Chapter 18: Level Up, and Up
Charlie Cucumber stretched sore muscles and sat up in his bedroll. It was light out, and the remains of last night’s fire gently smoldered. He had slept like a baby.
After the wraiths were vanquished, he and Chastity rebuilt the fire deeper within the building where there was more shelter from the wind. They had agreed to take shifts through the night, but it seemed that the brave Paladin had let him sleep straight through. Encountering those wraiths should have made a good night’s rest impossible, but the resulting feeling of peace in the aftermath of the confrontation surpassed comprehension.
Charlie looked around. Where was that Tall Lady, anyhow? Shuffling outside, he saw her sitting on the edge of the short stone wall partially surrounding the chantry. Her eyes were closed, feeling the morning light upon her fair face.
“Chastity?” he asked. “Are you alright?”
She turned and smiled.
“Yes, just finishing my morning prayers,” she answered.
“Oh! I’ll just start packing up camp then,” he said, feeling sorry for interrupting her.
“That would be great. Thank you, Charlie.”
He quickly went about the task, straightening up and even tucking the scant remaining Holy Water into his pack alongside his prized pickle jars.
Meanwhile, Chastity finished her prayers but remained sitting, turning her attention inward. Despite her lack of sleep, she felt truly refreshed. Leveling up not once, but twice, had filled her with renewed energy. She had scarcely felt better.
Prayer was one of the methods to manually regain Focus Points, but her Focus Points were already full. In fact, both her Life Points and Focus Points had refilled to max upon leveling up. Not only that, but the maximum range of both had increased significantly.
Just yesterday, Chastity’s Life Points were capped at 20 and her Focus Points capped at 10. Now they were 40 and 20, respectively.
With each Level, my Life Points must go up by 10, and my Focus Points by 5, she reasoned. And now I have two Ability Points to spend! It seems I gain one of those with each level as well.
She verbally opened her Character Record, and focused on the Level section.
LEVEL: 3
Progress toward Level 4: 0%
A secondary notification persisted, reminding her of the Ability Points at her disposal. She opened the Ability Tree, seeing a variety of options.
[You have 2 Ability Points to Spend]
[Level 3 - Paladin Ability Tree]
Identify
(ready to advance)
Detect Evil
(not ready to advance)
Smite Evil
(unlockable)
Aura of Bravery
(unlockable)
Through repeated use and increased proficiency, Chastity was now able to advance the Identify skill to its next stage. However, her ability leveling progress for Detect Evil was not yet sufficient for advancement. She no longer saw an option to select Detect Good as a standalone choice, but curiously, there were two additional abilities that she could unlock.
She focused first on the Identify skill tree, which in this case was quite linear. There was no talk of an ‘Ability Split’ like there had been for Detect Evil.
Identify
An ability unique to Realmwalkers, allowing you to discern information about persons, creatures, or items in other realms.
Ability Level: 1 (Initiate)
Requires: 1 Focus Point
Next Ability Level: 2 (Novice)
Progress Toward Next Ability Level: 100%
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Identify II
An ability unique to Realmwalkers, allowing you to discern information about persons, creatures, or items in other realms. You are able to determine the Level of persons and creatures up to 10 Levels higher than your own.
Ability Level: 2 (Novice)
Requires: 2 Focus Points
Aha, thought Chastity. At the cost of an extra Focus Point per use, I’ll be able to figure out what level things are. No more pesky question marks. Unless, of course, they are much higher level than I am.
Next, she looked at Aura of Bravery, which sounded odd for an ability name.
Aura of Bravery
Your courage is inspiring! Companions within 10 feet of you gain temporary immunity to fear.
Ability Level: 1 (Initiate)
Requires: 10 Focus Points
Oof. 10 Focus Points is a lot, Chastity noted. That is an interesting ability, but I’m not exactly leading an army here. I wonder if I would ever use this… What does Smite Evil do?
Smite Evil
Once per day, you can deal double damage to any evil target.
Ability Level: 1 (Initiate)
Requires: 10 Focus Points
Another 10-pointer, she realized. I see how this would pair well with my Detect Evil ability. I didn’t realize just how much evil there was in this world, but from hearing whispers about the Dark One and encountering those awful wraiths last night, I can’t afford to be naive.
After some careful thought, Chastity decided to spend one Ability Point to advance her Identify skill from the Initiate to Novice stage.
Ding!
[1 Ability Point Spent]
[You Advanced an Ability - Identify → Identify II ]
She went back and forth over her next choice, but eventually chose to invest her second Ability Point in Smite Evil.
I’d rather avoid fighting, but if I have to defend myself or someone else, I should be prepared.
At the next Level Up, if there was a next time, she could choose the other option, advance one of her current abilities, or maybe a whole new option would appear.
Ding!
[1 Ability Point Spent]
[You Gained a New Ability - Smite Evil]
Smiting evil? I guess Charlie Cucumber was right after all, Chastity smiled and chuckled to herself.
“All packed up!” Charlie called. He stood at a respectful distance, nearly teetering under the combined supplies of both travelers.
“Thanks!” Chastity said, hopping off the wall and taking her things from him. She shielded her eyes and looked out at the cobblestone road leading into the eastern distance. “I guess this is where we part ways?”
Charlie shuffled his feet, not answering.
“What is it, Charlie? Please, speak your mind.”
Charlie stared hard at the ground, balling his fists at his sides and brimming with… frustration? Determination? What was it?
“I… I…” he started, working up to it. “I want to go with you!”
Chastity was surprised.
“Oh! Really? Even after… everything?”
The spider attack… the wraiths… narrowly avoiding hypothermia…
Suddenly, Charlie looked up to meet Chastity’s gaze with his bright, round eyes.
“This is the most exciting thing that has ever happened to me! And if I turn back now, I could never live with myself. I want to keep going. I want to see the Evervale. I want to see the Elves! If I’ve been sullen lately, a right bump on a log, I’m truly sorry. I was just missing my dad! Missing the way things used to be. The truth is, there’s not much of anything waiting for me back in Goldenberry. But you inspire me! I’m not ready for this adventure to end…”
Having worked himself into a minor tizzy, Charlie took several deep breaths to steady himself.
So Charlie truly had been downcast since they passed through the farmlands, as Chastity thought; it was not just her imagination. Missing his absent father, and more than that–grieving a lost way of life. She could understand that.
Strange, Chastity thought. When I was transported here, I was initially so focused on helping the Professor that I hadn’t even given much thought about my own parents. My grandmother, my sister. What must my family be thinking right now? What must they be going through? Are they doing a grid search for me? Are they putting my picture on milk cartons? Am I going to end up on an episode of Unsolved Mysteries?
Chastity rubbed her chin thoughtfully. Could it be… the longer she remained in this other world, the less she thought about (and remembered) the one she came from? Was she subtly changing, adapting to this place–Skärselden, as the villagers called it? Or was she just taking the role of fantasy Paladin a bit too seriously?
Did I really use the phrase, ‘you abominations have befouled it’ last night?
Her cheeks flushed pink with self-consciousness.
She cleared her throat.
“Charlie? This is the biggest adventure I think either of us have been on. I might regret this… but yes, you can travel with me into the Evervale. But stay close, and do what I ask. The last thing I want is for harm to befall you on my watch.”
Befall you on my watch? There’s that stilted language again!
Charlie quickly wiped his cheek–was he brushing away a small tear of gratitude? He nodded and grinned, hoisting up his traveling pack. And then the two were off, following the road eastward.
“You know, this is the farthest I’ve ever been from home before!” the halfling offered cheerily.
“Me too, Charlie. Me too.”
After another several dozen steps, he piped up again.
“No, no. Now THIS is the farthest I’ve ever been from home.”
A quarter of a mile down the road, he spoke yet again.
“Now this here is really, truly, the farthest I’ve ever been in my whole life! Woo hoo!”
Oh noooo, Chastity silently groaned.