Zane awoke to find a fire burning with eggs and some meat cooking. Corvyn was smiling as Zane came out but didn't say anything. He pointed at the pan and motioned like he was eating. Zane thought that was interesting, grabbed some food off the grill, and noticed that off to the side were a lot of pristine bones sorted by size. He thought about what he could do with that and decided that at least armor was due for Arin. He didn't know about his weapon but noticed the armor was ruined. He figured he would wait to speak with the others before deciding. He started eating, thinking of the books he had gotten previously, and wanted to see how they worked.
Zane pulled the books from his pack, took a bite, and opened the foraging one first. As soon as he opened it and started to read, a message popped up. He decided to ignore it for now and opened the other two. Yet again, messages popped up. This time, Zane decided to inspect them and discover everything they said.
'ding' Control undead has reached level 8.
'ding' You have unlocked the profession, Hunter.
'ding' Profession, Hunter, has reached level 4
'ding' Profession, Butcher, has reached level 5
'ding' Profession, Cook, has reached level 6
'ding' Necromancer has reached level 12
'ding' Soul link has reached level 4
'ding' You have unlocked the profession, Forager.
'ding' You have unlocked the profession, Blacksmith
'ding' You have unlocked the profession, Builder
Zane's eyes were wide as he looked over all of the messages. Corvyn must have been very busy last night cleaning those bones, and he must have even taken my thought that the camp needed to be kept up as an order as well. This looked good for the future as he thought about everything he could possibly do with all that. He was still smiling like a fool when Arin crawled out of his tent. He sat at the fire, pulled food off, and looked towards Zane.
"Why are you smiling like that?"
"I've made great gains from one of those skills you gave me. I can't wait to see how it progresses."
"I am glad to hear it. While she is still asleep, we should go over the rest of the abilities I got." He said, pointing to Zoe's tent.
Zane and Arin reviewed each other's abilities, enabling them to efficiently work together. Zane was amazed that Arin was essentially Immortal except for maybe if he died of natural causes. Zane also took this opportunity to inspect all of Arin's equipment. He was right about his armor, but his weapon was okay for now.
"By the way, I noticed a strange camp towards a town north of us where we could get a few things moving in the right direction for us," Arin said.
"It is a goblin camp. It was created recently, causing many problems for the town ahead. We were sent to deal with it but were caught by the others before we could. I would be willing to help, but my staff is broken and gone." Zoe said.
"I can help with that," Zane said, looking at the bones. "Arin, I need you to remove your armor and set it next to those bones."
"You may be able to use this as a catalyst," Zoe said, holding up a green gem.
Zane used analyze on the gem (Nature gem), he then placed a few of the longer bones in a line and started to use his bone shaping. The bones merged together, creating a long shaft that split at the end so he could place the gem in. He put the gem at the end of the staff and willed the bones to weave around them. He then identified the staff when done. (Bone Menders Staff). He then smiled, handing Zoe the staff. She took it and looked it over, her eyes going wide.
"This is amazing. You must be a master enchanter to have created something this good."
"Actually, this is the first time I've ever done it. Just figured that gem would be useless unless it was imbued into the entire staff."
"If this is your first time, you are some kind of prodigy. You should look into selling this instead of giving it to me."
"It will pay more to give you this for now. We need everyone at their best if we are going to accomplish anything at this camp. Also, I know your party got commissioned for this quest. Would you mind if I resurrect those two for some backup?"
"I didn't really know them well, so if it can help us, go ahead and do it; as you said, we need all the help we can get," Zoe said, still looking wide-eyed at the staff.
Zane smiled and noticed that Arin had set his armor next to the rest of the bones. It was a plate chest piece that separated at the sides. Zane started by layering the largest bones across the front and using Bone Shaping to cover the entire front of the chest piece, filling any cracks left behind from the previous piece. It had smaller spikes around the collarbone and smaller pieces that layered over each other as it descended toward the bottom. He then started adapting the pauldron with the rest of the larger pieces, creating spikes coming off of his shoulder on his right side, and on the left, it was just a standard pauldron. He used the medium bones to cover the greaves and sabatons, creating smaller spikes covering the shin area. Last was the gauntlets, and he used the smallest bones to cover them, creating sharp, pointed fingers and a spiked piece coming down towards the elbow.
Zane used analyze on the armor and smiled when he saw the response. (Goblin slayer armor)
Arin looked at the armor, instantly grabbed it all, and ran off to put it on. Now that he was done, Zane checked all of his messages.
'ding' Profession, Bone shaper, has reached level 10. You can now create larger, more durable items with smaller bones.
'ding' You have unlocked the profession, Enchanter. You can now create magical weapons and items.
'ding' Profession, Enchanter, has reached level 5.
'ding' You have unlocked the profession, Armoursmith. You can now create armor from different materials.
The 'ding' Profession, Armorsmith, has reached level 10. You can now create more durable armor pieces with more detail.
Name: Zane
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Class 1: Archer level 4
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Class 2: None
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Bonus Class: Necromancer level 12
Skill: Reanimate Dead - level 4
Skill: Control Undead - level 8
Skill: Soul link - level 4
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General Skills:
- Bow Mastery level 1
-Analyze level 5
-Fire resistance level 1
-Poison Resistance level 1
-Pain Tolerance level 5
Professions
Armoursmith level 10
Blacksmith level 1
Bone Shaper level 10
Builder level 1
Butcher level 5
Cook level 6
Enchanter level 5
Forager level 1
Hunter level 4
Status ( 170 points available)
-Strength: 25
-Dexterity: 25
-Constitution: 20
-Endurance: 20
-Intelligence: 20
-Wisdom: 20
Health (200/200)
Stamina(200/200)
Mana(200/200)
Zane allocated his points evenly again, thinking that the unlimited professions would quickly become overpowered. He figured keeping his points even would be his best bet until something in his build changed. He thought about status again, pulling up only his name, level, and stat points.
Zane (Level 48 Human)
Status ( 0 points available)
-Strength: 50
-Dexterity: 50
-Constitution: 50
-Endurance: 50
-Intelligence: 50
-Wisdom: 50
Health (500/500)
Stamina(500/500)
Mana(500/500)
Zane was amazed at how far he had come in just a few days, even though it was swift. He had already left Arin behind in levels and was worried that would cause issues. At the same time, his combat classes were still low-level, so it may be fine. Zane noticed Corvyn's pack and looked to see what he had acquired.
Zane found gems similar to the one Zoe had given him before and one that looked strange. He analyzed it, getting its name. (Soul Gem - Filled). That may be interesting, he thought as he pocketed it.
"That is a rare item. A soul gem allows for your soul to be saved in the case of your death. Basically, it allows you to be immortal." Zoe said.
"That could come in handy," Zane said as he continued to pick through the pack.
He found a few throwing knives that he left in the pack. A monocular, silver coins, bowstring, and an iron key. He analyzed the key and the rest of the gems. (House Key, Darkness Gem, Fire Gem)
'ding' General skill, Analyze, has reached level 6.
He put the items he thought could be helpful into his pack and left the rest in Corvyn's. He looked around and decided that resurrecting the other bodies would be the next priority. He walked over to the bodies and examined them. He called over Zoe and informed her he was going to get started.
Zane decided to resurrect the warrior's body first, remembering the soul gem and decided to try using it. His hands glowed green as he focused on the gem and the body. His health started to fall but stopped after he lost 100 HP. He got a message and stopped to view it as the body stood up and waited.
'Resurrection successful, but soul gem was not consumed (Invalid target)
He also got the option to change the warrior's name. Warden was the name he was given, and Zane decided that would be fine.
He had Warden sit off to the side while he tried to resurrect the other. His health filled up as Zoe activated her magic. His hand lit green again as he focused on the tamer's body and the gem. His health started falling faster than before, and he quickly dipped below half. Zoe's eyes widened as she promptly hit Zane with her most potent heals. His health went up and down extremely quick and finally stopped, with him having only 50 health left. The tamer stood up and looked at Zane, then Zoe.
"Wh... Where are we, Zoe? What happened?
"You and Warden were killed. I was taken by others, and this man saved me. He has some kind of ability to resurrect the dead and found a soul gem. It must have been yours, and he was able to return you to your body." Zoe said, motioning at Zane.
"Hey there, my name is Zane. Do you have a name you are willing to give me?"
"My name is Rein. Thank you for returning me to my body, but I assume that now means I am bound to you."
"I don't know how it works yet, but I assume if I use a soul, it gives you the ability to speak. I resurrect two others, and they can't speak. They only follow orders."
"Well, let's find out," Rein said, and he targeted Zane with a spell. He instantly collapsed to the ground, holding his head, and Zane got a prompt.
'Resurrected soul, Rein, has attempted to harm you. Do you want to terminate?'
Zane quickly chose not to terminate him. "Let's not try that again."
"I agree, that was quite unbearable," Rein said as he rose.
Zane got other prompts, and he decided to check them.
'ding' Reanimate Dead has reached level 10. You can now have 5 resurrected fighters on your team at any time and 15 workers.
Zane hadn't realized he was limited before but was glad he was still within that limit. He looked around at his current party and smiled as Arin came from his tent, now wearing his new armor.
"This armor is fantastic. I wish I had a weapon to match."
"If I had the materials, I would upgrade your sword, but sadly, I don't have it right now."
"It's okay. My weapon will work for now. Let's pack up camp and get going."
"Sounds like a great plan," Zane said as he started taking down his tent.
Just then, Corvyn came into camp holding a few items. He dropped them on the floor and smiled at Zane again. Looked like a sword, a great shield, and a whip of some kind. Rein grabbed the weapons, attached the whip to his belt, and handed Warden the sword and shield. Warden took them, sheathed his sword, and put his shield on his back.
"Will we be able to get him to talk again? He has been my best friend for years and didn't deserve this." Rein stated sadly.
"I don't know, but I will try everything I can do to figure out if I can, and if I am able, I will.
As the three of them finished taking their tents down, Corvyn packed up the grill that was on the campfire. They packed everything into their packs and started through the forest. Around midday, they were getting close to the camp and decided to take the high ground on a nearby hill to scope out the situation. Zane took the monocular from his pack and looked down on the camp. It was full of goblins and a few cages towards the back that held humans and other creatures. Towards the back of the camp was a cave entrance with a few goblins standing guard. Zane analyzed each of them, and the highest level was only about level 10. They decided to watch the camp for a bit to make a plan for entering. After a few hours, a giant creature walked out of the cave. It was about 8 feet tall, judging by the goblins wandering around it, and highly muscular. It had a sizeable braided beard that hung down past the first few abs on the top. It carried a massive sword about double the size of Arin's in width and maybe 4 feet long. Zane analyzed the monster and became worried when he saw the prompt. (Hobgoblin - Elite level 20)
He turned to talk to the rest of the party and let them know precisely what was in the camp, and they felt they could clear it with the number of party members. Zane agreed as long as they could get the Hobgoblin alone. Zane figured they could prepare a bit and sent his thralls out for feathers, straight branches, and a longer curved one for a new bow. He already had a bowstring that he could put to use. He decided to use this time to take the notebook out of his pack and start drawing a map of the area from the high point they were at.