So....I should probably be more worried about the rumbling, right? I mean, it's been about a day since it started, but it hasn't gotten louder or closer, just a constant rumble underneath my feet. When it first started, I had fallen into a fighting stance because I didn't trust myself to be able to use the stealth skill all that well yet. Nothing seemed to happen. So, with nothing better to do, and my legs being absolutely stiff from overuse, I sat down and went over everything that I hadn't yet gotten to. I mean, I found out Titles were a thing, but I have absolutely no idea where they'd be located. I messed around with my sheet, which was somewhat hard to do as it caused a migraine in my head, but I managed to get the titles to display within my character sheet. Yes, titles. Apparently Sinner and Newcomer count as them too, even if one's limited, so that's some food for thought. I debated whether or not to have the help function look into Defender of the Mind, but I figured it wouldn't be a help at all. At most, it would just give me the origin of the title, which is not helpful at all to me, and even if we looked at the best case for the help function working, it wouldn't give me any concrete stats or percentages to work with, just the fact that it does what it basically says on the tin. In other words, I'd get no new information from it.

After that though, I had gone into my new skills to see if anything else could help. From what I understood, Accuracy lets me hit targets better with ranged weapons, which is explanatory, but it also does double damage when I hit a specific point on an enemy because of a compounded effect with survival instincts. This can level up though, which is weird considering that it's a stat ability, which so far hasn't had levels. For Perception, it was a little bit trickier to figure out its effect. When I asked the system, the descriptor stated that the skill lets me figure out whether a person is trying to mislead me in certain situations; so basically an enhanced intuition towards people. I also found out a special combination thing that it apparently did.

It compounded effects from survival instincts and mapping, so that I can see hostiles on the map, as well as, automatically update the map in a radius rather than the narrow path it covered, before. This is insanely helpful once I expand the map and it'll let me be able to see sneak attacks coming. When I checked the map to find the source of the rumbling noise, everything came up green, so I assumed whatever it was, was far away since no matter how long I travelled in any direction, I never saw a red dot besides Stein and maybe a few squirrels. After that fruitless endeavor, I decided to just start meditating because I wanted to see exactly what kind of benefits I'd get from it, and that's how I've been stuck for the entire night and straight through into the early morning. Let me say this, early morning in the forest...kind of peaceful, if it wasn't for the rumbling. Also, made myself a little pack. Not really enough plant twine around here for clothes, and I don't even know how to make them, but I could at least just put my stuff in a pack.

Anyways, besides that I've just been trying to focus on my magical and physical capabilities as well or at least the calculations therein. I've already found out exactly what my MP and HP value is based off of. They both have equations that work relatively well. I even tested them by increasing those values with putting stat points into CON so that I can get it to 15. And while I was adding an additional 5 to it, as well as, STR, CHA, and DEX, so that I could test for regenerative effects. Yeah...that's why I put it in charisma. No other reason...damn I'm sad. Anyway, now at least I know exactly how it's happening. I just blindly assumed what it was at the start simply because the numbers worked, but at least now I can say for certain that that's how it works. I mean, I can't blindly trust the system just because it gave a point to me. It could be lying to me to keep me complacent...if someone's actually on the other end of it. However, my testing regarding my regeneration calculations didn't really amount to anything. I tried harming myself, but nothing ever went down. Plus, I can't exactly time myself all that well anyway, so I probably couldn't have kept track of the rate anyway. However, my testing did give me tangible benefits towards other things, even if it left me almost no knowledge in regards to my regeneration capabilities.

Basically, after getting my strength value to a 25 from those tests, I got a skill called Endurance. It can also level like Accuracy. I guess any physical skills can be leveled up with continuous use, if I'm thinking of it right. Endurance has basically two effects I could find, none of them hidden at all because I couldn't seem to find it compounding with anything. The first effect that it has, is that I get a 25% increase on resisting physical damage. Figured that was good, considering that I wasn't exactly equipped to handle any large animals like Stein if they were serious about tearing me apart. The second effect stated that if I activated it, I had a chance of losing the skill. Apparently if I use it actively when I'm less than 10% with my HP, I just don't take any damage to my health. From how it was worded, I think I still take the damage, it's just that the damage doesn't carry over until a 30 second timer's up. That's interesting, but I don't want to use it. Even if I have a slightly better than 50% chance on keeping it, I feel like it's just a coin flip on whether or not I do, and I don't like those odds. Besides that, I also tried working out how to do magic.

Usually in fantasy stories, magical power has to be supplied or kept somewhere inside a body, so I've also been using meditate to try and see where it is, considering it's the only thing in my arsenal that I have that uses my magic and lets me hone my focus inwards. Unfortunately, using the skill has been a steep curve when it comes to how long I can do it which breaks my concentration. At first, meditate barely did anything in terms of MP regeneration, which was a problem considering the tick for its usage is fast, at least once a second. As I leveled it up though, I found out that every 2 or so levels, the MP regeneration is basically 1 less MP that I lose. At this time, I'm still at a downside, but because of the high level of Meditate, I can basically almost be at a point where I can use it and lose no MP. It's only 1 MP now, so yeah....That's what I've been doing so far.

Also, apparently every time I level Meditate up I have a choice to increase my intelligence or my wisdom by two because of me getting an epiphany about life each time I do. At first it was something simple, like Life is precious or some shit that popped up in the system. Eventually, it even got philosophical on me about determinism. I was kind of weirded out by it, but I focused on the positives. I think it's just a matter of whether or not something meets my luck stat to get the bonus stat point because I have leveled it up and sometimes it didn't give it to me. On the bright side, I know I have a greater than 50% chance to get it, so that's nice.

Anyway, I chose to put the points from the level ups from meditation towards intelligence because it was closer to being at 50. Why there specifically? Well, I figured since I was right about getting a stat ability at 25 points, I figured if the stat abilities compound like that, then I would have the next stat ability happen at level 50. Plus, if it worked for my luck value, it should work for everything else. So far, I've only managed to level meditate up to level 9 so far, and I only was able to get about 12 more points into the stat. I don't necessarily want to use up the free points I have for that if I can just gamble each time I level up meditation.

Thinking back on all this, I think I've realized something in my latest 'epiphany'. The 'skills' I have are sometimes not really skills, by their definition. They're more like abilities that I naturally have rather than things I could've learned by myself. I wish I could just make a new tab in the menu or something to better categorize them, but I don't even know if I can change the menu to include that new tab.

Due to user's desire on better eloquence of the Panopticon's database of personal affects, a new option has been created called 'Abilities'. All the skills that have been considered by the user as 'not' skills have been moved to that section.

....I guess I can influence it? Huh. Neat. It's a bit convenient for it to appear now, but at least I don't have to finagle my sheet anymore. It's kind of good to know it can be somewhat intuitive...However there's a problem now.

I'm just.....just so bored. Stein won't wake up. Meditation is going slow. And this rumbling is just getting annoying now. Uuuuuuuuh. I mean, if I can be a wizard, I'm definitely going to be, especially with that massive boost to intelligence that I had in the beginning. From what I remember, wizards mainly function with how their spells cast using that stat, so if I can get it high before I even figure out my magical ability, I can probably increase how much power I can put into a spell. At last....I'll finally be allowed to be a pyromaniac for a day. Wait.....I just remembered I have class stuff don't I? I can mess around with that while I try and level up Meditation. How would I go about changing it anyway?

Current Class: Unknown Available Classes: Berserker Wanderer Wiseman Monk Druid Woodsman Hunter Fighter Rogue Warrior

Ok...Weird how it just pulled itself up. So, those are the classes I have access to, and they all just...well, suck. None of them seem to have anything to do with magic, except maybe Druid or Wiseman, but I don't really want to be stuck as a plant/wilderness magician. That's just boring and makes me stick to a path that I don't really want to be stuck on. Sure, I'd maybe like to do plant things now and again, but I don't want to be stuck like that. Even if I become one with nature like that, it's still much too restricting. Maybe there's something else I can do....Wait, I already have a class apparently? It isn't saying what it is though. Just states unknown like it did my name awhile back. And that changed, but it doesn't have my last name. Does it only have access to what I think currently at the time? I don't know. Maybe...Maybe this would work. Help Unknown?

Unknowns: Unknowns are pieces of information that the Panopticon does not have access to when concerning you as an individual. To get rid of unknowns, and reap the benefits that they sometimes hide, it is best to try and fill them in. For example: In your case, you currently have a class that has the Unknown label. It would be good to remember your past experiences with the class you had before the event which led to the unknown forming in the first place. The Panopticon will fill in the blanks regarding what type of class it is. If it wasn't a class that you had just started recently, experience will be given out to an appropriate degree.

....That's the first time that the system referred to me specifically as well as the specific issue I was thinking about. Is it programmed to do that, or is it...alive? Something seems off here and I don't know what. So I guess I just have to think about my previous job or something? Alright. I guess I got nothing better to do than to remember before Stein wakes up.

So...classes. Since they were technically typed as a job in that brief help window that popped up, I should probably start with how I got my own job. However, I don't think I should start with my actual job, as it also listed hobbies as a side mention. Maybe I should just start recounting my life experiences?...Well, I guess the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about it is college. Originally, I wanted to go into aerospace. Something about the idea of building rockets for the new orbital station just made me get so excited. Then after the first year I was there, I couldn't get in. My GPA wasn't high enough, so I decided to settle on the next best thing, computer systems. I figured if I couldn't build the rockets myself, maybe I could make an AI that could just build me one, and then I'd have my own space platform to work with. That'd definitely show them all. It was way harder than I realized though. Yeah, I was familiar with coding before I came onto the college scene, who wasn't, but this was some advanced stuff. They expected us to write code that output textual responses with embedded 3-D graphs. Graphs mind you. And even when I put in a workaround by dealing with percentages, they still didn't like it because 'you didn't listen to your instructions Dave.' Bah. Graphs are graphs, even when they're pie.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Even though there were things like that, I did get a degree in ECE, so there's that. I figured that I might just put my job application out there, and in the meantime, I'd just try to hard code my own AI rocket builder. I, of course, applied to aerospace companies, tech moguls, and the like, but they saw my first year and just outright dismissed me. I had to go to work for a law firm. A damned law firm! For 6 goddamned years. That still makes me angry to this day. Thankfully, while I was there, I was still able to code things, as I was in charge of data storage. It was just ungodly slow. It took me nearly a year to get my AI to prioritize cost-effectiveness with test materials. The charts alone took up nearly three folders to categorize. But yeah, I guess that was my job before I was beamed here. I was a programmer and a coder...I was a computer engineer...An engineer...

....I don't see any updates. Nothing is immediately popping up for me, and I don't necessarily see anything that's actually changed in the class areas. What more do I need to do? Do I need to dumb down the explanation further?

No class labelled 'Engineer' in system

Looking for viable solution....

Existing non-combat classes do not mesh with job cues...

Existing combat classes do not mesh with job cues...

Found 1 meshable class in miscellaneous classes (Arcanist)

Would you like to keep Engineer class with added Arcanist features, or would you like to have class set as Arcanist?

[Option 1/Option 2]

Warning: If you change class, you will not keep experience.

Guess it was just being slow, even if it didn't pick one of the first two things I thought about. Well...I've never heard of an arcanist before, but it does sound like something I could practice magic with because it's got arcane in the title. However, even if I want something a bit more magical, in terms of classes, I feel like meditation might let me practice magic anyway, and I'd much rather keep the experience from my previous job if it's not even going to be kept. Sure, there's probably not going to be anything modern in this world, judging by how it couldn't find my job, but...I feel like if I get into magic enough, I could get into golemancy or something like that as a way to apply myself. Also...it's kind of a reminder from home. As long as I have it, it'll be a little reminder to focus on the ultimate goal. So, I'll go with option 1 please.

You have selected Option 1

Retrieving Arcanist features...

Following Features Retrieved:

Skills: Spellcraft, Manipulate Construct

Abilities: Read Magic

Calculating experience from class...

Class Training (College, 4yr): Gained approximately 4 levels in Engineer

Class Job (Law Firm, 6yr): Gained approximately 12 levels in Engineer

Class Hobby (10yr): Gained approximately 10 levels in Engineer

Calculating appropriate milestones...

Milestones retrieved from non-combat specializations

Due to class reaching level 5, you have earned a new skill: Planning

Due to class reaching level 10, you have earned a new skill: Blueprint

Due to class reaching level 20, you have earned a new ability: Inspiration

For each class level gained after you gain access to a skill/ability, you will also gain a minimum level within that skill/ability

Skill: Planning raised to level 22

Skill: Blueprint raised to level 17

Ability: Inspiration raised to level 7

Remaining experience deemed too low to add any more levels

Class update finished

Warning:

  An Intervention-class Event has occurred

  Intervention: There are gods watching you closely now. While some have deemed you Sinner, this one would like to offer a   boon. You now have the option to choose a new class instead of your self-made one, that being the [Chaos Priest]. If you do not choose to pick this class, there will still be an effect on your current one. Will you take this new class?

[Y/N]

...Ok, so that's a lot of things I have now, I guess, but also, what the hell is that? Why did it just show up now? Maybe because I didn't have a class that was known, it probably didn't know whether or not I would receive a boon in that class or the class itself? I don't know. This is just pure speculation at this point. Also, what have I done that's gotten the god's attention? I haven't really done much except punch some things and eat some shrooms. And judging by the class name, it's a chaos god...Actually, fighting, fucking around, and eating shrooms would definitely be something a chaos god would find funny.

Part of me really, really wants to change my class and see what happens because having someone powerful on your side is usually a good thing. The other really doesn't want to get involved with powerful gods. Sure, I have the sinner effect going ad infinitum, but I think if they would give me a boon, I'd just get that effect gotten rid of, instead of a new class. However, it hasn't seemed to really do anything thus far, so I don't see a reason to head into unknown dredges like this. Plus, if I'm honest with myself, I don't think I could really worship Chaos like what this wants me to. That isn't me. So no, I won't take that class.

Event: You have chosen not to take the new class in favor of your older one. However, because this is a boon from a god, you will still be affected by its power. You have been touched by Chaos. Your class is now Chaos Engineer.

For being touched by Chaos, you have gained a new skill: Chaos

Huh. Guess that wasn't that bad. Doesn't seem like my class level has changed, and I got a new skill out of it. Wait...something's wrong here. There's something different that I can't put my fin-Oh. The rumbling's stopped. And there's a big red circle on the map coming closer. Whatever it is, it's slow, but that doesn't really matter when you're big........Well, shit.

I get up off my ass. Meditating can wait. Heading towards Stein, I quickly shove the cooked Mind Breaker under his nose. Nothing. What am I thinking? Of course he wouldn't wake up to that, he hasn't smelled cooked meat before. What if I just...Carefully, I lift his mouth open, and slide the food in. Somehow, I'm able to lift his mouth up and down to simulate chewing. I can see movement in his eyes before he even lifts his eyelids.

"Stein. I know you're woozy from the fight. I know that you're probably still all gummed up, but I have to get you in the right headspace. There's something giant coming this way, and I don't know what. I don't think we can take it, considering it's 10 times as big as our dots on my map. We need to run. Now." Stein, while awake now, still looks woozy. I don't think he's particularly all there yet. I don't know if that's because of sleep, or if his brain is still splayed, but there's no time for any of that. Now, I know that this wolf is too heavy to pick up. I mean, if he's the size of a horse, he probably weighs just as much, however, I don't need to carry him, I just need to push him out of the clearing.

His eyes are barely open as I begin pushing him into the largest bush I can find. Not really easy to hide this guy. Oh god. Birds are flying away in the distance, and I can hear the rhythmic thumping getting closer. Oh god it's so fast. Stealth! FUCKING STEALTH! I put my hand over Stein's muzzle. I know dog's usually breathe through their nose, but better safe then sorry. I glance over at my companion. Good, seems whatever it was, he's snapping out of it cause he's finally noticed my hand. His eyes travel up my arm to my face. I put a finger to my lips and point towards the clearing. He follows my finger, and for a second I don't really see any comprehension in his eyes. Then the treetops begin to move.

Out of the overgrowth appears the....thing. It's not really like the other things, the mind breakers or whatever else normal creature I've seen today. Then again, I don't think anything natural would or even could make that. Then again, this shape is probably the most familiar thing I've seen from history museums. I half-expected a t-rex or something to come over, with how everything was turning out. To be honest, a t-rex would probably have been better, as at least I would've understood slightly how it worked. This....this was like a featherless chicken on steroids that had biceps fit to explode.

This thing...this damn thing was the size of a house, had wrinkly skin, and I swear to god its mouth was sideways. The only real way I could tell that was because a tongue ran up and down its lips instead of a beak. Oh god, I think I might throw up if I didn't want that eye food more in me than out, looking at it while preparing it was more than enough for me. Thankfully, doesn't look like it has eyes, but it's got a bunch of slits on its head. I...I think those are just multiple noses or something. Why the hell would anything need that many nostrils? Oh god, please don't tell me it can smell us. Can't tell where it's ears are, but I'm thinking they're somewhere on that eyesore disguised as one of those slits. How are we supposed to...Wait....what if? Could I....just stuff its face? If it doesn't have eyes, it can't really see where I am. Plus, the whole place smells like smoked meat, so I doubt it could exactly smell me directly out of all that. I just need it to open that mouth. If I, put a bunch of ash and stuff in its nose, could I make it sneeze? That's all worthless though if I can't get up there, how do I....Stein!

I look at my companion. He's frozen in place. Shit that's bad. Thought he was fearless. Gotta step up. I wave my hand in front of his face. After a few seconds, his panic gives way to attention. He looks at me. Ok. How do I explain this to him? Wait. Drawing! Universal medium! I pick up a nearby stick and draw up the plan. First, the figures. Stick me. Stick stein. Big block for....whatever it is. Us behind a tree in a bush. Now. Me on top of stein laying flat. Us walking slowly to the big ol beast. Stein bites, I jump on and throw those mushrooms in its mouth. Thing lies flat on ground me in victory pose, stein sits and has whapping tail.

I put the stick down and look at Stein. He's staring at the drawing, so that's good. If animals weren't smarter here than Earth, I'd probably be shit out of luck. Stein looks back up to my face. Stares into my eyes, and gives a single nod. ALRIGHT! We're getting somewhere. Alright. Sticking to the plan. No more excitement that I can finally talk to a dog. I grip onto the fur and start climbing up. I don't think this is causing too much pain, cause he doesn't seem to react as I climb on top. I pat his head to let him know I'm up. Then he stands, and....oh god. How do I ride him? I rode a horse awhile back when I was sent to summer camp, but that was ages ago. Oh god I misjudged how hard it is to keep my balance. It's better to just lay down on him like I drew. At least then I'll have two more limbs to hold onto him with.

We slowly walk back into the clearing. The walking chunk of flesh is sniffing the campfire. Probably trying to find the meat. Thankfully I didn't eat all my portion, so now it's focused on eating the somewhat charred eyeball flesh like one of those fruit gushers that got discontinued. Means we're not going to be noticed as easily, hopefully, with how loudly those bones are snapping. Yeah...don't think about the bones Dave. Don't think about how a sack has bones. Brining my mind back to attention, I find that we are steadily stalking closer to the monstrosity. Slowly I stand up on Stein's back. OOoooh, that's hard. Ok. Just calm down. You have excellent balance. You are standing on one of those tag wave machines. This isn't an animal. This is just that one time you were riding a donkey at Stouten Park for that one kid's birthday party. Yeah. That'll work. Especially with the sounds of shlorps. And the squelches. And the chewing. Yeah. Ok. Almost....almost. Wait. It stopped chewing. That's....that's not good. Stop buddy. STOP!!! I signal him by trying to stomp, but I don't think he's getting the message. Crap. Uh..Uh...... I can't do anything as Stein's just crawling towards him. We need to hide. Somehow we need to get back to the safety of the bush. I don't know why I came up with this stupid plan. I.....Shit.... it's swung its head towards us and it's seen us.