After getting everything set up for my tiering up, Astrid wasn't all that far behind. It took less than a day for the Frosted Lumberjack to reach the same point that I was. We ended up hunting down a couple of monsters just to help her speed up the process. Still, that didn't mean we were about to see the first tier 2 among us.
I explained everything that I had learned to her and to Michael. After it, she tried talking with her own System. She wanted to see if there was anything else that was missing. There wasn't, and the Frosted Lumberjack wanted to keep doing what she was doing. A type of class that could enhance her physical attributes while also giving her some ice-based attacks. She really enjoyed the theme and decided to go along with it, at least for now.
One thing that we ended up discovering was that since her class was already connected to the Frosted Axe, and the axe in itself was considered being a tier 2 item, she could use it as a base for her evolution. Her class would be connected to the axe, or at least she would get an option to continue with the class connected to it. If she were without it, her powers would be severely diminished. Alternatively, the System said that it could also create a class similar to the one she had right now, the Frosted Lumberjack, but while there wouldn't be any increase in power, she wouldn't be required to have the weapon in hand to use all her abilities.
She decided to let the axe be the core of her new tier. It was already something that existed at tier 2, being more powerful than we were, although I wasn't really sure how I felt about that. There was one other reason for her insistence on continuing to use the weapon. Apparently, the person who had shown her the location of the axe in the mines was her dad when he was still alive. And although it was not the same weapon that he used, after all that one was destroyed a long time ago, this still felt like something she could use to connect with him.
I couldn't argue with her decision. If it was something related to Pops, I would probably do the same. Not to mention that I couldn't see any negative on her using the weapon to increase her ability. If anything, that's just a benefit as it would speed up the process of her getting to tier 2. Because, while she started off with the quest at only 10% complete, by the end of the day that number had already grown to 12% while my quest was still at the initial percentage of 75%.
Meaning that, without any assistance or doing anything outside of just living, Astrid would be able to reach tier 2 in some time. On the other hand, I didn't have that option. If I ever wanted to reach that point, I would need to go after something.
"Actually, System, can you answer me one thing?" Michael spoke up during the night when we were sleeping by the side of the river. We had just finished talking a bit more about the tier two evolution and something seemed to have sparked an idea in the Improvised Archer's mind. "Since there was a tier one evolution, aren't we able to make a tier two evolution or something?"
As we had agreed, anytime one of us spoke out loud, the question was repeated to everybody just so we knew what the conversation being had was about.
[That is a possibility,] the System replied. [However, System will require the creation of a quest to create a type of skill like that. And said quest can only be given to someone at tier 2. In addition, final result will not be as flexible as evolution being presented to user Cassandra, or Astrid.] my System always referred to me as user, but never did the same when talking about my companions. And the same was true for each individual system. User was only ever used to refer to their 'owner.'
"Not as flexible, but there's still going to have some flexibility?" Michael pressed.
[Yes. Going up a tier will always have some degree of flexibility no matter the method utilized. However, if user uses a skill, the evolution will not be able to utilize something like an external weapon or item to guide the process. Alternatively, if the quest created is related to a specific item, the resulting skill will require the same item in order to finish evolution.]
"Would it be possible to make a skill that is also related to an item? To double dip on the process?" I asked.
[System is unable to confirm that. However, there is a high likelihood of that being possible since System is unable to see any settings that would stop the creating of such skill.] the System replied.
If we managed to find an item that we could replicate and it could also be used to help someone with the evolution from tier one to tier two, we might be able to start mass producing them so more and more people would have the same type of power.
"That is a nice idea but at the same time one that wouldn't have as much benefit right now. But it wasn't something that we could completely dismiss as in the future, a situation like that could happen. Especially if we ended up in a place where people were in danger and could use our help."
"How?" Michael asked with a frown.
"I don't know. Maybe they are being attacked by Eaters almost every day and they need a way to protect themselves? I'm just spit balling here."
Michael paused. "Okay, I know that, and that's an idea. I kind of understand why you would help, but would you be willing to give them the System?"
"Maybe. I don't know. But even if I didn't, and one of you did, that doesn't mean I was going to just ignore everything and not help, you know."
Michael frowned again. "That sounds very different from what you were saying before."
I said, "Well then, I guess I'm a hypocrite. What else do you want from me." I shrugged, and we continued to have our meal in this small clearing in the forest.
Astrid had created the ice triangle to allow us to heat up our food, and it was very cozy to be able to sleep in a more warm environment. Even though I really didn't need the fire for that since the [Pelt Of Frost] was more than enough to warm me up through the night.
All of a sudden, Michael, Astrid, and I heard a noise coming from beyond the barrier of ice. We quickly grabbed our weapons and moved towards one of the smaller openings that we had left in case something was to happen. It was a bit risky but having that piece of the camp existing always made everybody feel more comfortable with the idea of using the icebox. After all, what if a monster or something else were to drop inside? Having a way out could be invaluable.
We slowly walked towards the empty space with Astrid staying behind just in case we needed to open a path to run behind us. It didn't take long for us to notice a group of three people coming from the forest. They didn't look to be all that well rested. As a matter of fact, one of the men was even limping and had a nasty wound on his leg. He was being carried by another man and the third one was in front of them, holding a broken down spear while pointing it in our direction.
But the moment they saw us, instead of anger or anything, they just gasped. "Thank god. Did you come from the village?"
"Which village?" Michael asked with a frown.
"Vantage village," the man in front replied.
"Sorry, we don't know that place," Michael shook his head.
"Wait what?" the man in the front took a step back and asked. "Where are you coming from then?"
"Well, the last place we actually stopped was in Spokane," I replied.
"Okay. But that's," the man paused, "very far."
"We've been following down a road back there for a while," Michael pointed to where we came from.
"The road is up north," the man in front said.
I nodded, "We reached the river and noticed that there was a bridge to the south."
"Are you really not from Malaga?" the man pressed.
"Sorry, we don't even know where you're talking about," Michael shrugged.
"Shit," the man grumbled. "Sorry, I was hoping you were the backup we sent for."
"Why do you need backup?" I asked, still holding my staff just in case they were to try anything. Not that I thought they had any intention of doing that. The wound on the man's leg was too realistic to be just a trap, and these three people didn't seem to be looking at us with any suspicious intent. But I wasn't going to let my initial impressions dictate how I handled this.
"Our village. The village of Vantage was attacked. There was a raid of some weird monster. Some strange spider like creature and it got a lot of people. We were trying to go after them, but they were too fast and the ones that stopped."
"The problem wasn't just that the spider started getting everybody, but they let out some weird poison that made almost the entire village sick. We sent people to Malaga so we could call the doctor, but I don't know if we're going to have enough time. It should take them just a day to get there and back, but it already been a few, and we didn't have any signals that they were coming back." the second man spoke. He was the one supporting the injured man.
"We had another option," the man with the wound said.
"Dude seriously? Are you seriously going to put the life of the village in the hands of a witch?"
"A witch?" I asked, already worried that this man was somehow just treating all women with some power or knowledge as something more than what they were. That happened quite often in the old world. Well.. The old, old world.
But the first man just turned to me and gave me a nod without really showing any hostility. And that really didn't feel like the type of thing someone would do if they were actually thinking that all women were witches.
"Yeah. In the forest, just on the other side of our village, lives a witch. She keeps to herself and grows her own food, but sometimes if people get too sick, they can go there and ask for her help. She has the power to save everyone, but she chooses to save only the ones that she likes. People who give her the right offering or make some sort of deal with her. People say that if you accept her help, it's like selling your soul to the devil. Or that she will one day come back and ask you to pay a price much worse than what you would have to pay if you didn't take her help."
"Stories," the wounded man groaned, causing him and the other to collapse on the ground. His wounds were too severe for him to continue moving like that and by the looks of it, he also had a fever. He was sweating buckets and seemed to be shivering even though it wasn't all that cold. Then again, we were surrounded by giant walls of ice, so that was maybe part of the reason.
"Can you please help him? Do you have any medicine? I swear I'll pay you back when we reach the village."
"We have a few bandages and some herbs, but I'm not sure if we're going to be able to do much more than patch him up," Michael replied before I had the chance to say anything. Then again, I wasn't against helping this man.
We quickly brought him inside with us, basically picking the man up and bringing him into our little ice hut. They asked about the formation, but we just said it was there when we arrived and we were using it to light a campfire while being more or less protected from Eaters. It was a bit risky, but we figured it was worth a shot. After all, we were not going to tell them about the System, especially if we had just met the three.
Eventually, we finished dressing his wounds and made a makeshift splint with a few pieces of wood that were nearby. We also let the three men sleep for the night while the three of us stayed on lookout separately. They were tired and deserved the rest. And by morning, we would go back to their village to see what was going on and if there was anything we could do to help. Not just out of the kindness of our hearts, but because we also wanted to level up and see if we managed to reach tier two soon.