The World of Tactics

Chapter Six I: Afternoon Stream Chase

"Vulnerary has no specific main ingredients. In truth, a vulnerary is just an extraction of herbs that can heal the body. The liquid inside will be extracted depending on the herb's potency. The liquid would be either diluted with water or diluted with other herbs that have a higher potency. There were also standards to follow and the same could be said for almost all vulnerary. Otherwise, it could be different if there were a special request for higher healing vulnerary. However, the cost for such costs was also several times higher as well." Recorded within pamphlets sold to new adventurers and such.

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It was two hours ever since their previous battle. John Smith had gained quite the amount of experience which is comparable to a few days walking straight. The one that gained the most experience was Goon, his phantom goblin. Goon was a good name for his minions, the thought of it was pretty cool because he now had a goon under him and was like a thug that is good at taking hits. Goon fit for his phantom goblin and it was time to give 'it' a name anyway. He is quite bothered by the 'N/A' messages that he kept getting during the previous battle. It was a good opportunity anyway.

As for the second and third, he names them similarly. Their names were Goon Two and Goon Three. It was brilliant because they are the souls of goblins and it just fits them perfectly. He also soon forgot about the goblins that were dead from before. The walk is already exhausting. The nearing the first hour of walking and his depressing mood was replaced with a tired mind. It was especially bad since the sun is high above and is grilling his body of water. The second hour was much worse since he felt that his body was finally out of the water and he badly wanted something to drink.

He was tempted to ask Lawrence and the others for a drink but seeing how the four were getting farther and farther ahead without drinking. He felt embarrassed to ask for water from the four. Then, he finally heard something. It was the crispy sound of water. All that he had in mind was just water, and water finally appeared. Even so, he did not break the formation and he knew that it was vital that he stayed inside since he already had some previous knowledge and some potential danger he could be in. He also knows that his movement is one point less than the five, so it was a better choice to be closer to the four when a battle starts.

It was only when he saw that Lawrence did the same sign language when taking a break like yesterday that was he able to smile. The stream that he saw was just before he had small rocks that bedded the stream. The water was completely clear and crisp just like its sound. He was amazed by how clear the water was. The water that he had drunk in his previous life was as distinguished and as clear as this stream of water. However, he had never seen such clear water out in the wilderness like this. The best he had seen was the filtered down water that was produced by the gigantic filtering machine that filters huge gallons of water at the same time.

Even then, compare this natural clear water. He could not help but rub his eyes. This kind of water was only made available to the rich and each gallon cost billions. Before he could even wade into the stream. The four had already taken off their armors and got a cold shower. Now that he thought of it, he too had not been showering for the last two days. He could tell that he stunk quite a bit. The clothing that he had worn for the past few days was also stinky as well. He had forgotten even the most basic hygiene after going through life and death battles.

He hurriedly took off his clothing and left his underpants on. The kind of underpants that he wore was now the new trend and he too had to keep up with this world's trends. The garb was just a long cloth that went around the waist to cover his private parts. The only thing that kept the garb on was the string cord that was sewed on to hold the garb fast when tied together around the waist. When tied, the underpants would be long enough that they would cover the front and the back of private parts.

Overall, it was a good trend. It covers everything properly and gives him a good amount of air circulation and not only that. It was made from some sort of stretchy material which was pretty thin but was good to have when wearing a full set of tight-fitting clothing that he is currently wearing now. Setting aside his dirty clothing, he made his way into the stream that was crystal clear. He did not go to the deeper part downstream where the four were. He went a bit upstream and settled on the place that fitted his height.

As someone who is not good at swimming, being a bit cautious will incur no loss and bring about more benefits. Just like now, the cold water was hard to go in at first because it was cold. After dipping inches by inches, he was able to settle down and sit. The water level when he sat was just at his stomach. He was a bit more cautious and settled down in a place that was just above his knee level. He got into the stream of the water safely and got the benefit of cooling off the heat that he got from the sun.

Then again, he just could not help but try to drink the water. He knew that there would be a lot of bacteria and other nasty stuff, but the temptation was strong. Before he knew it, he had swallowed some water that came upstream. The taste of water was just like its sound and appearance. Almost like carbonated water without any bitterness. Since the taste was not funky, he took the second gulp and tasted a bit bitter before his mouth began to taste a much sweeter aftertaste. Before he could continue fulfilling his thirsty desire, he got a notification message.

[Due to drinking a mouthful of diluted water that was immersed in a long period of herb roots. Heals 1 HP.]

It was not expected, but this just gave him another excuse to drink some more. After the third mouthful, he still got no notification. Then the fourth mouthful and he got the same notification message again. It seems that he had to drink at least two mouthfuls before the water healed him. What made him much happier was that his wounds that had been aching for the last two hours started to become much fainter. The cool water did numb the pain some bit and with the healing water, he felt almost no pain whatsoever. Thus, he did not doubt the water quality and continued to fulfill his thirty desires.

By the time he came out of the water, the pain had disappeared. His health bar has also fully recovered. He engraves the benefits and the location of this stream down into his head for future use. The water has such amazing effects that it could help recover health points. That also means that the herb used in making vulnerary is also plenty upstream to create such an effect on the water. He had also noted that if he ever were nearby and was in an emergency condition,

Likewise, if he ever had a money problem. It is good to know that there are plenty of herbs upstream. He could harvest the herbs and sell them for a few coins. Preferably, he would not want to harvest any of the herbs as the water here already had a godly healing property. Harvesting some of the herbs might be detrimental to the stream of water here. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw a few batches of long strand grasses that were growing along the other side of the stream.

It looks somewhat familiar to something he saw while reading some books on herbs. The book's illustrations look almost the same as the ones on the strand of the grass patch. The curious man could not help but check what it was. As expected, the moment he pulled a stand out, he got a notification message that read:

[Herb Batch: Heals 4~5 HP when used in battle. Depending on the amount used, multiply the effect by the amount used. (1/10 Carry)]

From the notification, he was able to infer some sort of information. This kind of herb is amazing. This herb would have been considered a top-quality medicine compared to his previous world medicine. High tech comes with high-quality medicine that would completely heal internal and external injuries, like nothing, at a high cost. However, this strand of herb batch was equivalent to one-third of the high-quality medicine. Putting three strands together, then, would have been equivalent to having a high-quality treatment that completely recovers injuries.

This world is truly amazing to have such potent herbs like this lying around the side of a random stream. Seeing the huge patches of strands of herb batch like this. He felt that it was inconceivable, but this would explain why the water would have such ridiculously healing properties after just two glugs. After pulling nine more strands, just like the note at the end, he was only able to stack them up to ten. After that, he had to use another inventory space to store the next amount of herb batch. However, that was fine. He had quite the amount after harvesting some more.

He did not go too far and had only gathered up to three stacks and left the other half of the remaining patch of herbs in its place. He got enough to last him for quite a while and if he harvested anymore he would feel quite uncomfortable. But, his mind blanked when he turned up the stream. He had not noticed because of the distance but at a closer look. The two sides of the stream were covered in much bigger strands of herb patches covering the streamside like it was the cabbages that were found everywhere within the market. This, though, was much more than that. Looking way upstream, he could see that the herb batches continued lining up on the two sides of the stream.

He almost choked on his saliva. In comparison to this small patch of herb batches, he began to feel a lot more comfortable and left nothing on the remaining half. This small patch was nothing compared to the gazillion lines of patches of herb batches upstream. In total, he now has six stacks along with a remaining stack of five herb batches. If it were to be counted individually, he would have a total of sixty-five herb batches. He got quite a good number of herb batches. He no longer has to worry as much in battles now, because he can now afford to be hit. However, that is as long as his health points are not zero before then. Then he could easily recover.

Seeing that the soldiers had fun recouping from the hot sun through the cool stream. He quickly wore his clothing even though his underpants were still wet. This, he did not mind being a little bit uncomfortable. This would help him cool off until the next day or so, which is a plus because he did not know if they would get to the capital on time. Not to mention, there might not be another stream to cool off or shower until he is content like that.

While waiting for the four to gear up, he examines the wooden clubs that he picked up from the dead goblin. The weapon reads:

[Wooden Club (Crude): Might +1, Hit +70, Crit +5, Weight=6.9, Durability: 20/25]

[Wooden Club (Crude): Might +1, Hit +66, Crit +4, Weight=6.3, Durability: 14/25]

[Wooden Club (Crude): Might +1, Hit +68, Crit +2, Weight=6.5, Durability: 16/25]

[A weapon made by a goblin. The workmanship was crude, but it was steadfast and durable. Not repairable. (Axe)]

He had always thought that weapons would have the same statistics because he was used to seeing such things. There might be something in play with the goblin's wooden clubs. On a brief look, the wooden clubs might look similar. However, as he took the time to judge the three wooden clubs. He saw that the three wooden structures have their unique structure. For example, the very first wooden club was made while having a few more knots.

The club looks like those old wooden baseball bats that he used to see in Holo-Pix [1]. The handle size was just enough for his hand to grab it comfortably. However, what made it dangerous was at the other end of the handle. The other end becomes much bigger than a usual baseball bat. The dangerous part was at least the size of his head. Those ends had a few hardened knots together. He could view the wooden lines of the wooden clubs.

Finally, after the comparison, he noticed the knot structure on the end of the wooden club was what increased the criticism because the first knot had exactly five knots. While the second had four and the last one had two knots. As for them, it might just be a standard one, since it is just dangerous. The hit might be due to the weight of the weapon and/or because of its durability. However, now he knows that weapons depend on the workman's skills and their materials. That is good to know.

He got up from his dirt-cold seat and made his way to the four that had just got dressed. It might have been quite bothersome for soldiers to buckle up in their gear. A while ago, during the walk, he realized that the gear did not even boost any defense at all. If it had boosted defense, it would have shown on their status screen. But, there were no distinct clues as to what the gear did or provided.

The only thing that he could think of was that it might alleviate some pain. Other than that, there was no reason to equip anything at all. Well, it might be to cover the vitals. But, according to his experience, it was not necessary at all. For now, this is a new thing that he must take notes on and experiment with later on.

Just when he got hold of his training lance, he saw that the world paused and the grid lines came back again. It was a battle. This time, the battle was quite big. It was twenty by twenty square. He discovered something unsettling. There was one enemy unit dotted on the map that had a crest that was pixelated into a sort of goblin's head. The crest was so pixelated that the only thing he could grasp from it was just the goblin's head along with the two long pointy ears. The name that touched the side said "HOBGOBLIN." This made him curious, so he touched the said hobgoblin's pixelated figure.

[Name: N/A][Race: Hobgoblin][Level: 24/35][Rank: 0][HP: 20/20]

[STR: 9(16) / [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][][][][][][][] ]

[MAG: 0(8) / [][][][][][][][] ]

[SKL: 3(12) / [1][2][3][][][][][][][][][] ]

[SPD: 6(16) / [1][2][3][4][5][6][][][][][][][][][][] ]

[LCK: 3(20) / [1][2][3][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] ]

[DEF: 10(16) / [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][9][10][][][][][][][] ]

[RES: 2(8) / [1][2][][][][][][] ]

[Hidden: [CON: 8][MOV: 6][SKILL: Axe User][EXP: 5/100][WEA: Axe: C]]

[Equipped: Iron Axe][Iron Axe: Might +5, Hit +55, Crit +6, Weight=10, Durability: 35/45. (Axe)]

The hobgoblin's status screen scared him to the point where he could not comprehend what is what anymore. His defense is hardly anything compared to this hobgoblin's strength and the might of the iron ax that it was wielding. Quick, simple math and it was fourteen in total. In a single skirmish, he would have lost over nine health points. That is the same as cutting up to three-fourths of his health points. Not only that, the defense of the hobgoblin is higher than its strength stat.

He checked the rest of the goblins and the average was around level ten and they had a few more points higher than the goblins in the previous battle. This group of enemies is not something that he can go against. Neither was Lawrence nor were the remaining threes. They must escape. Otherwise, they will all die first. First, he must be calm after. Then figure something out.