It was the morning after Gregory and Cooper's foray into the dungeon. Olivander had listened to their explanation of everything that happened in the dungeon and then sent them off to bed. Both Gregory and Cooper wanted to get a handle on their new items and abilities, as well as pick out new skills, but Olivander had waved them into a few nearby tents that he had requisitioned from the constables.
Cooper was already up, sniffing around the sparse trees of the forest, when Gregory emerged from the tent. He stretched and took in the camp.
There were many tents around now. The two senior constables had gone back to the Serin to report in and gather up any willing adventurers to take on the latest dungeon. Now there was a bustling camp around the entrance. A few food carts had even been set up.
Gregory spotted Olivander speaking with one of the food cart owners.
“And they just let you pluck those off? I’ve never seen anything like it.”
The stall owner was holding up a volvin, a fairly large rodent native to the desert and surrounding areas. They were nocturnal and cautious, so Gregory had hardly seen more than one. The stall owner flipped it over, exposing the underside of the creature.
“Yep. It’s easy. See, this little guy is one that I’ve raised personally, so he trusts me. The sacks grow in their cheeks, and once they’re ready, they pull them out and attach them to their underside. The bottom dries out and forms this kind of scaly skin. Go ahead and feel it, he won’t bite.”
Olivander reached forward and rubbed what appeared to be a scaly belly.
“That is remarkable. I’ve never seen this behavior in another creature. You can take these off and cook them then?”
“Not these, they’re too fresh. Over time they lose more moisture, and become a little stringy. You have to wait because they taste awful before they’re dry enough. Once they’re ready, you should pluck them all at once. That’ll get the volvin to start producing them again. They use them as much for protection as they do an emergency food store. That’s not an issue in captivity, and removing them is painless, so harvesting them for meat is quite humane.”
Olivander spotted Gregory and waived him over.
“Gregory, you must come try this. What was the dish called?”
“Volvin pie. It’s volvin sack meat and vegetables, baked into a savory crust.”
Gregory obliged and took a bite of a small hand pie he was given. He wasn’t expecting much from a dish with the words “sack meat” in the description.
It was warm and soft. The crust was flaky and buttery, and the filling had a delightful savory flavor, with hints of spices that he couldn’t quite place but had a nice slow heat developing on his tongue. The meat was more tender than he expected as well, with the chunks practically melting in his mouth.
“That is really good!”
“Thank you, sir,” the stall owner said.
“I have to show Timothy one of these pies,” Olivander said.
“He would like that. Too bad we won’t see him for a while.”
“Hmm? Oh, right. Of course. But we can tell him when we see him!” Olivander slipped a pie into his pocket.
“Did you just put a meat pie in your pocket?”
“Hmm? Don’t be an idiot Gregory, who would do that? Now, let’s find Cooper and chat, shall we?”
A short time later, Cooper was munching on his own meat pie while Gregory sat on an overturned bucket someone had tossed aside. The noise of the camp grew by the hour, with low level adventures from the area flocking to the new dungeon. Olivander picked out a meeting location away from the dungeon entrance for a little less distraction, but they could still hear the constables calling out occasionally.
“If your group has not yet drawn for a start time, find Junior Constable Darren and get a ticket! We have dialed in respawn times and are letting people in as fast as we can. We want you all to get as much experience as possible!” one of the constables called. Gregory could just make the woman out through a few trees. She had set up a platform for directing and keeping things under control.
He understood the need to space people out — you couldn’t clear a dungeon if there was nothing to fight. Darren had been listening in on their explanation the previous night, so everyone going into the dungeon knew what to expect.
“Gregory, pay attention,” Olivander said, and Gregory did. “We’ll go over the skill point burning a hole in your pocket first.”
That got Cooper’s attention, and he looked up from the crumbs of his meal.
“It’s somewhat intuitive, but not completely. You have to look inside yourself for the power, like when you envision your mana pool. You’ll also find the extra stat point you both gained, but that won’t be a bright as the skill point.”
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Gregory focused inward. His practice with using his mana and checking on it by looking inward made it pretty easy to find the skill point's power.
“Once you find it, all you need to do is focus on it, with the intent to use it.”
Gregory willed it to be so. A menu popped up before his eyes. It was a list of skills.
“Oh, a list! There are...ten skills on mine.”
“I also have ten. Some of these don’t really seem like normal skills. Like my Bone Breaker attack.”
“What do you mean?”
Cooper had figured out how to display his status and other things he could see to people nearby. It wasn’t an innate skill for non-humans, but something that he was able to do because of his unique nature.
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Advanced Search | 1 Skill Point
* Grants you the ability to find anything by scent, just by thinking about what you’re looking for.
* Does not require a reference scent, but you must know what you're looking for.
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“Interesting,” Gregory said. “Is that because you’re a dog?”
“It’s because he has a non-combat class —the dog class,” Olivander said.
“He’s a dog with the class dog? Isn’t that weird. Are there people with a human class?”
“If you think about it, most classes are human classes. I imagine when he levels up his dog class, it will become more specialized to the type of dog he is becoming. I have the non-combat class ‘Greater Scholar.’ Is that not a specialized human class?”
“I guess. It seems like a stretch though.”
“No one has all the answers, sometimes we just need to figure things out as we go. Now, you both have ten possible skills because you both have two classes. Every class has up to five skills available for purchase at a time. It’s somewhat random, but is influenced by your stats and other skills. You can find a listing with requirements for most skills at any guild hall.”
“What should I pick? I don’t have anything that lets me conjure a ball..." Cooper said, disappointed.
“Your first skill unlock should be something you find interesting. There’s no point in picking up skills you don’t want. I won’t pick your skills for you.”
That made sense to Gregory, he scanned his list.
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Skills Available
* 1 Skill Point
* Mana Ward
* Ignite
* Freeze
* Healing Touch
* Weaken
* Hide
* Break Self
* Rear Support
* 2 Skill Points
* Run Away
* 10 Skill Points
* Surrender
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Just to see what kind of detail he could get, he selected the first ability.
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Mana Ward | 1 skill point
* Cost Varies
* Use your mana pool as a ward against damage.
* Highly effective against magical damage, using half the normal mana to absorb strikes.
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“I have a few basic spells I can unlock, and some weirder options from my coward class.”
He selected the obvious outlier.
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Surrender | 10 skill points
* Cost: All mana, 90% of current health, 90% of current stamina
* You give up completely, surrendering to your opponent.
* You become immune to damage from that opponent for 12-24 hours, depending on health/mana/stamina used on this ability.
* During that time, you can take no offensive actions, and cannot flee unless allowed by the one you are surrendering to.
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“Have you seen this, Olivander? It seems kind of bad. I can’t escape or do anything, though I am immune for a bit. I guess it’s ok as a stalling tactic. Why is it so expensive though?”
Olivander took a look at the skill.
“Hmm. I’m guessing that it normally costs five skill points. That seems about right for something that can give you restricted but complete immunity like that. I’m guessing it conflicts with your new title. Your nature is changing, and it doesn't mesh with the skills available to a coward. It looks like both ‘Run Away’ and ‘Surrender’ were affected.”
“What should I choose?”
“It there a skill on the list that gives you better hearing, perhaps? My answer is the same thing I told Cooper. I’ll give you some advice, but I won’t choose for you.”
“I picked!”
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Cooper has unlocked the Striker class ability “Relentless”
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Relentless
* Passive Ability
* Consecutive attacks reduce the stamina cost of your special attacks.
* Cost is reset if you take any damage or move away from any opponents.
* Maximum reduction: 50%
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“A very nice striker ability! Well chosen.”
“During our trial, I couldn’t keep up because I was out of stamina. This should help. More attacks right now will just make me run out faster.”
“You are truly a dog who is just as wise as he is adorable,” Olivander said, and the compliment got Cooper’s tail wagging.
Gregory had unlocked “Mana Bolt” when he got his new class, so he wasn’t chomping at the bit for a new attack spell. He remembered back to the end of the Trial of Resolve. Both he and Cooper were beaten and broken, with nothing else they could do and nothing left in the tank. He didn't want to be in that position again.
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Gregory has unlocked the Magician’s Apprentice class ability “Healing Touch”
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Healing Touch
* Spell
* Cost: 8 mana
* Bestow a small amount of healing with a touch.
* You can heal yourself or anyone you can touch.
* Effect is enhanced by touching injured areas directly.
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“A healing ability? I think it will suit you.”
“Thanks Olivander.”
“You can both now look at your skill purchase guide any time. Think about what you want next, and we can swing by the guild hall in Serin to plan out what direction you want to go. You’re early on in your journeys and none of these decisions close any doors. At least not yet, so don’t stress out about them.
“Now, about your extra stat point. I will give you some advice on that. You should invest in your damage dealing resource early. It will keep you out of more sticky situations than any other stat!”
Gregory assigned his extra point to mana, and Cooper did the same with stamina.
“Very good. Now, the real reason I wanted to speak with you both before we head out. We need to talk about Cooper’s new item —The Eye of the Dark Magus.”