After the terrifying events surrounding last night, Vina was hoping for a more relaxing day. She swore she would never approach another tower at night again. The long walk allowed her time to practice her more mundane skills such as Forage and Throwing. She got a surprise when Forage hit level five.
Skill Level Up: Forage has reached level 5. Items foraged from the wilderness are 8% bigger and taste 20% better. You have gained one skill point. You have gained 75 experience from leveling a skill.
“I gained a skill point?” Vina wondered to herself. She summoned her skills window with her voice and examined the Forage skill. A window appeared before her with three options.
Where would you like to spend your forage skill point? Option 1: Foraged items are worth 10% more money when sold Option 2: Foraged items will heal you for 5% of your health over 24 hours Option 3: Forage can now detect rarer items
Upon seeing the second option, Vina looked at her hand. Could her foraged foods actually heal her? Without selecting an option, Vina brought up her health information.
Health: 88/90 You have an open, dirty wound. Your risk of infection has increased by 64% for the next 4 days.
That locked in the decision for her. She knew that an untreated infection could kill quickly. Too many times she had seen the homeless unable to get proper treatment and how horrible their infected wounds could get. Vina selected option two and ate a handful of berries.
You have been afflicted by Nature’s Bounty. Nature’s Bounty will heal you for 3.5 health over 24 hours.
Vina spent the entire day thinking about her best options for sleeping that night. The only conclusion she could come to was to build a fire once again and sleep with her back to a tree, spear in hand. She wanted the fire as an early warning just in case any more spinerlings showed up. She did not unpack her backpack just in case she needed to run again.
When the sun set, she looked at the sky in amazement. On her first night in the tower she had missed the beautiful starry sky. Just like earth a single moon existed, but the stars lit up overhead in the brightest purples and pinks she had ever seen. The constellations were completely alien to her, but she had fun trying to make her own.
When she did finally lay down, she slept fitfully although nothing disturbed her that evening. She awoke on her third day feeling refreshed, and to her great delight, she found her hand was nearly completely healed. All that remained was a red and itchy scar. The miracle of the berries and the power of her skill shocked her.
She had made good time yesterday despite the late start and was eager to do even better today. Her agility had increased her movement speed by 15% and she could feel the power in her legs. Today the quest marker read 38 miles. She hiked an amazing 16 miles yesterday!
Still excited about the skill point she received from Forage, she was determined to raise another skill to level five. She opened her skills screen and quickly searched for the closest one to level. Firetending was now level 4 after last night. “I’ll get this one to level five tonight for sure!” she thought.
The next one on the list was throwing. It was currently level 3, but she felt if she focused on it today she could reach that magical level. “Can I combine throwing with my spear?” she said. While throwing her weapon away made her uneasy, she could see advantages.
Vina had another goal for today as well. For the last few days she had only been eating berries and the occasional nut she could find, but her body was telling her she needed something different. She was on the hunt for something with more protein.
It didn’t take her long to consider the nearby river. She used Observe on the water and walked slowly to try to reduce the vertigo the skill induced. It soon became evident she could not use Observe and move about at the same time, however. Her stomach revolted against her and she found herself throwing up.
You have been afflicted with Motion Sickness. Motion sickness will cause loss of balance for the next 20 minutes.
Vina sat down in a huff as her world spun around her. This was the first time one of her skills had caused her actual harm. Vina furrowed her brow as she considered the possibility of skills being dangerous enough to hurt her. Were there actually dangerous skills she could learn? She seriously hoped there was a way to reduce this effect. Observe was just too good of a skill to not use.
After the motion sickness effect wore off, Vina stood and watched the river again with Observe from the shore. The skill soon highlighted little shadows in the water. She found she had to focus on a small spot in the water to reduce the stamina drain from the skill as well as reduce her vertigo. She was about to throw her spear in an attempt to catch whatever was in the water, but she second guessed herself. Losing her spear now would be horrible.
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Vina instead removed her shoes and socks, rolled up her pants and waded into the water near a shallow, rocky area. She used Observe again and waited. This time a dark shadow moved within reach of her spear and she stabbed downward at it. She struck quickly and her dexterity seemed up to the task of aiming perfectly. She felt something struggle against the spear and she lifted it out of the water triumphantly.
At the end of her spear was a curious creature. It had three fish-like eyes on its head with a wide mouth with sharp teeth. Its fins were long and flowing like a sea lion’s. Its sides were silver and reflected just a bit of rainbow color in the sunlight. It looked more or less like a fish from Earth. Vina used Examine.
Wildlife: Flow Fin Trout Common Flow Fin Trout swim in freshwater streams. These fish are carnivorous and eat smaller fish when they can catch them. Forage: Flow Fin Trout are a common edible fish. Beware the sharp barbs hidden in their long fins. It is best to hold this fish by its gills to avoid the teeth and barbs.
“Thank you, foraging skill!” she said. It was a heck of a lot more valuable than Examine. The information it gave her was priceless to her survival.
Vina reached out and pulled the fish off her spear by the gills. She held it tightly, but suddenly something strange happened. The fish suddenly completely healed and jumped out of her hand back into the river and vanished. Vina growled in irritation again as she realized this was the universe once forcing consequences due to her lack of skill.
Vina readied herself for another attempt and soon had another creature on the end of her spear.
Wildlife: Stone Shell Claptor Common Stone shell Claptor’s walk the banks of freshwater streams. They are omnivores, eating just about anything within reach of their claws. Forage: Stone shell claptors are an edible crustacean. Their extremely large claws contain delicious meat that can be roasted within the shell. Be mindful of the powerful claws while capturing this creature.
Vina’s mouth watered when she saw what she had caught. The claptor did indeed have massive claws. She was most intrigued though by the shell of this crustacean. It was a mix between a turtle shell and a crab shell, but it looked like literal stone. Her spear had not penetrated the shell as much as slipped between two chitinous plates.
Vina walked her catch back to the bank of the river, unwilling to touch it until she was certain it was dead. A few whacks later against the ground and she got a notification.
Item Acquired: Stone Shell Claptor New Skill Learned: Fishing Progress to next skill level 8%. You have learned how to catch creatures from the water. Quest updated: Learn Skills 2 12/25
Vina packed up the claptor as best she could and continued on her way. She next focused on her throwing skill throughout the day and by the evening she was met with her anticipated popup.
Skill Level Up: Throwing has reached level 5. Your current throwing distance is fifteen feet. You can throw harder and faster. You have gained one skill point. You have gained 110 experience from leveling a skill.
Where would you like to spend your throwing skill point? Option 1: Thrown items are 10% more accurate Option 2: Thrown items weigh 10% less Option 3: Any item you throw is now considered a weapon and will inflict 20% of your strength in damage
Vina read her options and asked aloud, “What does it mean thrown items become weapons?” A side window popped up.
Weapons are objects in the world that scale in damage relative to your attributes or skills.
Vina thought hard about this one. She already had a weapon in her hands and she could easily improve its capabilities by choosing options one or three. She was still reluctant to throw away her only weapon though. She could always use more weapons until she was out of this wilderness. Vina reluctantly selected the third option and picked up a stone to examine it.
Weapon: Stone This is a stone. Throwing: This stone can inflict 2 damage if thrown at maximum strength.
Two damage wasn't much, but she could throw a handful of these to cause some damage. She picked up a larger stone and found it did slightly more damage. "So if I can throw a heavier object, it will do more damage. Makes sense", she said to herself. Vina loaded up a pocket with a few stones and contemplated placing a few points in strength. She still had five attribute points available to her. She decided to hold off for now, her caution taking control. “I have no idea what I’ll run into before I’m out of this forest.”, she muttered to herself.
That night Vina rested beside a fire once again ignited by the flint in her backpack. She gently roasted the Claptor’s claws in the shell as the Forage skill had recommended. To her surprise it was even better than she had hoped. Although she had no spices, the meat was tender, juicy, and flavorful. She could only imagine how amazing a set of proper spices would make this claw meat.
After an 18 mile day, Vina rested her head against the tree behind her and indulged in wrapping herself with a blanket. The spear beside her was a reminder to not become too complacent, but Vina felt much better tonight, than she did the last.