In the end, Lanek chose to go with the Rogue class. It had been a rough decision, but it had come down to the fact that Sanguineus and Kazuma could each fulfill the roles of either the Scout or Ranger. Also, he was rolling the dice and hoping that classes could evolve. Barring that, there may be the chance to get another class later and Ranger may still be available at that time. Either way, Lanek felt that Rogue’s boost to dexterity and stealth aspect would make traversing the Ashen Depths easier and safer.
Mere seconds after finalizing his decision the System threw more notifications at him. Seeing that they were skill notifications, Lanek could only hope that he would receive some combat skills.
You have selected the Rogue [Uncommon] class. You have received the following skills:
[Weapon Proficiency: Light Blade] [Martial] lvl 1
[Traversal] [Uncommon]
[Backstab] [Common]
[Stealth] [Uncommon]
Okay, I like the sound of all that. Let’s see exactly what they do.
[Weapon Proficiency: Light Blade] [Martial] lvl 1 You have learned how to efficiently handle a variety of light bladed weapons. This skill governs knives, daggers, and similarly-sized weaponry.
[Traversal] [Uncommon] You can now rapidly traverse all manner of obstacles by the efficient use of vaulting, climbing, jumping, and other acrobatics. Scales with DEX.
[Backstab] [Common] You may now receive a damage bonus to striking unaware enemies in the back. Scales with DEX.
[Stealth] [Uncommon] Stealth is an upgrade to the [Sneak] [Common] skill awarded to the Thief class. Where Sneak focuses on allowing the user to move more quietly, Stealth will allow the user to move quietly, blend into the shadows, and become harder to detect. Scales with DEX.
“I’m sorry, did I just get a parkour skill?!” Lanek said excitedly while eyeing [Traversal]. His imagination ran wild with the thoughts of vaulting through Caelis while he grinned.
Lanek was also very pleased that he now had a big boost to his ability to remain undetected and what basically amounted to an assassination skill. He felt almost giddy with anticipation when he thought about putting the skills to use. I need to find a nice dagger now, something that will let me use that new proficiency. I’m still not happy about the lack of strength boosts, but [Soul Shackle] helps out with that to an extent. Alright, two more skills to go.
[Spirit Burst] [Rare]
This skill allows you to utilize the potency of your soul to emit a burst of explosive energy in all directions. Damage and range scales with SPI.
MP Cost: 20
[Ethereal Volley] [Rare]
This skill creates a number of projectiles that will home in on their targets doing minor damage. Number of projectiles is equal to SPI.
MP Cost is equal to number of projectiles fired (SPI).
Damn, I like both of those, but combining skills hasn’t let me down so far. Let’s go ahead and combine them.
You have lost [Spirit Burst] [Rare] and [Ethereal Volley] [Rare]. You have learned [Ethereal Salvo] [Unique].
[Ethereal Salvo] [Unique] Ethereal Salvo creates a number of projectiles that explode on contact with their targets. The size of the explosion and damage scales with SPI. You will receive a projectile for every 5 points in SPI. MP Cost is equal to number of projectiles * 10.
Lanek’s smile grew. He had just upgraded his only projectile attack from bolts to grenades. He was going to have a field day with this.
Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.
With the rush that came with all of the new levels and abilities, Lanek had to force himself to avoid becoming overconfident. Yes, he was stronger, but the lesson of the corpse weaver was still fresh in his mind. Despite his mythical class and companions, there were enemies out there that could crush him. Even scarier was the thought that the corpse weaver had likely not been high up in the dungeon’s arsenal.
Once done with breakfast, Lanek went into the cave and sorted out his new tools, eager to put the woodcutting axe to good use. The auger and chisels would be useful, but not for a while. Lanek’s eyes dropped to the gauntlets he had plucked from the corpse weaver’s remains. Now that he could take a closer look and had the luxury of time, he was quite taken with the craftsmanship.
The gauntlets were longer than he had first assumed. Rather than simply covering the hands as he had first thought, these would reach all the way to his elbow. The gauntlets were crafted from a brown linen with metal plates and chain armor sewed onto it. The metal plates and chain were both either painted black or the metal was black naturally, Lanek wasn’t sure.
The entire front forearm would be protected by a large metal plate that would curve around the arm for a more natural fit. Protecting the wrist was chain armor that would provide protection without sacrificing mobility. The rest of the hand was protected by metal plates that were only broken up by chain armor at the finger joints. Chain armor also connected the hand plate to the thumb plate.
However, Lanek was surprised when he flipped the gauntlets over only to find that the gauntlet didn’t actually have a glove, the metal plates and chain only protected the outside of the hand and arm. The gauntlets were worn by slipping the thumb and middle finger through linen loops, tightening the straps on the underside, and tying them into place at the elbow. While surprised at first, Lanek quickly realized that not having thick gloves or metal articulating fingers like some plate gauntlets would make them lighter and improve dexterity. They would also not make an ungodly racket when he was trying to be stealthy.
A glove would have been nice, if not for more protection but for warmth at least. Then again, the way these are constructed would allow for me to just put on a pair of gloves underneath. Let’s [Identify] these beauties before I put them on, wouldn’t be surprised if something that came from a corpse weaver would be cursed.
[Han Kote] [Rare] Han kote are a shorter form of the kote gauntlets that originated from an empire to the south. Unlike a full kote that protects the entire arm, a han kote provides moderate and lightweight protection for the hands and forearms without sacrificing mobility. These gauntlets are very popular with both the classes that originated in the southern empire (such as the Samurai and Ninja) and any class that needs lightweight and effective protection (such as Archers and Rogues).
Seeing no curse, Lanek spent the next few minutes strapping the gauntlets on. Once he completed the process, the he nearly jumped out of his skin when the gauntlets and metal plates shifted position and size to perfectly conform to his dimensions.
[Han Kote] [Rare] are now bound to you.
Well, that’s handy. I guess this means that no one else can use this gear either if memory serves.
Now that the gauntlets were on, Lanek couldn’t restrain himself any more. He rushed at a nearby tree, leapt toward it, kicked off toward another tree, then back to catch a tree limb that had been well out of reach before. He looked at the 5 meter drop to the ground and began laughing hysterically. This is awesome! I just wall jumped! Caelis isn’t going to know what hit it!
Lanek turned his gaze deeper into the forest, considering his next steps. He really wanted to see what the forest goblins were up to and make sure they weren’t getting any closer to his camp. Another part of him wanted to wander in a completely different direction and see what else he could find.
He grabbed the hand axe and dagger from his camp and made his way toward the forest goblins. He still had no idea if the goblins had a village nearby, were just passing through, or if he had just run into a band of laborers collecting resources. On his way, he crept as close to the lake as he dared, trusting in his stealth to keep him safe. He tossed the hand axe and dagger he had stolen from the goblins near the lake shore and bolted away as he heard loud splashing as the creature reacted to the sound.
Lanek felt a bit guilty that he had let his video game biases from his prior life affect his judgment. There was no proof that the goblins were hostile and he had murdered one in cold blood for some tools. That was another reason to dispose of the tools, if the goblins weren’t hostile and they recognized their tools and connected the dots with a missing laborer, they would definitely become hostile. Besides, his recent forays into Caelis had provided him with better tools.
Reaching the general area where he had encountered the goblins before, there were no signs of them. He continued on into the forest for another ten minutes before he came across a large clearing with a number of primitive structures and a crude fence made of sharpened sticks. Lanek stared in concern at what had to be the goblin village.
It wasn’t the village itself that gave him pause, but the lack of movement and sound from the village. He worked his way around the clearing, jumping from tree to tree to stay out of sight and off the ground. When he reached the northern side of the clearing, he swore under his breath. Packed into an opening in the fence were dozens of goblin bodies. Impaled upon the spiked fence and intermingled with the goblin bodies were monstrous bone-white corpses.
The corpses had much in common with gaunts, but were much larger and had quite a bit more variety in shape and features. Some had horns while others had a grotesque amount of muscle. As Lanek watched, he could hear shuffling in the trees to the west, shuffling that grew louder and louder. Curious he traversed closer to the sound and immediately wished he had simply gone home, for moving through the forest and heading northeast was a horde of gibbering, snarling, and shrieking beasts of all shapes and sizes.