Chapter 3: Corn goes hard

Walking through the fields, Lake was surprised at how big they were. If the farmers here were doing all this by hand, that really highlighted how much of a difference these jobs could make. "I wonder if I can level up thief by taking more corn?" Walking over to a corn plant, Lake took another corn and then he waited for any indication, " Maybe it's not valuable enough to count or because I already stole some corn."

Either way Lake had now acquired the max amount of corn he could carry any more and it would become a burden. Dual wielding his corn Lake continued towards his goal of finding a town. " Look a scarecrow." This was the first thing Lake had seen other than corn. "Maybe I can use it as a vantage point."

As Lake was walking towards the scarecrow he couldn't help but smile, birds had always been his favorite animal, and this sort of confirmed they existed in this world. Stopping in front of the scarecrow, Lake looked at the pole it was attached to.

It had been built into a T shape but it was kind of thin, Lake felt if he tried to climb it it would snap, but he didn't own it so whatever. Setting down his corn Lake carefully pulled himself up to sit on the shoulders of the scarecrow, but he could still only see corn. "Damn this corn is too tall." Lake knew he was going to have to stand up to get a better view, but he didn't want to because if he did, and the pole broke he might get impaled on the surrounding corns. "I'm a man who lives life on the edge." Lake said as he stood up.

Trying to look around without shifting his weight. He could feel the bar he was standing on bending slightly. After looking in the direction he was heading. Lake couldn't see anything so he slowly spun to face the other direction to see what seemed to be thatch roofs in the distance. "So I went the wrong direction."

Getting down and retrieving his corn Lake got back onto the path and headed in the direction of the houses he had seen. After a few hundred steps Lake heard some rustling in the corn. Freaked out that someone might of spied on him stealing corn, Lake said. "Is anyone there?" With no reply "It's probably a bird or something." But then he remembered the scarecrow "It can't be a bird, not this close."

Walking towards the sound, Lake saw a rat had climbed up onto a ear of corn and was eating. Not wanting to disturb him, Lake turned back to leave, but then he heard a squeak, and without even looking back Lake started to run. He could feel the tone in the rat's voice and it wasn't good. After he got back on the path he risked a glance over his shoulder, and he had been right, The rat was chasing him.

Switching to turbo gear, Lake ran as hard as he could Lake gripped his corn so he wouldn't drop it; But he felt the way he gripped his corn was nostalgic somehow. "It's like those baton pass races from elementary school." Saying this gave Lake a brilliant idea. Turning around, Lake screamed. "Eat this corn!" And threw his corn at the rat; It was a direct hit. [New job acquired Tamer] "Tamer that's useless." Seeing the rat continue coming, Lake was sure the taming attempt had failed.

Trying again Lake threw his other corn; missing Lake was devastated, now he was unarmed and seeing how fast the rat was Lake was sure it was going to get him, his only option was to fight. Making his hands into fists Lake entered a combat pose, And as soon as the rat entered range, Lake stomped and then kept stomping, after the third stomp Lake felt a gross sensation of stomping on a dead rat, and knew he had won. [New job acquired Exterminator]

With victory washing over him Lake started scraping his foot into the dirt to clean it. He had only won because the rat was much smaller than him. That had been quite nasty but looking at his stats Lake was impressed with his spoils.

Name: Lake Fuller

Race: Human Lv.1

Job: Thief Lv.0 3/5

Special: The Insider Lv.0

Stats historical

Health 10

Stamina 10

Mana 10

Strength 1

Endurance 1

Agility 1

Dexterity 1

Perception 1

Intelligence 1

Charisma 1

He had almost leveled up from this rat he killed, and if his only form of combat wasn't his bare foot he would be seeking his next victim. After being defenseless this time, Lake's thirst for power had reached a peak. From now on he would do anything to get stronger, nothing mattered anymore, as long as he didn't have to stomp a rat with his bare foot ever again. "I must finish my Quest." Lake looked in the direction of town and knew everything would change for him there.