It was a lot to take in, and Alex found himself reading over a few parts’ multiple times. Hitting the cap for Pain Resistance was annoying, but with him only a level away from E Grade, it wouldn’t take much to get the skill progressing again. Alex didn’t necessarily plan to level the skill any, especially with this period of his life over, then again, he’d never planned for it before and now it was his highest leveled skill. The rest of the ability levels were appreciated, as was the gold, but what really excited Alex was the class levels. Five at once with Planestrider granting a Rareclasses’ worth of attribute points would be a solid boost, and he was here for it.
***
General
Name: Alexander Hunter
Race: Human, F
Age: 21
Level: 24
Grade: F
Classes: Assassin, Planestrider, (Tertiary), (Quaternary), (Quinary)
Achievements: Adaptable, Deathwish, Bloodthirsty, Warden, Murder II, Untouchable, Glutton. 4 of a Kind, Purchasing Power, First-time Homeowner, Jill of All Stats
Health: 3528/4261
Mana: 3780/3780
Stamina: 4307/4307
Attributes
Strength: 42
Dexterity: 65
Endurance: 38
Wisdom: 44
Intelligence: 56
Willpower: 26
Luck: 22
Charisma: 21
Fortitude: 16
Perception: 35
Free Points: 5
***
Alex hadn’t done the math, so he wasn’t quite prepared to see just how much one kill had netted him. He knew there were a whole host of reasons it had worked out like this, but he’d gotten, like, twenty points in Intelligence and another twenty-five in Perception.
“Holy shit,” Alex muttered. It wasn’t necessarily back on track, in terms of the time he’d lost, but it was certainly a step forward.
Circling back to his achievements, Alex reread the name of each, settling on five likely candidates for his unlock token: Adaptable, Untouchable, 4 of a Kind, and Jill of All Stats, the rest having been ruled out for one reason or another. Deathwish, Bloodthirsty, Murder II, and Glutton, sounded much too ominous, especially considering the messages that had come along with them. Wardengave him a bad feeling after everything he’d been through, and while Purchasing Power and First-time Homeowner sounded innocuous enough, they also seemed likely to be a bit less useful than the other four. Deciding to read the achievement announcements once more, since it was all he had besides the name to work with, Alex scrolled up and found the prompts from all four on the short list.
***
For being one of the first ten thousand people to enter a tutorial, you have been awarded the achievement: Adaptable
For repeatedly dealing damage to an enemy without being hit, you have been awarded the achievement: Untouchable
For unlocking four ancillary skills within the tutorial, you have been awarded the achievement: 4 of a Kind
For raising all primary stats above the value of Twenty-Five while still in F grade, you have been awarded the achievement: Jill of All Stats
***
It didn’t take Alex long to rule out Adaptable, he just didn’t know enough about how everything worked to risk his single unlock token on a system designated reward. Sure, they were technically all chosen by the system, but at least for most others he understood the circumstances under which he’d received them. Alex hadn’t even been the one to select this tutorial in the first place.
The last two prompts seemed safe, solely based on what he knew, 4 of a Kind was likely to impact his side stats, while Jill of All Stats would affect his main ones. Both seemed fine, but if he was to pick from those, it would be the one for primary stats. That left Untouchable, which, even as potentially risky as it was, Alex wanted to pick the most.
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
He’d gotten the skill during his fight with the Silver-Backed Initiate in the arena. Combining that fact with the description and achievement name, Alex had a feeling it would be at least useful in combat. He wasn’t necessary lacking in abilities, but if achievements were like trump cards, he could sure use one. Deciding to go with his gut, Alex used his token on Untouchable.
***
Use Achievement Unlock Token on Untouchable?
Warning: Achievement Unlock Token will be consumed upon use and, Untouchable, will no longer appear in achievements list.
(Y/N)
***
With a quick mental command, Alex accepted and unlocked his first achievement.
***
Achievement, Untouchable, has become Echo Relocation (Epic).
Skills
Name: Echo Relocation
Rating: Epic
Grade: F
Level: 1
Mode: Active
Resource Cost: 500 mana on activation, 250 mana on continuation.
Description: The parents almost home and you need a quick escape? Can’t afford to let the teacher see you walk into class late? Allow your troubles - along with your person - to disappear with, Echo Relocation. Upon activation, create an exact duplicate of yourself that will continue doing the simple motion you were last, for the next five seconds. Simultaneously, and for the same duration, your real body will become invisible, upon which you will be capable of a short range teleport within a three-meter diameter. Location may be impeded if space is occupied by a solid object or liquid unable to be easily displaced. Securing a kill while the skill is active will immediately allow for another full use of the ability for half the original activation cost. Vanish, letting your footprints in the carpet become crop circles. Skill ability correlates to Dexterity and Intelligence.
***
Immediately, Alex felt like he’d made the correct choice. He couldn’t be sure what the other two offered, but something like this was exactly what he’d been hoping for. The mana cost was extensive, but if his last few levels had shown him anything, the strain would only get easier to bear. A smile on his face blossoming after the positive results of his gamble, Alex moved on to his last task of the day, loot sorting.
The entire process ended up taking him well over an hour and a half, though Alex had to admit the few useful items he’d found had been worth the time. There was plenty of junk gear, which he mainly moved to the belt storage, as well as assortments of food and other useful supplies which Alex moved to his new necklace. He’d never need any of it in an emergency, and the separation limited unnecessary clutter from his main inventory. Since he hadn’t managed to find Janet’s ring in his search, cleared out one of the two he’d taken from Trevor, so he could replace hers when given the chance.
For the most useful stuff, Alex had been stacking it on the desk ahead of him as he analyzed, the majority of which came from the healer.
***
Item
Name: Mana Crystal (Medium) (x7)
Grade: G
Rarity: Rare
Description: Purple crystalline rock. Replenishes two-hundred of the user's mana per use.
Cooldown: 3 minutes
Item
Name: Dagger of the Jagged Release
Grade: F
Rarity: Uncommon
Description: Upon landing five attacks with this blade, use the accumulated energy to release a blow infused with lightning. Stored energy will dissipate after 1 minute of no strikes being landed. No more than a single charge may be stored at a time.
Cooldown: 25 seconds
Item
Name: Orators Golden Tongue
Grade: F
Rarity: Rare
Description: Golden necklace with a sapphire charm in the shape of a teardrop. Grants +5 to Persuasion and +5 to Charisma when worn.
Item
Name: Ring of Minor Mana Storage
Grade: E
Rarity: Unknown
Description: Store up to an additional 750 points of mana.
***
Alex had recognized the bundle of mana crystals the moment he’d pulled them out, the purplish rock reminiscent of those he’d seen in Ralph’s store, if bigger. With Sixth Sense feeding him the energy readings, the rest had been done solely by Advanced Analyze, something which he appreciated. The dagger had been a bit more difficult to figure out, but he managed to find the sheath after a bit of searching, a note on the blade’s properties still stored inside. It was a similar story when it came to the necklace, Alex discovering that the woman had been something of a hoarder. The ring he’d needed to figure out on his own, though his newly improved familiarity with the energy made it relatively easy.
While he wasn’t sure what would prove to be the most useful, Alex knew he’s stumbled upon some good stuff. The blade was obviously an upgrade to his former one, and the necklace could still prove useful even without Persuasion unlocked as an attribute. While the mana crystals were much more limited in quantity, everyone would prove useful if he ever needed to recover mana at a rapid pace. Their similarity to health potions made him wonder if he could make his own mana potions with the right ingredients, though Alex decided to focus on just staying alive for the moment as he went over Greyson’s offerings.
***
Item
Name: Potion of Willpower (x2)
Grade: E
Rarity: Rare
Description: Grants single attribute point to Willpower to anyone below D Grade.
Cooldown: 1 week.
Item
Name: Worn Leather Gloves
Grade: E
Rarity: Unknown
Description: Fingerless leather gloves that look to have accumulated plenty of use.
***
Much like the woman’s possessions, the potions had a label Alex was able to read, making it easy to discover what was different about them. The gloves, as the prompt suggested, had no such tag, but his skill had marked the energies resonating off the item as E grade, so he knew it was more useful than other clothing he’d owned. Besides those two items, Greyson had been carrying a few platinum worth of coins on him, adding further to Alex’s burgeoning wealth. Not counting the potions, Trevor only had one thing Alex identified as a powerful item, but it was definitely the oddest of the bunch.
***
Item
Name: Pleasure Golem
Grade: E
Rarity: Unknown
Description: Pocket sized travel golem, able to be morphed into the visage of any small- sized or medium-sized creature.
***
Alex wasn’t exactly sure why Advanced Analyze decided he knew enough about the miniaturized likeness of a lady dwarf to feed him all that information, but it did explain what had happened to the woman in Trevor's bed the night before. Storing all the items except the mana ring, which he put on, to which the magic in the band immediately resized around his finger; Alex pulled out some food and water, and got to filling his empty stomach. A bit of the depression returned as he ate, and Alex wished he had more of the liquid courage that had gotten him into this mess to begin with. A few minutes later, less than halfway through one of the fresh burgers he’d purchased from a stall a week ago, Alex fell asleep mid-bite.
He woke an indeterminate time later with a start as Sixth Sense alerted him to someone in his vicinity. The problem was rather than thirty feet away, at nearly the edge of his bubble’s range, they were much closer, by about twenty-seven feet. It seemed he’d received a visitor while he was out, and now they were sitting directly across from him.