8. Aaron and Suzie

Marlon's head whirled as all of this new information flew in, and he tried to comprehend the intensity of it all. He had 5 minutes before a murderous bear he couldn't hope to scratch appeared and tries to rip the crowd to shreds. He turned and looked at Freya, who was panicking even more. "Ok, we need a plan.". Marlon voiced the obvious as he grabbed Freya's shoulder and steadied her. "We should probably find some more people to recruit, and then run somewhere. The forest seems good to me, as it will have resources and shelter. What do you think.". She just looked at him and nodded, biting her lip to keep herself from crying.

He looked around for possible recruits. All of the people present were under 20, some of them also being children. A young man with coal-black hair holding the hand of a young girl with bouncy blonde locks caught his eye. The man was glancing at him throughout his entire performance with the Light Feet skill, and seeing Marlon notice him made the young man steel himself up, and pull the girl towards Marlon. "Hey..." said the man. Due to his small height and dark hair, Marlon guessed he was a dwarf. "Yeah?" Marlon said with a simulated aloof expression. "Look man, I know this is a lot to ask, but would it be okay if we teamed up?". Marlon raised an eyebrow. "Why?" "It's not for me. I just need to keep little Suzie safe. I would kill myself if something happened to her.".

Marlon's heart softened. A heartfelt concern for a defenceless child, not greed for self protection stood in front of him. The two of them would make good additions to the group, as in return for keeping Suzie safe, the man would probably work on physical jobs that suited his race most. "Alright, but on one condition." "Name it.". "In return for the safety we provide you and the girl, I expect you to use your physical talents to better the group.". "O-ok." the man "My name's Aaron, by the way.". "Marlon." he said to Aaron, as he sent him an invitation. With a bit of Freya's help, they both joined the syndicate. Their information sheets appeared for Marlon to browse.

•••

Name: Aaron Sikes

Race: Dwarf

Profession: [None]

Alliance: The United Hanul Syndicate

Level: 1

Strength: 15

Speed: 8

Intelligence: 8

•••

Marlon whistled sharply. An incredibly high strength stat was exactly what they needed. Aaron's role would be imperative to the the team. "What did you get from the chests?" Marlon asked. "Oh, I got this awesome hammer, and this cool hat" Aaron said, while willing them to be displayed.

(Iron Dwarf Hammer - Heavy Weapon - Uncommon Grade

A dwarven hammer forged with pure iron. It also can be used to generate a small earthquake with it's skill.

Hammer:

Damage: +3

Trembling Rocks:

Damage: 20 (area) Cost: 15 stamina )

Marlon was pleasantly surprised by the item. It was a huge swinger, and it even had a mini-spell attached. He had a thought. 'Hey, how is damage calculated?' he imagined into his help section. [Yet another amazing question! You seem to have adapted to this situation very well. The others, however, now let me tell yo-] 'Let you not, kid. I only have 5 minutes, remember?' [Geez, no need to be so rude (｡ŏ﹏ŏ).] "Did you just send me an emoji? Not important. Just answer my question, and we can talk later."

[... ; I like you. Maybe we will have a talk later. Or maybe you will be eaten by the bear! Both would be good fun! Anyhow, back to your question. Your damage is calculated by adding the damage bonus from your weapon to your strength stat. Of course, with spells it's the intelligence stat. Speed calculates your dodge chance and how quickly you move, how quickly you get tired, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. It doesn't really effect your attacks directly.] 'At last.'. "H-hey, Marlon!" it was Freya. "A-are you okay? You zoned out for a while..." "I was just chatting to sky baby." Marlon replied. He informed them of the recent developments of his knowledge on the world. "Honestly, I was wondering that myself." Aaron said. "Let's look at Suzie's stats." Marlon said as he pulled up her menu.

•••

Name: Suzie Sikes

Race: Human

Profession: [None]

Alliance: The United Hanul Syndicate

Level: 1

Strength: 3

Speed: 9

Intelligence: 21

•••

Marlon's jaw dropped. An intelligence stat of 21?!? "How old is she?" murmured Marlon. "7..." said Aaron, also deeply in shock. "And you didn't know?" questioned Freya. "Nope." Aaron shook his head. "Suzie never got to go to school. I was homeschooled, and when Mum and Dad split up, they didn't have time to educate her. I never had a clue..."