Teresa Of All Trades (Book 1 Complete)

Chapter 86: Gilded Barbarian


Sure, they were hoping to encounter someone from a nearby civilization coming out to destroy a Portal, but surely if they took one out first that would leave a good first impression. It might get rid of their element of surprise a little bit, but it's not like they were planning on utilizing that surprise all too much. If there was a nearby civilization and they sucked, then they would probably just leave. If there were some obscene human rights violations going on then they would interfere if possible, but realistically Teresa and her party weren't going to take on thousands of people by themselves.

Besides, there were plenty of Portals to go around.

First things first, Teresa gave <Retaliate> a try. Whenever Teresa used Mana, it came from her Soul. When she used Stamina, it came from her body. In this case, she could tell her HP came from both as what was essentially her lifeforce began to drain. Teresa hoped it wasn't the sort of thing that would reduce her lifespan, but she didn't think it was. She had lost HP plenty of times before, it wouldn't make sense for this spell to make her age or anything along those lines.

Teresa didn't feel all too different. Her HP had dropped, sure, but other than that everything was pretty much the same at first. She felt a little bit tired, but not in the traditional sense. She wasn't exactly sleepy, and she still had energy, rather Teresa felt like something was missing, an energy she never paid any mind to.

What actually was HP? Teresa had always just assumed it was a representation rather than a literal thing. Her HP just represented her physical condition and how close she was to dying, at least that's what she had thought. Judging off the strange sense of energy drainage she felt from <Retaliate>, maybe Teresa had just been wrong. She had barely used the skill, but she was already pretty confident HP was just as much a real thing as Stamina or Mana.

"Hey, you're glowing." Mathew said as a soft red light radiated from Teresa.

"Huh, I am." Teresa replied, in thought. "That might be a problem."

"It makes you more obvious, right?" Mathew asked.

"Yeah, I'm not exactly sneaking around a lot and I doubt I'd use <Retaliate> if I was, but the glow also brings attention to me. Anyone else who knows about <Retaliate> might see me glowing and they'll know what's going on." Teresa explained.

"At least it's not too bad, you look mostly the same." Sarah said. "You've got a bit of a red outline, I'd notice it immediately if I saw someone glowing like that, but at least you're not bright enough to be considered a reliable light source for a normal person."

"That would be really funny if the skill turned you into a giant glow stick." Preston confirmed.

Teresa didn't use up much HP so it wouldn't have that great of an impact, but as she took a few steps pacing she realized a problem. Every step weakened the glow around her body, and after only a few seconds it was gone completely.

"I think it wore off." Teresa said, still feeling more or less the same. She had only consumed 10 HP for that out of 970, so it wasn't too surprising that it didn't last long.

"I can see three Portals from here if you want to <Appraise> them." Sarah said, squinting as scouted around from the top of the hill. "Everything being so open is kind of nice, I think it's growing on me. In the forest you barely knew there was a Portal nearby until you ran into a bunch of monsters, at least this way we aren't getting surprised by it."

"Kind of negates the point of my <Monster Hunt> though." Teresa replied. Oh well, she would have plenty of chances to use it. If they decided to go into any of the caves it would also be pretty damn nice-

Her Soul lurched as a karmic thread was tugged, something was tracking her.

"We're getting Karmic Magic used on us again." Teresa shared.

"Again? Are you sure?" Jake asked.

"Yeah, last time nothing came of it, but we're in the open now. If anything is coming we'll see it." Teresa replied.

"Unless it comes underground, like a giant worm." Preston said.

"Really, did you have to say that? Now there's definitely gonna be giant worms coming out of the ground to eat us." Teresa admonished, <Monster Hunt> already active. Once again she couldn't tell what thread had done the tugging, she just knew the source came from deeper within the Contaminated Zone.

Or across it.

"I think we're fine." Teresa added. "I got a general sense of distance, and whatever is tracking me is pretty damn far away. I think it might be on the opposite side of the Contaminated Zone."

Everyone relaxed, the tension gone just as fast as it arrived. Teresa still didn't know what the hell was tracking her, but it was getting pretty damn annoying. If that happened in the middle of combat, she might get distracted just long enough for it to prove disastrous. Was that what it was like for monsters powerful enough to notice when Teresa was tracking them? No wonder that Spinosaurus had come running to hunt her down, that shit was annoying.

"Let's see what level those Portals are." Teresa said, having Sarah point out the three she spotted. There was a level 51 Portal, a level 38 Portal, and one that was too far away for <Appraise> to work on without getting closer. "Alright, I think I have a plan."

"Let's hear it." Jake replied.

"I'm gonna take out the level 38 as a warmup, then try the level 51 depending on how <Retaliate> feels. Being out in the open changes things a bit, but it shouldn't take too long to get used to it. This is just like taking out Monster Strongholds."

"Two of them? Is that a good idea?" Jake asked. "We are hoping to find people, if you destroy two they might not come out."

"Why wouldn't they?" Teresa asked. "If there is a settlement nearby, they would need to get rid of these Portals sooner rather than later. Radioactive Portals are significantly more dangerous than regular ones after all. Even if they somehow figure out two Portals were destroyed here, they would probably want to check it out."

"That would also make a good first impression." Sarah added. "Though I do think we should be cautious, two might be a bit much."

"Maybe, but at least we'll get points and loot." Teresa responded. "Oh, and experience."

"Alright, how about we take out one and go from there?" Preston said. "Even if it's weak you'll have to take a bit to recover resources in between fights, we can watch for movement during that time."

"Not a bad idea, I'm okay with that." Teresa agreed.

"I want to come with." Jake offered. "For the first one, anyways. I haven't gotten a chance to really use most of my new skills very much."

"Okay, you ready?"

"Yeah."

"Let's go." Teresa turned around, allowing Jake to get a piggyback ride. He was faster now than he used to be, but there was no need to waste time. Teresa cast <Facilitated Restoration> and <Magic Wellspring> on everyone before taking off with Jake, decidedly taking no chances.

She didn't have to hold back while running with Jake, his Fortitude was high enough that he could deal with her activating <Dash> and going from a standstill to full speed in seconds. They sprinted through the open terrain, allowing Teresa to pick up quite a bit of speed. Every time Teresa got the chance to run like this, she loved it. It was a little awkward carrying a dude in metal armor who was taller than her, but that was honestly just a routine she had gotten used to at this point.

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If Simon were there he would probably be ecstatic. There were so many caves and so many ravines, Teresa would have to explore them one day.

"Hang on, you see that?" Teresa asked, looking at something they just passed. Teresa turned around and backtracked until she found what she had noticed.

"See what?"

"Those tracks, on the ground."

"Tracks? What animal- oh." There were in fact tracks on the ground. Not footprints or anything an animal would leave behind, but more like something Teresa would expect from a tank. A literal tank, with a canon and machine gun, not somebody with the class.

"Are those tank tracks?" Jake asked, eyebrows raised.

"I think so."

"Why the fuck are there tank tracks? Do people still have tanks?"

"I mean, Nikolas and his party entered the Tutorial with guns, maybe somebody entered with a tank?" Teresa hypothesised.

"No way, people were driving cars when the Tutorial started and I didn't exactly see any Honda Civics at The Mall."

"Good point, no way they brought a tank in the Tutorial. Maybe somebody built one?"

"Doing that in a week would be absurd. Maybe it was just some sort of vehicle with tracks on the wheels, like a decked out wagon." Jake pondered.

"I guess that would make sense, it might make the travel smoother without a road." Teresa replied. "George's wheelchair has definitely been put through the ringer moving around in a forest, it definitely won't last much longer. If these guys are planning on using a vehicle for an extended period of time, I guess it would kind of make sense they would use tracks. Then again, aren't they supposed to be a pain in the ass to maintain as well?"

"I think you're right, I don't know man." Jake replied. "Can Sarah still see us from here?"

"Yeah, wave at her and see if you can get her attention." Teresa adjusted as Jake began to wave from her back, looking at Sarah. Of course Sarah could still see them, she had been able to spot the Portal after all. Teresa herself could still make out some of Sarah's facial features, and Teresa had less Perception.

Once Sarah was looking at them, they pointed at the ground where the tracks were. Sarah seemed to be looking at the tracks in confusion, surprising Teresa a little at just how nice a high Perception build could be. Once Sarah could improve her range with her bow some more, she would be an absolute menace to fight. Honestly fighting anyone in the party would be a nightmare.

Now that the rest of the party was being made aware of the tracks, it was time to continue on to the Portal. Sarah had a better vantage point and could probably follow where the tracks led with her eyes better than Teresa could.

They arrived at their destination relatively fast, and they didn't get much time to prepare. The monsters had seen them coming from miles away, and there was already a push from a group of the creatures advancing.

{Sandwalker (F+) [Attuned: Radiation] (lv 38)}

The creatures looked like supersized scorpions, roughly the height of a horse. Teresa noted that their names made no sense, there was no sand nearby. The ground was entirely made of porous rock, there was a grand total of zero grains of sand for these Sandwalkers to walk on. These guys got ripped off with their spawn location.

"There's a few things I want to try." Jake said, now standing on his own two feet. "You getting all those skills is making me look bad, I gotta try these things out too."

"You gonna be alright? They're 7 levels higher than you." Teresa asked.

"I'm close to level 32, taking one out should put me over."

"That's still 6 levels."

"I'm a tank with a healer that's 9 levels above them, I'll be fine." He held his goblin axe in hand and raised it towards the enemy, a golden glow forming along the sharp edge of the weapon. Teresa figured she would let him do his thing for a bit before she took over, she wasn't the only one who had things to experiment with.

She stayed back as the group of Sandwalkers approached. A scream similar to an Aztec death whistle sounded out as Jake used <Barbarian Rage>, a skill that temporarily improved physical stats at the cost of mental stats. Jake himself didn't actually scream, the sound came from his Soul. If Teresa was worried about <Retaliate> not being stealthy, then Jake really wouldn't stand much of a chance at being sneaky.

A Sandwalker tripped over seemingly nothing as a <Light Shield> appeared in front of one of its legs, causing it to stumble for just a moment before the magical shield broke. It was an unfortunate reality that Jake's Intelligence and Wisdom were pretty bad, which meant <Light Shield> was empowered only by its own level. As a result, the skill was pretty easy to destroy, but Teresa could see how spawning a wall in front of a rapidly moving target would be effective.

Jake ran forward and swung his axe at the nearest scorpion. The monster stabbed back with its stinger, but Jake was able to cut through it just fine. His axe continued down into the face of the creature, <Gilded Blade> making his strike both sharper and heavier. The first Sandwalker went down, and as expected Jake hit level 32 from the kill.

Another Sandwalker stabbed a stinger at Jake, but he responded by bashing his shield into the stinger. There was nothing visually spectacular about it, but the stinger imploded after making contact. This was the result of <Bulwark Parry>, one of Jake's new skills that reflected damage using a shield. It was a counter attack that required good timing and only used Stamina. Many of Jake's skills had cooldowns, this was no exception.

The skill only lasted for a fraction of a second, but if he used it while blocking an attack with his shield, a portion of the damage would be reflected. If Preston hit it with his sword, the sword would go flying back depending on just how hard Preston swung. He could still keep his grip on the weapon, but it definitely left him open to a counter. When using <Bulwark Parry> on a sword, the force was reflected back to the sword. The interesting thing about using it against a sharp, pointed stinger was the force was reflected from that fine point right back into the stinger, making it an incredibly dangerous skill to use on unarmed opponents who would have the reflected force go right into their body.

The injured Sandwalker recoiled as its stinger was destroyed, and another took its place before Jake could finish it off. <Light Shield>, <Gilded Blade>, and <Bulwark Parry> were all still on cooldown meaning Jake had to use something different. His <Barbarian Rage> used a little bit of Mana to activate, but it continuously ran on Stamina, and it was still active.

Jake bunkered down behind his shield for a moment as a Sandwalker stabbed at him repeatedly. Yet another got close in this time frame, and this one had the bright idea of trying to trample Jake. It lunged forward, slamming its full body weight into Jake's shield.

Jake was pushed back but remained standing, sliding along the ground as the Sandwalker tried to topple him. The stinger reached around and stabbed into Jake's waist, but it didn't get very deep. With the stinger occupied in his body, Jake moved his shield aside and activated <Heavy Strike>. It was a simple skill that took Stamina and improved a single melee attack's power at the cost of making it slower. Jake raised his axe and pushed down, his blade descending upon his opponent that couldn't get out of the way.

The axe split the creature's head apart, killing it instantly. He followed up with another completely regular swing of his axe at another Sandwalker, cutting into a leg before being tackled. The scorpion bit him with its mandibles, but Jake was able to follow up with another swing that slammed into the creature's back. The monster collapsed to the ground, paralyzed as Jake finished it off with another blow.

Teresa let this continue until he had taken out five on his own, at which point he began to get overwhelmed from pure numbers. It was time for her to step in, he had done a pretty damn good job considering he had very limited experience fighting solo.

Wave after wave of shotgun <Embers> began eradicating the group, finishing off the vast majority of them in seconds. With all of them focused on Jake, it was pretty easy to get up close and blast them apart with her magic. Just like that, the initial confrontation was over.

"Thanks." Jake panted, hands on his knees as he caught his breath. "For letting me try that and for the save."

"No worries, you mind if I take the rest of them?"

"Be my guest."

All that was left were the Sandwalkers at the Portal. There were somewhere between 60 and 80 of them left, all at various levels. That wouldn't be too big of a deal, especially considering their radiation attunement seemed to only affect their melee attacks. Teresa wouldn't let them get that close.

Let's see, how much HP should I use? Teresa thought as she activated <Retaliate> for a quick boost. It was her first time using the skill in combat, she should probably take it slow and only use a little bit of HP. Not too much, it was better to be on the safe side of things.

Over half of Teresa's health vanished as she chose to deposit 500 out of 970 HP into <Retaliate>. She definitely felt it this time, a huge surge of energy from both her Soul and her body was glowing around her, she looked like a neon light in the daytime. She decided she would open up with just regular old <Embers> to see how it worked, it was something simple with a good point of reference.

A single stream of fire shot out towards the group of monsters, far more red than normal fire. The stream completely melted through multiple Sandwalkers at once, primarily the lower level monsters. She waved her arm in a slow, horizontal motion as the monsters tried to charge her. They were too late, her fire completely incinerated most monsters that were struck by it. Only the higher end Sandwalkers were left alive after just ten seconds of using <Embers>. Even then, they were incredibly injured and rendered immobile.

Teresa giggled as she thought about the implications of this. If this was what a tiny bit of HP could do, only half of it, what would happen if she used 90% of it at once? One thing was for certain, Teresa was plenty happy with her new resource pool.

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