[Requirements For Skill Acquisition Met]
[Skill Acquired: Leadership]
[Leadership: People are more likely to listen to orders given by you. Effectiveness of skill based on relationship to target and current circumstances. 1% increase to likelihood of target following a given order and .5% increase to target's understanding of order given per level.]
[Initial Skill level of Leadership: 1]
[You Have Embodied Your Concept]
[Charisma: +2]
[Perception: +3]
[Wisdom: +1]
“Where were you 10 years ago”
I mumble to the air contemplating the skill that would have made highschool approximately a billion times easier. A skill that makes everyone shut up and do what I say? Yes please. I am also starting to notice a pattern with these skills. .5 to 2 percent increase per level of a skill. There may be some indication that specificity of the skill has an impact on the skill itself but let's hold off for more data. The stat points also seem intriguing but I make deliberate choice to put off more useless rumination and try my best to ensure my family's short term survival.
I turn my attention back to the bug splayed out on the fake wood flooring of the entryway. The corpse seems…less, less in a way that has nothing to do with having its brain turned into a slurpee. The colors of its carapace were simply less vibrant, the edges of its scythes looked dulled. I continue to observe the specimen. Lets see what my other skill has to offer. I focus on the fallen foe and concentrate on knowing more. I am pleasantly surprised by two things. Firstly my identification has worked on the same thing more than once. The way the skill description was worded had me worried that the skill only worked once per unique organism or object. Secondly is the information that slipped between the cracks of my mind and become usable to me. This corpse had utility. I was unclear on the specifics but undoubtedly it had uses. The skill whispered that the chitin could be used as well as the bladed forearm scythes. Wasting no time I retrieved a knife from the counter top where one of my family members had knocked over the knife block in their rush to arm themselves. My cuts clumsy and inexpert, my knife dulled and chipped, I succeeded after about 10 minutes in assembling a pathetic pile of hacked up chitin and two 3 foot long sharp serrated forearms.
“That was kinda fun”
I remark over my shoulder to my reassembled family before glancing at the new notification that has appeared in my vision.
[Requirements For Skill Acquisition Met]
[Skill Acquired: Harvesting]
[Harvesting: Increase knowledge of how to properly harvest natural resources from the world around you. .5% decreased chance to damage resources when harvesting. .5% increased in strength of preserved concepts. Gives intuition on best methods to harvest an identified resource, amount of information gained based on the levels of Harvesting and Observe skills]
[Initial Skill level of Harvesting: 1]
[You Have Embodied Your Concept]
[Vitality: +1]
[Agility: +1]
[Dexterity: +2]
[Memory: +2]
God damn do these skills and stat points keep on rolling in. The desire to check my status sheet is almost overwhelming but i manage to hold off through a strength of mental discipline I didn’t know I had, nor would any one who knows me well have expected.
I turn around and examine the reassembled family. Amelia and Victoria have finished collecting what looks like enough old sports equipment to stock a small used sporting goods store with a few random wooden boards and household appliances thrown in for good measure. Tactus looks antsy and continues to glance out all the windows surrounding the living room. His wariness is probably warranted, this is certainly not the ideal room to hold back a tide of unhinged mutant local fauna. Calder seems pale but stable from what I can tell as my mother and Carter finish up applying what looks like a combination of gauze pads and cut up old t shirts from the laundry room to Calders wounds, which appear to be bleeding at a noticeably slower rate already.
“Where is Clayton?”
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My question is met with a grunt and a handwave from a tall clayton leaning against the frame of the window Tactus is peering through. Definitely should have noticed him. Did my mind just skip over him or am I more frazzled than I suspected? Concerning.
“Well quite looking so shady and maybe I won't miss you next time sunshine. Good work on these highly effective and tactical weapons ladies. Though the chances of any of us wielding a floral print ironing board from 1972 is highly unlikely.”
I let a hint of my anxiety out through the age old tradition of picking on the younger siblings.
“Suck it Pax, we don't exactly have an armory in the basement. Tactus, Clayton, what did the rest of the house look like?”
Victoria sounds a little miffed with my assessment of her weapon offerings but overall I am impressed that this situation doesn't seem to have overwhelmed her, yet.
“We made sure all the doors were locked. Moved what furniture we could to block the double doors in the sub-basement and the two doors in the other half of the house. All windows are locked and I have been keeping an eye on the yard around the house. Nothing else looks like it is headed our way but the bar next door is getting a little noisy, and I really don't want to fight giant evil emus.”
Tactus explanation of his preparations is quick and nervous. The house is not ideally laid out for a defensive situation. The house is a tri level, basically two houses connected by a slightly lowered sub-basment, some architect back in the 90’s built it so that he could take in his aging in-laws and live with them without accelerating their trip to the grave violently. These days my parents, me, Tactus, and Carter live on one side while the other three children live on the slightly smaller side.
“Alright, since there is no immediate threats to our safety lets take a minute to plan our next moves and try and understand what is happening to the world around us.”
Me taking command like this is a new and odd feeling, but it doesn't feel wrong. I am sure if Calder wasn't so badly injured there would be more push back on who should lead this meeting, but I am starting to feel in my element more than I ever had leading up to this moment. With the beginnings of a planning meeting underway I decide to finally state my curiosity and pull up my panel and see whats changed.
[Pax Kane]
[Tier 1]
[Statistics:
Physical:
Vitality: 13
Strength: 12
Agility: 14
Dexterity: 17
Perception: 24
Stamina: 13
Mental:
Processing: 12
Wisdom: 18
Memory: 20
Acumen: 19
Charisma: 17
Intuition: 17
Bloodlines:
Kane(Primus):
200% bonus to skill acquisition
50% bonus to skill leveling
Aremia(minor)
15% increase to all nature related skills
10% increase to all bonded non-humans and their related skills.
Skills:
[Staves: Improves use of staves and related weapons. 2% increase to weapon speed of all staves per level. 2% increase of blunt force exerted by staves per level ]
[Skill Level: 1]
[Observe: Infer knowledge of targeted objects and entities. Amount of knowledge gained dependent on related knowledge and skill level. .5%*Skill Level chance to gain bonus knowledge of targeted object or individual on first observation]
[Skill Level: 1]
Boons:
[Leadership: People are more likely to listen to orders given by you. Effectiveness of skill based on relationship to target and current circumstances. 1% increase to likelihood of target following a given order and .5% increase to target's understanding of order given per level.]
None
Titles:
None
Concept:
THE LIGHT OF KNOWLEDGE
Affinities:
Knowledge: 5%
Light: 1%
Void: 1%
Mind: 1%