Relentless Potential (Original Fantasy)

A/N: Into the Darkwoods!

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The Darkwoods, paradoxically, both are and aren't what Thomas expected. On the one hand, they are dark and mysterious. On the other hand, they aren't quite as foreboding and pitch black as he'd initially feared… at least not close to the edge like this.

Indeed, this close to Last Hope, the Darkwoods are more beautiful than scary, with there still being enough gaps in the canopy overhead to allow some of the natural sunlight through, creating pockets of light amidst otherwise dusky forest floor.

Deeper into the Darkwoods, it probably did get darker and darker, admittedly. From Last Hope one could see trees the size of skyscrapers, looming high off dozens if not hundreds of miles in the distance. Those big, massive trees that made up the Darkwoods' heart, or so it was assumed, were probably a lot better at keeping the sunlight from reaching the ground.

Of course, there are also glittering blue lights flickering around from time to time, casting everything in a blue glow and if they existed deeper into the Darkwoods as well, they might keep the place from being truly pitch black. These, Thomas has been told, are actually living creatures akin to insects which fuel the magical lanterns that hold the Rotlands at bay.

However, they're quite easy to find and collect, and they last for years without needing to be replaced, so they aren't as much of a priority today as the potion ingredients. Speaking of which, using the instructions that Arnold gave, Thomas stays on the lookout, trying to keep an eye out for the plant life that he's supposed to be collecting.

They walk for about ten minutes before finding the first of it… a purple flower that Thomas stops and carefully collects, slipping it into the leather satchel that the Apothecary had outfitted him with before they left. All the while, Camilla looms close by, wordless and silent as he works.

… He really doesn't know what to make of the warrior woman, truth be told. They're far enough from town by now that if she wanted to, she could end him in a second and make up any sort of story she liked about how he met his demise. The fact that she isn't… well, it bodes well, right?

Indeed, if he can prove himself to her on this trip, then maybe she'll actually train him in how to fight… and if she trains him, Thomas is confident that he can get skilled enough quickly enough for it to make all the difference. The labor he's been doing every day is already showing gains after all, and there are other ways he plans to further test his Gift and its limits once this expedition proves successful as well.

The biggest thing is that there shouldn't BE a limit to what his Gift can give him. Relentless Potential is supposed to be just that, after all. Although he might eventually hit soft caps if he finds himself not being challenged anymore. Then again, the wording of his Gift didn't mention being challenged, it only mentioned striving for more… right?

Well, either way, Thomas wasn't going to give up now. Back on Earth he'd been a fat, lazy sack of shit who let the world pass him by and drowned himself out in fictional worlds and a variety of different forms of entertainment. Working out had been too hard. Eating healthy and in moderation had been even harder.

Arriving in this world, all of that was turned on its head. Suddenly, the gains he received from working hard and laboring day in and day out were far more noticeable and fast-paced than he ever could have hoped for back on Earth. Meanwhile, the food here wasn't packed with preservatives and copious amounts of sugar and sodium. Thanks to Eloise's Gift of Cooking, it was as delicious as it was hearty, as tasty as it was healthy.

Basically, he might have lost a lot of quality of life features from back home, and in some ways living in Last Hope was living on hard mode compared to his previous world… however, the opposite was also true. Living in this world in general was practically easy mode compared to living on Earth, at least when it came to his own personal betterment and health.

Thomas had always struggled with motivation. He'd never considered himself to be very ambitious either. And yet… for the first time in his life, he found himself grinding something that wasn't just the latest story with five hundred chapters or video game with a thousand hours of content. He found himself grinding something truly worthwhile…

He and Camilla move through the Darkwoods wordlessly but not quite silently. Every twig Thomas breaks makes him cringe a little bit, even as he keeps his head on a swivel and one hand free to grab his spear at any moment. Camilla follows in his wake, moving quieter than he does but with far less care in her movements.

And why should she care? Could anything in this outer part of the Darkwoods even threaten a woman like her? Watching the Knight Bachelorette slaughter those goblins the other day had been like watching an exceptionally violent art piece. Her every movement, every sword swing, every blow… had made for a symphony of bloodshed.

Thomas didn't doubt for even a moment that Camilla could kill anything in these woods that came at them… but at the same time, he did wonder if she would bother killing anything that came at him.

Suffice to say, he isn't about to rely on her for such a thing, even if that is supposed to be the whole point of her. Instead, Thomas keeps one eye on the ground, looking for the ingredients that Arnold wants him to gather, and another on the surroundings, including the trees overhead.

There were no skyscraper-sized trees here, but they were still getting taller the deeper that he and Camilla went. As well, Thomas had heard that the Giant Spiders which sometimes crawled out of the Darkwoods liked to spin their webs in the tops of said trees, so he was very much keeping an eye out for anything white and sticky… the last thing he wanted to do was have a massive fucking arachnid of all things get the jump on him.

Frankly, he'd prefer goblins or wolves over larger-than-they-should-be spiders, thank you very much.

But really… it's surprisingly quiet, even as the satchel at his side gets increasingly fuller. Checking things off of Arnold's list and finding everything the Apothecary needs one after another is honestly as fulfilling as gaining another bit of muscle mass from spending a day helping Beatrice make nails or doing a dozen trips of carrying water from the well to all across town.

Fortunately, nothing that the aging Apothecary wanted him to gather is particularly rare. It was never about not being able to find these things, but rather about being able to get to them. Thomas and Camilla are almost an hour into the Darkwoods now, and if a man as old as Arnold had made the trip out here, not only would it have taken him twice or even thrice as long, he would have probably attracted far more attention doing so.

Despite having secretly selfish reasons for all of this, it does do Thomas' heart a bit good to be helping Arnold, Eloise, and all of Last Hope in this way. With these ingredients, Arnold would be able to make more of the preventative potions designed for combating the early stages of Rot Lung. And with such a supply of potions, Thomas would feel much better about-

Grrrrrrrrrrr…

He never quite gets to finish that last thought. Truth be told, it's Thomas' own fault really… he's gotten complacent. They haven't seen hide or hair of any monsters or enemies during their entire trip, and with Camilla at his side, he'd let his mind wander and stopped focusing so much on potential danger and more on his future plans.

Not to mention, he'd still had half an eye on the tree canopies and not on the ground, more afraid of the aforementioned Giant Spiders over other beasties.

Which of course is rather ironic when Thomas finds himself crouching down to grab yet another flower, only to look up into the glowing yellow eyes of something big, furry, and snarling in the brush right in front of him.

Eyes widening in shock and fear, Thomas reaches for his spear at the same time that the Dire Wolf leaps out from the bushes and pounces on top of him. He just barely manages to get the spear off of his back and in front of him in time, but he doesn't get the chance to actually point the metal end at the monstrous wolf before its upon him.

Instead, Thomas is forced onto his back as the haft of his spear winds up locked in the Dire Wolf's jaws, a strangled shout leaving his lips as those powerful fangs drool onto him and bear down upon him.

"Fuck! Get off me!"

Distantly, a part of him recognizes that if it wasn't for the past three weeks of heavy lifting he'd done, he wouldn't have the strength for even this much. Only his efforts around town, all of that hard labor, were allowing him to hold the Dire Wolf off right now.

… At the same time, it's not nearly enough. He's started gaining a six pack. He has the beginnings of muscle definition in his biceps. But he doesn't have the body he needs to go toe to toe with a Dire Wolf. Not yet at least. And he certainly doesn't have the training either.

The monster tries to snap at him through the haft of his spear but can't quite get its jaws down hard enough to break the heavy duty wooden pole in twain. However, it's not completely one track minded, judging by the way it lifts up a massive paw and tries to slam it down on his head.

Thomas barely gets his head out of the way of the thing's claws, cursing again as he struggles beneath the Dire Wolf's weight.

… Was Camilla not going to help him? Was this it? She was just going to watch him die, wasn't she? That… pissed Thomas off greatly if he was being honest. Maybe the original Thomas Marlow was right. Maybe she was sent here to make sure he never made it out of Last Hope.

But fuck if he was just going to lay down and die! Fuck! That!

With a roar, Thomas does something rather ill-advised… he lets go of his spear with one hand and reaches out to grab one of the Dire Wolf's biggest fangs instead. The thing is practically as big as his palm anyways… and proves sharp enough to slice through his flesh as he squeezes down on it.

But Thomas fights through the pain and doesn't let go, not even for a second. He yanks with all of his meager might, using his leverage… and the Dire Wolf's own weight, to do a makeshift, untrained martial arts throw. It's only something he ever heard about, but why not. The Dire Wolf was still bearing down on him, trying to get to him, so he could use the beast's own momentum against it, right?

That's exactly what he does. Frankly, Thomas isn't sure if it makes sense or not… but it does work. He heaves the Dire Wolf up and over his head with that grip on its fang, causing a canine yelp to erupt from its jaws as it flops onto its back right on the other side of him.

Not exactly the 'throw' he was hoping for, but landing in such a way does stun the monster long enough for Thomas to get his feet under him and stand back up. Blood runs down from his cut palm, but he just slaps that hand back on the haft of his spear all the same, gritting his teeth as he points the sharp end right at the Dire Wolf.

In turn, the monstrous wolf also recovers in record time, already flipping back over onto its belly and rising onto all fours as it snarls at him, licking its chops hungrily.

Thomas prepares for the monster's lunge, ready to stab forward with all his strength and hope he doesn't miss… only, just as the Dire Wolf is coiling its leg muscles, a sword flashes out… and the head of the great beast falls to the forest floor, separated from the rest of the body.

Blinking, sweat trickling down from his brow from the extreme burst of adrenaline he just experienced, Thomas stares for a moment before looking up at Camilla… who is staring at him rather strangely at the moment. He grimaces, glancing down at his cut palm before scowling at her.

"Took you long enough."

She stiffens, her lips thinning… but before she can reply, a number of other growls start up as if in stereo as more yellow eyes appear from all around them. Thomas curses under his breath again, because of course there'd be more than one wolf… they were pack animals, after all.

Half a dozen Dire Wolves launch themselves out of the brush and towards him and Camilla, causing Thomas to shout in alarm and raise his spear in defense. But in the end, it might as well have not mattered. None of the remaining wolves get as close to him as the first did. Camilla cuts them all down before they can reach the pair of them.

In the ensuing silence, Thomas stares at Camilla, not sure what to think of her at this point. She gazes back at him, seemingly in the same boat… especially because when she finally speaks, she says both the last thing he was expecting to hear… and the one thing he had wanted to hear from her for days now.

"We will begin your training tomorrow morning. Don't think I'll go easy on you, Young Lord."

Something eases in Thomas' chest then, something tight and hard that he hadn't even known was there. And though it might not be appropriate given she's not smiling at all… he nevertheless finds himself smiling at the woman assigned to 'watch over' him.

"Wouldn't dream of it, Dame Camilla."

She just huffs at that and falls silent again, even as they start to make their way back to Last Hope, satchel full of potion ingredients safely tucked into his side.

A productive trip into the Darkwoods, Thomas can't help thinking. Though… if he knew the trouble that the owner of the other pair of eyes watching him and Camilla depart even now would cause later, he might have felt differently…

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A/N: Hmmm, progress? Wonder if our dear Dame is beating herself up for 'missing' such a prime opportunity for an 'accident'…

Please let me know what you think! Your feedback, suggestions, and ideas for this story are keeping the inspiration flowing in a big way!

Plug: There will always be FIFTEEN (15) Bonus Chapters of this story to read over on my Patreon!

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https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/157707/relentless-potential-original-fantasy