Chapter 15: Fake It Till You Make It!

"Look, if this is still about me hitting your butthole earlier, I think we’ve both suffered enough."

The Griffin growled.

Screech!

"Okay, okay! You’re clearly not over it!" Zishan replied with both hands on his waist.

Meanwhile, the Griffin’s attention suddenly shifted away from him. She looked toward the supply wagon.

Zishan followed her gaze. And his Appraisal Skill activated again.

[Artificial Nest-Scent.]

[Material: Processed Highland Griffin nesting residue.]

[Purpose: Hostile Redirection.]

[Trace Origin: Foreign Military Alchemical Preparation.]

Apparently, the Kingdom of Degenerates had taken material from the Griffin’s nest, prepared it somehow, and planted the scent around Olmost’s rear medical station. The Griffin had followed the trail believing whoever was here had also taken her eggs.

Whether her eggs were actually still inside her nest or had been moved somewhere else, Zishan did not know. What mattered was that Olmost had apparently been framed.

He pointed toward the wagon. "HEY! BIG BIRDY GIRL!"

The Griffin looked at him.

Zishan immediately lowered his voice slightly. "Actually, maybe don’t call her that right now..."

Then, he pointed again. "We don’t have your eggs! Smell that thing!"

The Griffin did not move.

Zishan looked at Maela. "Do Griffins understand people?"

"S-Some understand speech better than others," Maela said, struggling to breathe. "How are you still fine even after all that?"

"Do I look like I am? I probably stink right now!" He lowered his head and saw that most of his upper wear had been torn apart. He immediately covered himself like some predator was trying to eat him. "Oh no! So much of my skin is showing! Don’t look at me! Don’t look!"

"You’re getting weirder and weirder the more I talk with you," Maela remarked as she ignored him completely.

Zishan also ignored her as he grabbed a torn piece of the tent and wrapped it around himself. He then looked back at the Griffin and screamed, "THE PEOPLE WHO PUT THAT SHIT HERE ARE OVER THERE!"

Zishan pointed east. "The Kingdom of Degenerates! Those assholes made you think we stole your eggs! But we actually didn’t!"

The Griffin stared at him. Then, she looked toward the wagon again. After several seconds, she slowly approached it.

Everyone near the wagon immediately moved away.

The Griffin lowered her head and smelled the strange substance underneath the frame. She stayed there for several moments before a deep growl came from her throat.

He activated his Appraisal Skill and found out that there was something new!

[Nest-Scent recognition confirmed.]

[Foreign additives detected by target.]

[Hostility focus shifting.]

Zishan’s eyes brightened. "Oh! Oh! She gets it! She finally gets it!"

The Griffin raised her head. Her golden eyes moved toward the eastern front. Then, she looked back at Zishan. Her stare lingered on him longer than he considered necessary.

Zishan’s smile became awkward. "The butthole thing I did doesn’t have to affect our future relationship."

The Griffin growled.

"Right. We’re never going to be friends." He sighed, looking dejected.

"What is he on about?" Maela looked at the kid. "He’s been acting really strange. Does he have something in his brain? I swear the kid wasn’t like this before."

Zishan’s lips twitched. "I can hear you, you know!"

The Griffin looked at him one last time and opened her wings.

The smaller Magic Beasts circling above the station immediately began moving around her.

Zishan stepped back.

With one powerful beat of her wings, the Griffin launched herself into the air. The other beasts followed, and within moments, the entire group had turned toward the eastern battlefield.

They flew toward the Kingdom of Degenerates.

Zishan watched them disappear. "I think we just redirected somebody else’s problem back to them."

Then, he slumped to the ground, butt-first. "Thankfully, my acting worked!"

"Acting?" Maela asked, curious.

"Yeah! This is what they say: fake it till you make it! If that female Griffin decided to attack us again, I wouldn’t be able to hold it. I was just acting tough to get it to leave and think that it would be pointless to fight me because it would lead her nowhere! Well, just like normal animals, that one was fooled. Bird brain!"

Maela looked at him and thought, ’This kid had so many ideas that it baffles me whether they are brilliant or not. Moreover, looking at his body, some of the cuts and bruises he had gotten earlier were already fading much faster than they should have. Does he have some self-healing Skill as I do?’

[DING!]

Zishan’s eyes widened.

[EMERGENCY QUEST COMPLETE]

[Defend the Medical Station!]

[Highland Griffin successfully repelled.]

[Medical station protected.]

[Cause of aggression resolved.]

[Hostile beast-redirection tactic exposed.]

[Settlement processing...]

His exhaustion immediately became significantly less important. ’COME ON! COME ON! MAKE IT PERMANENT! DON’T YOU DARE TAKE THOSE LEVELS BACK!’

[SETTLEMENT CONFIRMED]

[EXP: 4,500 — SETTLED]

[Level: 10 — CONFIRMED]

[+20 STR — PERMANENT]

[+10 AGI — PERMANENT]

[Wind Mana Affinity — PERMANENT]

[Stormwing Rend — PERMANENT]

Then, another System panel appeared.

[Stormwing Rend]

[Tier: Form]

[Perfected Glimpse: Removed]

[True Mastery: Beginner]

[Residual Insight: Retained]

The perfect understanding disappeared.

Zishan immediately felt the difference. He still remembered the way Stormwing Rend was supposed to work, but the effortless corrections that had guided every movement during the Quest were gone.

If he tried to reproduce what he had just done, he knew it would be much harder.

However, that was a problem for tomorrow. His attention was focused on something else.

[Level: 10]

His grin became enormous.

"LEVEL 10!"

He had been Level 1 several minutes ago.

One Quest had moved him through nine entire Levels.

He had also gained twenty-seven distributable Stat Points simply from leveling, on top of the direct rewards from the Quest.

Zishan could feel himself becoming emotional. ’I love this System!’

[Statement recorded.]

His expression immediately changed. ’Delete that.’

[No.]

’DELETE IT! OR ELSE I’LL KILL MYSELF RIGHT NOW!’

Someone grabbed the back of the tent’s portion he wrapped around himself before he could continue arguing. Zishan turned and found Maela standing directly behind him.

She looked exhausted.

The barrier she had been maintaining was gone, and several strands of hair had fallen across her face during the attack. However, none of that made the expression she was giving Zishan any less uncomfortable.

He also just noticed how she looked at the moment. ’She looked even older.’

"Were you always this powerful? Are you trying to fool us?" Maela asked, her eyes darting over him.

Zishan stared back at her.

Then, she continued, "You were running for your life from ordinary soldiers the last time. I watched you nearly trip over yourself several times just moving around the medical station. Now you fought a Level 50 Griffin and used its own Skill against her. Do you have a Skill where you can copy others’ Skills? Moreover, how did you suddenly become Level 10?!"

Maela completely lost it.

Zishan scratched the side of his face.

There was technically a very simple explanation for everything that just transpired.

The problem was that the explanation involved telling Maela that a strange System inside him could give him rewards before he earned them, which did not sound like something a person should casually explain to somebody he had met less than a day ago.

"I wasn’t this strong just minutes ago," he said.

Maela stared at him.

And before she could say something, somebody tugged on Zishan’s shirt.

He looked down. The little boy he had saved stood beside him. His bright blue hair was covered in mud, and his green eyes were staring up at Zishan with so much admiration that Zishan became slightly uncomfortable.

"You saved me," the boy said, still holding onto Zishan’s clothes as if he was afraid Zishan might suddenly disappear.

Zishan’s expression softened. "Well, of course I did. What was I supposed to do? Let that thing carry you away?"

"You fought the Griffin too!"

"Uh-huh!"

"You used her own Skill against her!"

Zishan’s chest slowly began rising.

Maela immediately noticed. "Don’t encourage him."

The boy did not care and continued, "You’re really strong! Really strong!"

Zishan placed one hand on the boy’s head. "Finally, somebody here appreciates me."

"He’s a Level 10," Maela said.

The boy looked at her. Then, he looked back at Zishan.

Instead of becoming less impressed, his eyes widened even more. "You’re only Level 10?!"

Zishan’s chest rose higher.

Maela closed her eyes. Clearly, she felt frustrated.

"Amazing! You fought a Level 50 Griffin when you’re just Level 10! Truly amazing!"

"Exactly! You’re not bad, kid!" Zishan happily agreed as he ruffled the boy’s bright blue hair. "You have a great eye and understand what greatness truly is!"

The boy nodded several times before realizing something. "By the way, sir, I’m Oliver Finnly. Everyone calls me Ollie. Healer Maela calls me Ollie, too!"

"Ollie," Zishan repeated. He stared at the boy for a moment before smiling. "I’m Zishan, kid."

Ollie blinked. "I know! People have been saying that you ran away from the enemies before, but they’re wrong! You are actually very strong! They must have been mistaken! Or it could be you’re a hidden expert or something!"

Ollie’s eyes looked like shining stars, his little hands balled against his chest.

Zishan was about to say another thing when he realized the silence around him. Nobody else was speaking. There was only him and the little kid, Ollie.

"..."

"..."

He turned around. The healers were staring at him. The auxiliaries were also staring at him. Even the soldiers who had remained behind were staring at him.

Several wounded patients had dragged themselves into positions where they could see what had transpired outside.

The cavalryman he had helped earlier was sitting on one of the cots with his injured shoulder wrapped, staring at Zishan as though he was reconsidering the entire conversation they had earlier.

One assistant still held a roll of bandages without realizing he had stopped using it. Another had apparently forgotten that she was carrying a metallic bowl.

Zishan looked around, bewildered. "...What?"

Nobody answered.

He turned toward Maela. "Why is everyone staring at me?"

Maela looked toward the destroyed barricades, the Griffin feathers scattered across the ground, the deep cuts left behind by Stormwing Rend, and the large stretch of mud where Zishan had somehow fought a Level 50 Magic Beast after spending most of the day somehow being both useful and completely incompetent as an auxiliary.

Then, she looked back at him. "I genuinely don’t understand what the hell you are."

Zishan thought deeply about that as he raised his head to the sky.

He was a transmigrator. He had a System. He apparently had two different Bloodline-related powers now, although one was technically only a fragment. He had even awakened Life Mana less than an hour ago and had just gained nine Levels before he even started fighting the Griffin.

Moreover, he had stolen a Griffin’s Skill, used it against the magic beast, rammed a broken piece of wood straight beneath her tail, and then convinced her to attack the enemy Kingdom instead.

Zishan looked at Maela, scratching the back of his head. "...Medical support? He... hehe? Eh?"

"..."

✦ ═〔 PRECEDENCE 〕═ ✦

[STATUS] (Updated)

Name: Zishan Walker

Race: Human

Level: 10

Ascent: Unascended

Experience: 0 / 1000

Mana: 10 / 90

[BASIC STATS]

<anno data-annotation-id="09ad3e74-cbb9-1299-a73d-32a1a6ea3c56" data-title="STR: 31">STR: 31¹</anno>

VIT: 41

<anno data-annotation-id="b6c268b4-a439-d389-df69-3fa031c7eed6" data-title="AGI: 32">AGI: 32¹</anno>

PER: 28

INT: 27

WIL: 10

Distributable Stat Points: 27

[MAGIC]

Mana Affinity(ies): Life, Wind

Magic Profession(s): None

[BLOODLINES]

Main Bloodline: Unidentified

Grade: Unreadable

State: Dormant (Partially Active)

Other Bloodline(s):

(1) Ashen Banner Bloodline

Grade: Vestige

State: Active

Status: Permanent

Description: A Bloodline born from the accumulated Mana, will, fear, rage...

(2) Eternal Wellspring Bloodline (Fragment)

Grade: Unreadable

Description: An ancient Bloodline tied to a forgotten source known...

Awakened Springs: 1 / 9

Current Spring: First Spring — Vital Source

Maximum Mana: +30

VIT: +10

Primary Trait: Enhanced Vital Recovery

Secondary Trait: Life Affinity

Passive Effect: Mana Recovery +25%

Second Spring: Sealed

Additional Traits: Locked

[PHYSIQUE]

Main Physique: Unknown

Grade: Unreadable

Measurement: Failed

Other Physique(s): None.

[SKILLS]

Trace-Tier Skill(s):

(1) Rift Steps

Mastery: Proficient

Status: Permanent

Form-Tier Skill(s):

(1) Appraisal

Mastery: Beginner

Status: Permanent

(2) Verdant Weave

Mastery: Beginner

Status: Permanent

(3) Stormwing Rend

Mastery: Beginner

Status: Permanent

<annotations style="display: none;">+20+10</annotations>