they displayed. So, monsters could definitely use skills. The problem was that the monsters who had skills were usually outlandishly strong. Now… where can I find a monster that has a skill…?

Lucas's POV"… is amazing! Don't you think so?" Diane, our leading alchemist exclaimed. I shared her enthusiasm, and nodded rapidly while clutching at the potion in my hand. It was of a dull red colour, and was the first potion the alchemist had been able to make successfully. It was a health potion! One that even the system had recognized, as it had given Diane a bunch of experience when she had successfully made it. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"This really is amazing, Diane! You have outdone yourself!" I praised her. It really was a wonderful achievement, and would go a long way towards our survivability.

"Don't praise me yet, there's more!" she exclaimed.

"Ta-da!" she pulled out two more potions from her inventory with a flourish. One of the potions was of a dull green colour, while the other one was a dull blue. I put down the health potion and picked the two newer ones with excitement coursing through me.

"Are these what I think they are?" I asked, my hand shaking a bit as I held them.

"If you're thinking stamina and mana potions, then that's exactly what these are!" Diane answered with a huge grin.

"Wow! How did you even make all these?" I asked in wonder.

"It was simple really. We had all the ingredients back in the tutorial, we just didn't have the tools. There was probably a way to make these in the tutorial with some crude tools, but we never figured it out. Now though, the system store has everything an alchemist might need, so it didn't take long for us to figure out how to make them. We are still refining these, though. These are just the first batch that have been successful.

We know that the mana potion is supposed to be glowing and crystal clear, and this is far from it. It makes sense that the other potions need to look like those potions Alex brought from the tutorial, so they are still very much a work in progress," she said, holding up the health potion I had left on the table and looking at it closely.

"Doesn't matter, it's still a success in my book, and I'm sure you'll be able to refine it to the way you want it to in no time!" I encouraged her, resulting in the smile returning on her face. We discussed her process a bit more before she left, muttering something about heat control and impurities under her breath. Things are really looking up! It wasn't just Diane who had been successful.

Harry and Margie had been able to start making simple leather armour, while the smiths, led by Anders, a mountain of a Danish man, had already managed to forge a few daggers and short-swords, and had also started repairing and maintaining equipment. That wasn't all. The arrival of the people who hadn't been able to complete their tutorials had lit a fire under a lot of people, not to mention the appearance of the elderly, and especially the children.

A few people had even managed to reunite with either their parents or their children, and the fact that the system had kept them safe all this time led to a lot of people regaining the hope that they had lost. As a result, there was suddenly an influx of people eager to level up so they could search the area, and Kate and Nathan had been wonderful in showing them the basics of fighting monsters. Mason had also made amazing progress in improving the defensiveness of this building.

All of the ground-floor windows had now been boarded up with thick wooden boards reinforced with bricks from damaged buildings. More importantly, he had finished four basic watchtowers on the corners of the roof, and had placed lookouts there on a permanent basis, with a basic shift system in place. The base was coming along amazingly well, but there was something that was troubling me greatly. I'm falling behind…

Apart from Omar and Alex, who continued to experiment and move forward, Madelline, Sam, and Hannah were all also rapidly progressing. Even Marcus, who had still not woken up and was now a cause for concern for all of us, had revealed a side of his ability that we hadn't seen before. It could be possible that he had somehow managed to upgrade his ability in desperation. Meanwhile, I had stayed largely the same. A defensive tank who… had nothing special.

I hadn't been able to unlock any new skills, or upgrade my class, or even found interesting ways to apply my ability. I admit, my brain didn't work like Alex's, or it didn't share Omar's excitement or Madelline's silent resolve, but I thought I was still working hard. Then why wasn't I making any progress…? It's because I'm not being creative enough… I found it easy to follow rules or set patterns and it had always been what I felt comfortable doing.

I had never been the creative type or been able to think of different solutions to the same problem. Some people had this skill… I just didn't, simple as that. The problem was that it looked like the system rewarded the creative types, while the ones like me who followed the norms would soon be pushed to the side. If things continued this way, Sam would soon overtake me as the superior tank, and then what would I bring to the table? Being good with people… that's it?

My existential crisis was interrupted by the feeling of a small hand clutching my leg. I gave a start and looked down to see the small girl I had met yesterday, Alexandra, staring up at me. When did she get here? Alex was right, she really does move too quietly! It's eerie!

"Do you know where Alex is? I can't find him," she said, thankfully oblivious to my thoughts.

"Sorry, I have no idea where he is," I answered truthfully. Come to think of it… where is Alex? I don't think I have seen him since I woke up. Has he gone off alone somewhere again?

"Shouldn't you know everything since you're the leader?" questioned the little girl. Wow… this kid… I chuckled. I got down on my knee so I could be eye-level with her, "Being a leader doesn't mean you know everything. It just means you have to take care of everyone, and be responsible for them as well." She took a few seconds to think about what I said before speaking, "Does being a leader involve solving problems as well?"

"Yes, it does! But remember, a leader cannot solve all…"

"Then I need help in solving a problem. The problem is I can't find Alex!" she interrupted. She's definitely persistent. Come to think of it, why shouldn't I take her to Alex…? I mentally grinned at the image of this girl sticking close to Alex like a shadow, and immediately agreed to help her find Alex. We then proceeded to move about the base trying to find him, but he wasn't anywhere to be seen.

No one else had seen him either, and I had a premonition that he really had gone off alone and would come back casually dropping one of his bombshells. Thankfully, Alexandra got distracted by a bunch of kids playing in the entrance hall, and ran off to join them, leaving me free to ponder on what my friend was up to. Before I had much of a chance to think, I saw Alex enter the building. He really was out all alone! Our eyes met and he gave me the 'we need to talk' signal.

I took some water out of my inventory and took a few sips while mentally preparing myself. I was sure he had done something outlandish again, and it was about to become my problem.