5 The New Skill

Taken aback by the sudden assault of notifications, John's session with the system was interrupted by the adventurers' approach. As the trio stepped forward to investigate the bear's corpse, John was able to focus on their facial features for the first time.

The leader was a blond man with a slightly hooked nose, stubble lightly coating his chin and giving him the guise of a weathered veteran. His brown eyes were stern and authoritative, complimenting his broad shoulders and noble posture. Standing around six feet tall, the man wore hard leather-like armour of a brownish hue. Around his waist, the man sheathed his blade on his left side. John caught a glimpse of the crossbow that sat behind his back.

'Just like Ga***t from The Wi***er game series', he couldn't help but think.

John recognised the man who had made a big deal about him covering up earlier. Getting a better look, he was shorter than the leader. He had a mop of red hair, a pair of brown eyes, and a fleshy nose. He was somewhat slimmer than the leader too, but he wore the same brown armour. The weapons he carried were similar to that of the leader's.

And finally, John turned his head to the last of the adventurers. The final guy was half a foot taller than the other two and had the broad shoulders to support his muscular frame. There was nothing remarkable about his brown hair or blue eyes, but his nose had a bumpy texture that almost contrasted too much with the stubble that coated his jaw. From the look of his heavy metal armour and the big shield upon his back, this guy was definitely the tank of the party.

All three men looked to be in their early twenties. John mused over their ages with slight concern, wondering what sort of society was in place in this world. The men noticed John's stares.

John smiled and broke the silence. "So… do any of you know how to make clothing from the animal skin? Maybe this bear or the rabbit from earlier? If it's still intact, I mean."

The three adventurers exchanged glances among each other before shaking their heads. A little disappointed, John suggested they fashion something like a loincloth at the very least. Everyone agreed with no hesitation.

While the leader and the redhead dissected the bear, John accompanied the big guy in retrieving the rabbit corpse. The group decided to set up camp close to where the bear had fallen, which was ways away from where they were headed. Approaching the clearing where they first encountered one another, John and the tank found that, miraculously, the rabbit remained untouched. The two of them lugged the flesh onto the adventurer's shoulders and made their way back to camp.

"My name's Peter," the larger man introduced himself as they made their way. "The party leader's name is Alan. He's the one with the blond hair and a look sharp enough to give you a run for your money. Oh, and the other guy's just Cyril. It's nice ta meetcha!"

"Nice to meet you too! Though, I wish it were under better circumstances." John felt relieved at Peter's welcoming attitude. He was finally having a normal conversation with someone—though the fact that he had to cover his crotch as he walked was a little annoying. "Can you tell me more about that bear? Why was it after you in the first place?"

"That creature is called a Continuous Bear. It's a Rank H monster and sits around the top of the food chain in this low-level area. As for its name-sake," Peter glanced over at John with a snicker, "once it sees its prey, it continues to chase it down no matter where they go or how long it takes. When it saw you with us, it recognised you as part of our group. That's why it went after you. Well, that and the fact that you look like the easiest prey between the four of us."

Peter chuckled a bit at that part, and John shifted uncomfortably under his brutally honest judgement.

"We were quite lucky with this one, though. It only chased us for about fifteen minutes before we ran into you. Having some live bait really gave us our lucky break," Peter smiled at the shorter man, a genuine smile, not a sarcastic or mocking one. "It's good that we took care of it. When it comes to a Continuous Bear, it's kill or be killed."

John found some comfort in Peter's sincerity, though there still remained the question of what the system had done to the monster's 'core'. Even though knowledge of 'Siders' seemed to be pretty common, John figured that knowledge of the system was a different story.

"So," John couldn't resist asking, "are Siders well-known?"

"They're well-known, but what Alan said about them being rare is no understatement. The last known Sider in this area died about four years ago from old age in his seventies. He was here for about sixty years, too." Peter paused for a moment to let John process the information. "He wrote and published his own biography, to boot. You can pick up a copy to read in most libraries, if you wanted to give it a look. Oh, but the Sider before him is still alive and kicking. Or, at least, there's no record of his death. He ventured toward the Immortal Sects, so it's possible he's still alive. That was nearly a hundred years ago, though."

Before John could open his mouth to ask, Peter cut right back in.

"People in this world live on average about fifty years, give or take. It's actually quite high! That's not including the deaths from adventurers, of course. Most of us don't make it past our twenties."

There was a bleak patch of silence as John recalled his unspoken concern about the ages of the three men.

"That also doesn't include Immortals," Peter added in a low voice, as if speaking to himself. "It wouldn't even be a number if we counted those…"

John was stunned by all the knowledge that Peter had to offer. Initially, he'd written him off as one of those brain-dead-all-brawn types.

"How do you know so much?" he unabashedly asked.

"That's where your kind comes in," Peter once again bore a smile. "Ever since Siders started coming here, life for the common people has improved so much. One of the first Siders to come here wound up becoming the founder of the kingdom of the east. As king, he brought us schools, hospitals, laws, food, and a bunch of technology using monster cores as power. He shared it all with the world under the condition that Siders were to be treated as equals and not abused for any wicked motives."

Approaching the camp, the two slowed their pace to continue their conversation.

"All the kingdoms came together and agreed on this," Peter's voice became more serious as he spoke. "If any of the kingdoms were to abuse the power of the Siders, all other kingdoms will join together and eliminate the opposing kingdom. To this day, the treaty was yet to be broken by anyone."

John released his breath, not even realising that he'd been holding it in the first place.

'So I can't make mayonnaise a food revolution and get rich.' He couldn't help but feel slightly jaded. 'I guess an easy life is out of the question here, isn't it?'

Despite his own personal begrudging, John was nonetheless relieved upon hearing of the laws regarding Sider equality. Still, he couldn't help but despise the Sider founder for his thoroughness. 'Bollocks to you, too, sir. My riches? Gone. My easy lifestyle? Gone, gone, gone… What a pain!'

The system's chipper 'ding!' interrupted his aggravations for but a moment. He took a mental note to check the notification later.

By the time Peter and John returned to the makeshift camp, the other two party members had already finished skinning the bear. It was easy to tell that they had a hard time of it. Their cheeks were rosy from the effort, and they were both still trying to catch their breaths. Using Normal knives to complete their task took a lot out of them.

From what they could salvage of the crudely cut skin, Alan figured that it would fetch a fair price in town. The pelt wasn't in the best condition, but their efforts would definitely pay off. He rolled up the bearskin and put it to the side just as Peter unloaded the rabbit corpse before him. With no qualms, Alan got right to work on the rabbit, which was much easier to skin than the bear was.

Cyril got to starting a fire, while Alan continued to work on the rabbit. With no words exchanged, Peter tended to setting up the tents while John watched Cyril pull out a small round object of a reddish colour. In absolute amazement, he watched as the adventurer used the object to start the fire. He couldn't stop staring, trying to figure out exactly what the object was.

"This is the lowest-tier of monster core from a Flaming Bear," Cyril noticed John's stares and spoke in a matter-of-fact fashion. "It's a cousin to the Continuous Bear, a little smaller but with bright red fur. Its fur can withstand up to two hundred degrees, which is why the monster core is a basic Fire Element. You can use it for starting fires and cooking but not much else."

John wondered about the Continuous Bear's core, which the system had taken. Would it look similar to this Fire Element core?

Cyril went on to explain how to use the Flaming Bear's core, which was a pretty basic lesson to say the least. What the lecture bubbled down to was to aim and 'ignite' the core with a mental command. Simple stuff, according to Cyril. John tried to imagine what a Flaming Bear even looked like, and decided it was better that he didn't find out the hard way.

When he finished skinning the rabbit, Alan tossed the fur coat over to John, as per earlier agreement. The pelt was cut in a way that John would easily be able to wrap it around his waist like some sort of sash.

"It's untreated and will be a bit uncomfortable," Alan commented as John inspected the pelt, "But when we get into town we can get you some real clothing. It'll be payment for your help with the Continuous Bear. These rags just have to last until then."

"I suppose that will do." John happily accepted the pelt. "Since the fire's started, how about we have some meat? I'm starving, I haven't had anything to eat since I got here."

Moods quite merry, the four men laughed and sat around the fire, preparing for their meal. They sliced up slabs of rabbit and bear flesh, cooking them to a crispy brown over the fire. Strings of fat melted off of the meat and dribbled down the sides, sizzling as they met with the embers below.

And so was John's first meal on this world. Between the savoury taste of meat and the various spices that were dashed atop, it was quite a tasty dinner.

The sun sank lower and lower as time passed, and eventually it was time to rest. Alan divided the night watch between him and his two men, since John was the newbie in the party. After a few brief instructions of the night's guard, it was time to settle down.

Cyril and John shared a tent for the night. They each settled comfortably into their quarters, with John lying down with his back to Cyril. He wrapped the rabbit pelt around him, fashioning somewhat of a tunic. At the very least, he concluded that it would keep him warm through the night.

With his back still to Cyril, John opened up the Idle System.

Name: John

Age: 15

Idlers: 2/7

Skill Points: 1

HP: 12

Attack: N/A

Defence: N/A

Stamina: N/A

Continuous - Idlers 0/99, Continue Option - 0/1

Eyes landing on the new skill listed at the bottom, he rested his gaze on the text and counted to five.

Continuous - Taken from the Continuous Bear's monster core. Derived from the persistent hunting nature of this creature, the system has modified this trait and created the 'Continue Option' skill. Once this skill is activated, Idlers will no longer be removed from a skill slot upon the completion of a level. Instead, they will be left in the skill to start the next level.

WARNING - With this option enabled, you will not be able to take Idlers out of the skill until it is turned off and the skill has completed levelling.