Jake
In the night sky clouds could be seen forming slowly, for now they were few, but maybe two or three days from now I could see another blizzard coming down.
‘Hopefully it will be fast like the last one.’
A few hours have passed since my simple apology, with me and Frost sitting in silence for quite a while in the snowy ground, before she went to eat our spoils.
In my head our relationship should've gotten worse after all that, but strangely enough I felt happy and in some weird way I almost felt I could trust that little fucker.
‘Emotions are so weird’ I thought to myself.
Finally feeling ready to start claiming my threshold rewards, I call out the system selecting to claim the power rank up skill.
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Choose one.
>POWER RAMP UP (rank 0):
Casting a skill temporarily grants you a small Power boost, this buff refreshes with each next skill cast and stacks up to 15 times, reaching up to a medium Power boost. (base duration of the buff scales with Power rank).
>DARK SEAL (rank 0):
At close range you can cast DARK SEAL into a target, sealing all their skills that have a lower level than DARK SEAL. (duration varies with amount of mana used) (seal strength is based on DARK SEAL level at the moment of cast).
>DARK CHAIN (rank 0):
Materialize a chain from either you or a dark area that binds to a target, while bound the target skills are suppressed and his movement is slightly restricted. (strength varies based on darkness present in the environment).
Note: By default casting a skill will require a voice component.
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For once an easy decision, since I had no skill with a cast yet power ramp up did nothing and from its description it would need way more than a single cast skill or at least a really spammable one, which I had neither.
Then there was a dark seal which sounded quite strong, if not by the fact it would do nothing till I leveled it up, since for now it would be a rank 0 level 0 skill.
Sigh
‘If I had more stats, dark sacrifice could solve this issue.’
And though I could use it now, I really didn't want to, for one main reason.
I hadn't noticed at the time, but looking out now, I can see the world better being able to notice details on the trees I hadn't seen before the fight, my hearing also got sharper, with me being able to clearly hear Frost eating even from behind this tree and my both my thinking speed and reflexes were faster letting me know Frost had jumped on me earlier just as her paws left the snow, with me only restricted by the speed at which I could move.
The difference was like day and night, since the timing of this change and the mind rank up were so close together, there was little this was a coincidence.
The idea of ranking back down now made me… hesitant to use dark sacrifice.
‘I'll have to use it eventually though.’ With it giving skills it was simply too good to let it rot.
So as my thoughts passed by I tapped on my choice.
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In response to the acquisition of *DARK CHAIN* skill your mana has been slightly attuned to the Dark element.
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I swiped away the attunement notification, ready to claim the reward that made me the most curious.
In moments I opened the system upgrade claim.
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Choose one.
>Threat assessment.
After imagining a situation you know instinctively how dangerous it would be.
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Knowing your limits can be the difference between a long life or an early grave.
>Fast travel.
Once a month, you can instantly teleport to a City you’ve been to before.
The worlds are vast, the paths ever changing and sometimes the only way forward is going back.
>Quest log.
Get access to quests that reward you upon completion.
Everyone has a role in life and good actors deserve a prize.
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If the last claim was a simple choice this one wasn’t.
All three could be pretty good, but it was hard for me to judge it since their descriptions were so short.
Fast travel for example, in normal circumstances having an instant getaway option would be a dream scenario, but could I use it in combat? And what did the system consider a city? A house? Two houses? Was there even a city already somewhere considering it hasn’t even been four days since I woke up here?
More importantly, could I bring someone with me? If not this would be useless for me, since teleporting to a city without Frost would kill us both because of the distance limit of the mark.
Deciding not to gamble with this choice I was still stuck at the other two.
The threat assessment seemed good, simple and reliable.
And quest log seemed like a gamble, of course not as risky as Fast travel since losing there meant having a dead upgrade, but I could see it being anywhere between, kinda nice to have to and an essential tool that could change everything.
After hesitating for a bit I sighed and thought to myself.
‘Should be worth a shot.’
The moment I selected a new system screen appeared in front of me.
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Quest log.
Class quests (Wanderer IV):
>Wandering around.
Event quests:
>The first City war of Frozen Woods.
Active quests [0/3]:
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“A City war?” I mumbled seeing a city being mentioned by the system again.
Curious tapped on the mission and its description popped up.
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-The first City war of Frozen Woods.
No more than a week had passed after Citizens were brought to Frozen Woods when the two cities, ‘New Dawn’ and ‘Eat Sleep Fuck’ found each other and not a day later ‘New Dawn’ declared City war.
Now two months have passed, yet the conflict keeps strong.
As a third party, go to one of the cities, ally yourself with them and help them win!
Success rewards:
Skill - A MERCENARY HAND (Rankless).
Stat points - level and rank varied by contribution.
>Accept
>Go back
Note: A City war only ends when one of the City Cores is taken by the other side’s Hero, the destiny of the losers forever held in the hands of the winners.
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‘Should I get involved in this?’ I questioned myself staring at this prompt,
A part of me was quite tempted, since the reward looked good, though the system didn't show me its description, plus there seemed to be no failure consequence, but then again, war didn't sound like the most safe thing to get into.
“Being too greedy is not good for the heart.” I whispered, going back to the quest log.
I wasn't about to jump into dark waters after scolding Frost for a similar action just a few hours ago.
Next I opened my class quest hoping it would be something less risky
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-Wandering around - chain quest.
You're lost, but you're a wanderer soo… wander around.
Walk 10 km.
Success rewards:
Item - ‘Sturdy Cane.’
Chance - small chance of a helpful encounter.
Quest - Wandering around II.
>Accept.
>Go back.
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Without much thought I accepted the mission, if I could even call it that.
Not that I was complaining, in fact I was quite anxious to do my first mission.
***
Frost
Feeling a bit better after hours staring at the night sky, I made my way to my second meal of the night, quite happy that Jake didn’t eat any prey though he helped us get it.
Bite by bite I gulped down the now cold meat, finding it worse than the meal before both in taste and especially in how much it helped me grow.
Silently making a vow to never let food for later ever again, I started to wolf it down faster, lest it gets worse.
In minutes I'm done, laying tiredly amidst bones, my belly so full it felt I had just eaten a bunch of rocks, my power ran overdrive to process what I had eaten into power, a feeling both demanding and exhilarating.
Slowly I close my eyes ready to take a nap before we move out once again.
After all Jake had been adamant we should get away from the goblins nest during the day, since apparently he was a lot weaker under the sun.
I had just barely entered sleep when sounds of snow being crushed caught my attention.
Lookin at it I see Jake pacing around in the snow, from where we were just seated to a tree a few meters away, then back to where we were, then back to the tree, again and again.
Ignoring his antics I close my eyes and go back to my nap.
*
Alone I walked around, small, lost and lost.
It hadn't been long since waking up in the snowy world.
But it was more than enough time for hunger to creep and weakness to start showing its ugly head.
Maybe it wouldn't take long for me to see my pack again.
In that weak moment of doubt the voice of ice and snow echoed through my mind.
“eat the snow and be hungry no more.”
Bite by bite I gulped down the snow that covered the ground.
It made my throat sore.
It made my body shake.
But I'll live.
I'll grow!
*
A sudden movement of large amounts of mana wakes me from my nap.
Following its course I see it gather on Jake's hand.
From the mark I can feel it, he is quite happy.