Rocko materialized next to James and looked down the stairs.
"Are you ready to go?" James asked.
"I know what you did with the ghouls. A great way to increase your Endurance and Willpower," Rocko said, turning to James, "but what I am curious about is why you had me leave?"
"It had nothing to do with you. It was something I had to do on my own."
Rocko looked back down the stairs with a nod, "I was worried I had offended you. I am glad to see it was you and not me."
James shook his head and smiled, "Let's go, asshole."
While creeping down the stone stairs, James could hear movement ahead. He thought he could hear leather creaking, clinking of metal and bone feet stepping on stone, trying to pay attention. Since the skeletons could see him, James decided not to go down the stairs, but instead, James crouched at the room's ceiling level and tried to peer into the room. He could see three skeletons. He could get information on the closest, but the archer was too far into the room to Inspect. Two of the skeletons had chainmail armour, sword and shield, and the last one had leather armour and a bow.
**********
Name: ?
Race: Skeleton ?
Level: ?
**********
James sighed in disappointment. His Inspect Skill was still not high enough to get him any additional information on these skeletons. Seeing that only three of them were in the room, James tried to lure the skeletons closest to him to the stairs. Luck with him this time, he succeeded in drawing one of the skeletons from the room and onto the stairs. Unfortunately, there was nowhere to hide, so James had to fight the creature without the benefit of Back Attack. Leading with a slash with his right claw, James stepped into the skeleton's reach and landed a blow against its shoulder. The skeleton returned a sword blow in kind, but it bounced off James' shoulder without causing any damage. As predictable, the fight was one-sided, but it didn't go as smoothly as James had hoped. James tried to maneuver around the skeleton's shield to land a finishing blow when the skeleton slipped on the stair and fell. It was noisy and attracted the attention of the other two skeletons. James decided to meet them at the bottom of the stairs and pounced on the skeleton, trying to get up off the floor. Both feet landed solidly on the skeleton's back, and with a shower of bone and crushed ribcage, the creature expired.
James Dodged the shield bash headed his way from the closest skeleton and tried to use Deflection on the arrow. He missed the arrow, but the arrow didn't miss him. The arrow slammed into his chest with a meaty thunk, knocking him back a few steps. James was momentarily stunned at seeing an arrow sticking out of him. Shaking his head, James focused on the archer drawing back another arrow. James charged the archer as it was his most significant threat. The skeleton with the sword hit him a couple of times but did nothing. The archer released its new arrow, and James used Dodge and Deflection to avoid the hit. Dodge didn't seem to prevent the arrow more than Deflection did, and the arrow still slammed into his shoulder. Growling, James pounced on the archer and started tearing into it. The archer tried to use the bow to block some of James' attacks, but James would just use his strength to push through the blocks. The other skeleton tried to flank James and attack from the rear, but none of its attacks caused any damage. The archer could not use its bow to cause any more attacks and, as such, fell quickly to the one-armed onslaught that James lay upon it. With that skeleton dead, James ignored the other skeleton for a moment while he tried to remove the arrow from his chest. The pain was too much for him, and he staggered when he became lightheaded. Protecting his torso with his arm, James used only his feet to destroy the remaining skeleton. James didn't play around with trying to Dodge. He knocked the skeleton on the floor and started stomping on its skull.
After clearing the room, James fell to his knees. Fighting with an arrow sticking a foot into your chest and another in his shoulder was not an experience he wanted soon. The arrow in his shoulder was shallow, and James removed it with effort. The arrow in his chest was not going to come out on its own, and he had no way to get the arrow out himself. James was worried that if he tried to pull that arrow out, it would cause even more damage. He could only destroy the skeletons using adrenaline, but now that the fight was over, he felt the pain.
"James?" Rocko asked.
"It hurts. I can't get it out," James said slowly.
"Common knowledge would tell you that using your Advantage Shift Healing would remove the arrow."
James looked at Rocko, his eyes a little out of focus. "Okay." James tried to shift into his human form. It was harder than before due to the fog of pain, but he struggled to grab hold of the feeling he had before the shift and then force it through. Suddenly, he felt the release and shifted. The arrow pushed itself out of his chest and clattered to the floor. James was hit with a wave of euphoria as most of the pain disappeared.
"Wow," James said, as he climbed unsteadily to his feet, "That is better than morphine."
Rocko ignored the statement, "You have many new notifications. You will want to review them before you proceed."
James nodded before moving around the room and looting all the skeletons. Two suits of chainmail armour, two swords and two shields. A suit of leather armour, a bow and a quiver of arrows. Along with three pouches, three belts and three daggers. Using Analyze, James looked at each of the items.
**********
Rusted Iron Chainmail Shirt
Quality: Poor
Armour Rating: 14
Durability: 14/38
Special: Worn - Torso
**********
***********
Rusted Iron Shield
Quality: Very Poor
Armour Rating: 6
Damage Range: 1-6
Accuracy: +6
Crit Chance: 2%
Durability: 19/20
Damage Type: Bludgeoning
Special: One-handed
***********
***********
Iron Sword
Quality: Poor
Damage Range: 1-8 + 2
Accuracy: +5
Crit Chance: 5%
Durability: 16/24
Damage Type: Slashing
Special: One or two-handed
***********
**********
Leather Jerkin
Quality: Poor
Armour Rating: 7
Durability: 16/38
Special: Worn - Torso
**********
***********
Oak Short Bow
Quality: ?
Rarity: ?
Damage Range: ?
Accuracy: ?
Crit Chance: ?
Durability: ?
Special: Two-handed, Enchanted - ?
************
***********
Leather Quiver
Quality: Poor
Durability: 10/12
Special: Container, 14/20
***********
***********
Iron Arrows
Quality: Poor
Damage Range: 2-12 + 2
Accuracy: +5
Crit Chance: +1%
Durability: 5/5
Damage Type: Piercing
Special: Ammunition
***********
***********
Leather Belt
Quality: Poor
Durability: 7/9
Special: Nothing
***********
***********
Leather Pouch
Quality: Poor
Durability: 5/8
Special: Container ?
***********
***********
Iron Dagger
Quality: Poor
Damage Range: 1-4 +2
Accuracy: +2
Crit Chance: 3%
Durability: 15/22
Damage Type: Piercing
Special: One-handed
***********
The bow was a keeper and was a Skill he looked forward to learning. It was better than throwing loose stones.
"Why did the arrow get through my protection from non-magical weapons when the bow was the Enchanted item?" James asked Rocko.
"Ranged weapons combine with their ammunition. So the damage range is additive, as is the Critical Chance and Accuracy. But all that is necessary is for one of them to be Enchanted for it to bypass your protection." Rocko explained.
James sat down on the stairs and started going through his notifications. He didn't find anything about the arrow attack in his notifications, so he checked his battle log. The entries made his blood run cold.
Skeleton hits you with a critical hit! Iron Arrow does 83 damage!
Pierced Lung. All Skills requiring Stamina have their cost doubled!
Internal Bleeding. Sustain Health loss of 1/s until the damage is healed!
James counted the number of notifications for the damage due to the bleeding effect. It was almost four minutes before he shifted to his human form. When he shifted to human form, he healed 182 damage. That still left him with 121 damage. James had sustained just over 300 damage from that arrow.
"I should Meditate," James said, "Otherwise, it will take hours to get my health full."
Rocko nodded, "That is a great way to learn the Skill. I do believe you have a few more notifications."
James looked at Rocko for a moment before returning to his notifications. Rocko couldn't offer advice, but James could tell he was bending the rules.
**********
You have the opportunity to learn a new skill.
Do you wish to learn RESISTANCE - PAIN?
YES NO
***********
James looked at his Intelligence to ensure he had enough room before selecting YES.
"Does this mean that I will eventually not feel any pain?" James asked.
"No, the pain will be eventually reduced to the point where it will not be debilitating, but the pain will always be there," Rock explained.
The last notification was all of his upgrades due to the fight.
**********
Strength +1
Luck -1
Inspect +1
Dodge +1
Deflection +1
Analyze +1
**********
"What the fuck!?!" James shouted. "My Luck when down by 1!"
"Yes. This is a rare occurrence, but it has been known to happen. I think that the skeleton falling down the stairs and the fact that you got hit with a critical by a magic bow caused your Luck to be adjusted," Rocko explained in his calm, slow voice. It didn't help. James ranted and raved for several minutes before kicking one of the suits of chainmail against the wall.
"This is what you wanted me to see?"
"It is important to learn that your Skills and Attributes are fluid and, as such, they can be influenced by outside events. Using a Skill well will cause it to increase. Using a Skill poorly will cause it to decrease."
James grumbled more but collected the bow, quiver of arrows and the pouches. He checked the pouches, and all they contained were coins.
James sat down on the floor and closed his eyes. Within ten seconds, he noticed the icon appear in the corner of his vision. All thoughts seemed to slip away as James floated in a calm sea. Within moments, he saw a flashing notification in the corner of his vision, and he cancelled the Meditation Skill. He noticed that Rocko was no longer in the room with him. Pulling up his notifications, James saw two of them:
**********
Meditation +4
**********
**********
You health is full.
**********
James was confused. It should have taken him a couple of hours to get all his health back, but only a few minutes passed.
"Rocko?" James called out. A few seconds later, Rocko materialized.
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"Hey James, how did it go?" Rocko asked.
"Great! Fully healed and got 4 ranks in Meditation. Question for you. How long was I out for?" James asked.
"Almost two hours."
"Wow. It felt like only a few minutes to me," James said, surprised.
"Time moves faster when you are using the Meditation Skill. It would be tough to stare at a little icon for hours at a time if it were not really in a meditative state." Rocko explained.
"I guess. Dangerous, though, if you are in an unsafe area."
"Like a dungeon?" Rocko asked.
"Ya, like that. Why did you suggest it if it wasn't safe?"
"Who said I suggested anything? Besides, some experiences are best learned by doing."
James stood up and grabbed his bow, "Well, I am out of food and getting hungry. So let's get to the next level so I can have access to the Bag of Holding."
"You mean the Dimensional Storage Container," Rocko clarified.
"Sure."
James headed out of the room and deeper into the dungeon. It was very similar to the level above. Several hallways led into different rooms; following the rule of always turning left, James found himself at a dead-end room with two skeletons in it. These two had no armour but did have a sword and shield. Waiting for the right moment, he used the bow to hit one of the skeletons in an attempt to lure it out of the room. Unfortunately, the attack with the arrow was enough to get both skeletons' attention, and he ended up fighting both of them in the hallway.
**********
Name: ?
Race: Skeleton Warrior
Level: 10
Damage Range: ?
Armour Rating: ?
Special: Shield Bash
**********
Two dead skeletons and two healing potions later, James made his way to another room. Along the way, James checked his notifications.
**********
Stealth +1
**********
James was a little frustrated by the lack of improvement but realized that the skeletons were only two levels higher than him, and he would need to target tougher creatures. The next dead-end room had another two skeletons, but one of them was an archer. A sense of trepidation went through him while he watched the archer move about the room. Deciding that even if the creature had an Enchanted bow, he would still be able to take it, and we would not be caught by surprise again. James lured the skeleton with the sword and shielded it out of the room using loose stone. When it turned around to return to the room, James pounced from Stealth and landed a devastating blow on its back. It had no armour, and as such, James' claws raked down the back of the creature, cracking bone and almost destroying the arm with the shields. The creature turned, and James could get another attack before it turned around. This one seemed to trigger the Back Attack damage bonus again as the creature crumpled to the floor. James crouched back and waited a moment to see if the other skeleton would join in the attack, but it did not appear to have noticed the fight. Looting the skeleton of its pouch, James moved forward and pulled out his bow. He aimed the arrow at the center of the skeleton's chest and released the arrow. The arrow flew true but did not have as much effect on the skeleton as it had on him when he was hit. Dropping the bow, James charged into the room, hoping to close with the archer before he could get off a shot.
The archer released its arrow as James arrived before it. James used Deflection, but he was too close, and the arrow slammed into his chest. To his relief, the arrow bounced off, and he sustained no damage. The skeleton was not so lucky as James tackled it to the floor. Deciding to use his mass to his advantage, James pinned the skeleton to the floor and proceeded to bash its skull in with his fists. The process was faster than he thought and eventually the skeleton was destroyed. Grabbing the pouch, James refilled his quiver with arrows and Analyzed all the items to see if there was anything new.
**********
Wooden Bow
Quality: Poor
Damage Range: +2
Accuracy: +5
Crit Chance: +2%
Durability: 14/19
Special: Two-handed
**********
James also found a different scroll in the archer's pouch.
**********
Scroll of Light
Rarity: Common
Spell Range: 5'
Durability: None
Special: Enchanted, Magic-Light
**********
James shrugged, it was of no use to him, but he was sure he could sell it for something if he ever found a merchant. Worst case, he could use it to start a fire to cook the rats. With the items Analyzed, James opened his notifications.
**********
Agility +1
Inspect +1
Back Attack +1
**********
**********
You have the opportunity to learn a new skill.
Do you wish to learn Ranged - Short Bow
YES NO
**********
James decided not to make a selection yet.
"Hey, Rocko," James called out.
"Yes?"
"Did you know if there is a maximum number of skills that a person can learn?" James asked.
"No, there is not. It is only limited to your Intelligence."
"Can you think of why you want to keep some slots open instead of filling them up?"
"Several. There are hundreds of Skills. You have only been given Skills related to your time here. You may want to explore Social Skills, General Skills, or perhaps Crafting Skills." Rocko explained.
James thought about that. He was unsure about crafting skills since he would only be in the challenge for nine more months, and most crafting took years to master. Social Skills made sense; James remembers seeing some mentioned under the Charm description. There was Haggling, Barter, Diplomacy, and he was sure there were many others. General Skills would also be essential. He wasn't sure what they were specifically, but he was sure there would be many of them.
"Can I get rid of Skill that I get in error?"
"Yes, there is a potion that you can take can will cause the Skill to be scrubbed from your Status Screen, but it is not a pleasant experience. Also, it would not be practical with your Magical Immunity since the Potion is Rare."
"Easier to just not take something I don't think I will need."
"If only we saw the future and the past," Rocko mused.
"What if I decline to take a Skill? Can I pick it up later?"
"Yes. If you decline a Skill, notifications will stop appearing to learn that Skill, but you may always go into your notification settings, or you can ask me. I can change it so that the notification will reappear. Then you can select YES at that time." Rocko over at the bow, "You were given the option of learning the bow Skill?"
"Yes," James answered.
"I noticed that you did not have any Ranged Attack Skills," Rocko commented.
James thought for a moment. Sometimes, it was hard to tell if Rocko was trying to give advice or just making random comments. Then again, Rocko didn't seem to make random comments. James decided to select YES and learn the Short Bow Skill.
Moving down the hallway, James found two traps. He wasn't sure what they did, but he marked them by placing a suit of armour by each that he collected from the first room. The next room had three skeletons, one with armour and two without. Using the bow, he stood as far back as possible and aimed at the closest one. The arrow snapped forward and punched through the armour of the skeleton. It spun around and headed out of the room towards James, but James had already stepped back into the main hallway and out of sight. Putting the bow down, James got ready to pounce on the skeleton when it came around the corner and was a little surprised when he heard metal slice into metal. Not wanting to lose the element of surprise, James waited. He didn't need to wait long before a skeleton rounded the corner and right into James' fist. The battle was short and furious, but James was able to use his Inspect before the creature dropped. James saw the other skeleton lying on the floor, looking back down. An arrow was sticking out of its back, and its torso had been cut in half. Thinking back to upstairs, it looked like the skeleton ran into a trap.
There was still one skeleton without armour patrolling the room, so James quietly picked up the bow and moved forward. James moved past the trap until the skeleton had its back to him before releasing an arrow. James leaped forward and clobbered the skeleton into the floor with the battle engaged.
"Do I get experience if a creature dies to a trap?" James asked.
"Depends. If you set the trap, then yes. If you use an existing trap to your advantage, then no," Rock explained.
After looting the pouches, Analyzing the gear and dragging the skeletons back to their room, James checked his notifications.
**********
Detect Traps +1
Ranged - Short Bow +1
Analyze +1
**********
"That was profitable. Most of my skills increased."
"Excellent," Rocko asked.
The next room James came to was similar to the room at the bottom of the stairs. There was a skeleton with a bow and two skeletons with swords. One had chainmail, and the other did not. Continuing to use Inspect, he was pleased when he got more information:
**********
Name: ?
Race: Skeleton Warrior
Level: 10
Damage Range: 27-34
Damage Type: Slash
Armour Rating: 8
Special: Shield Bash
**********
**********
Name: ?
Race: Skeleton Soldier
Level: 12
Damage Range: ?
Damage Type: Slash
Armour Rating: ?
Special: Shield Bash
**********
**********
Name: ?
Race: Skeleton Archer
Level: 11
Damage Range: ?
Damage Type: Pierce
Armour Rating: ?
Special: None
**********
Trying to lure out the Soldier, James used the bow and aimed for the skeleton's back. The hit was solid, and there was a repeat of the Soldier and the Warrior both charging down the hallway to get to James. James stepped to the side hall and used Stealth to deliver the Back Attack, which he knew would do extra damage. James used his fists to break a bone when the Soldier came around the corner. The skeleton was in armour, but it didn't stop blunt damage nearly as well as other armour would have. Both skeletons tried to hurt James, but neither had Enchanted weapons. As such, the battle was very one-sided. The archer came down the hallway a little, but it turned around and returned to the room since it could not see James. With one less thing to worry about, James destroyed the two skeletons. Tossing their pouches into his backpack, he then made his way back to the room with the lone archer and started the fight from Stealth with an arrow into its back. The skeleton staggered from the impact of the arrow but quickly recovered. James put down the bow and used the Skill Deflection to keep arrows from hitting him. The Skill was not very high, so he could only block one in six arrows, but he was sure it would improve. The archer had twenty arrows, and James let it use all twenty before closing to melee range and destroying it. When the skeleton fell, he was pleased to note a flashing notification.
"Finally, level 9"
"I, too, am pleased with the speed of your level progression," Rocko smiled.
"You make it sound like a bad thing," James joked.
Rocko cocked his head to the side, giving the question some thought, "It can be. If you progress too quickly, you will fail to learn valuable lessons when the cost of failure is minor. Also, it is important to learn how to use your Skills properly. Otherwise, you will stagnate."
James sat down and looked at his diminutive friend, "Stagnate. You mean like my Unarmed Skill?"
"Hrmm," Rocko thought, "I had not realized that your Melee - Unarmed had not increased since you came to this level."
"I am sure you didn't," James teased, "You think I am misusing the Skill?"
Rocko moved next to James by climbing onto the chest bones of the skeleton archer to get a better vantage point, "For some classes, style is important. If you can visualize the fighting style of the Skirmisher, the Brawler and the Warrior, would you say that the three of them are the same?"
"I don't need to visualize anything to know that they are not," James replied.
"Which style do you think you are emulating more?" Rocko inquired.
James thought about it, "The Brawler."
'Then you have your resolution to the problem."
"A problem I didn't realize I had," James said with a frown as he pulled up his first notifications.
**********
Strength +1
Deflection +2
**********
Next, James looked at his Status Screen.
* Unmodified Attributes are shown as [ ]
Name: James Gleason Race: Weretiger (Hybrid) Class: Etherian Warrior Specialization: Level: 9 XP to next level: 3% Armour Rating: 16 Age: 42 Health: 390 Unarmed Damage: 32 [31] Stamina: 195 Claw Damage: 35 Mana: 300 Bite Damage: 33 Attributes: Unspent Attribute Pts: 8 Strength 20 [19] Agility 17 [15] Dexterity 22 [21] Endurance 20 Willpower 21 [22] Intelligence 13 [14] Charm 4 [5] Luck 10 Skills: Unspent Skill Pts: 5 Analyze 9 Back Attack 5 Detect Traps 4 Deflection 4 Dodge 8 Inspect 7 Meditation 5 Melee- Unarmed 12 Ranged – Short Bow 1 Res – Immobility 5 Res – Debuff 5 Res – Pain 1 Stealth 9 Unspent Advantage Pts 20