Until now, despite embracing his reality, Andy still had doubts about his situation, deep down in his mind, whispers of this being a very vivid dream, or a very realistic VR, a hallucination was well within the realm of possibility, despite the system, the screens, the magic of his skill, he was still skeptical, but now, laying on his back on the cold grass, he stared at the starry sky. It was beautiful, something he never got to see on earth, but that wasn’t what caught his eyes, so high in the sky, two silvery moons hung in the dark sky, Andy stared at it, a small chuckle escaped his lips, a chuckle that turned to laughter, relief flooded his body, for some reason, despite all the crazy shit he been through in the last few hours, this scene resonated with him, for some reason this sight cemented the truth, the truth that he was far from home, far from his world, he will have to fight to survive, he will struggle, not the kind of struggle of earth, no, this kind was more primal, the type of acting, not sitting on a desk for his whole life.
And Andy wanted nothing more, the current way of things suited him very well, with his heart empty of doubts, he stood up with a groan, nothing was wrong with him, but years of groaning every time he stepped out of bed cannot be wiped away just like that.
The air was a little chilly now so late in the night, the fire has long since died, and only blackened wood and ash remains, thanks to the moons in the sky, there was enough illuminations for him to see. His black spear still imbedded in the alpha throat was Bathing in the soft glow of moonlight, it seemed to reflect the light around it, casting a captivating silhouette against the woods around it.
He willed the weapon back to his hand, and it disappeared in a small cloud of black smoke, feeling its weight in his hand made Andy feel resolved and secure, his own lifeline in these dangerous woods, with one last squeeze, the spear was sent back to whatever place the skill keep the equipment.
Knelling beside the dead dire wolf, Andy began inspecting the corpse for any useful part, the fur is quite dense and will provide good insulation, so it will be good for a blanket to cover himself in the cold nights, he also remembers reading once that wolf meat ,while technically edible, consuming it is generally not advisable due to ethical, legal, and health concerns.
He doesn’t really care about the ethical part, this wolf was trying to make a chewing toy out of him, so he has no remorse about killing him, and making a fluffy blanket out of it and legally speaking, like a great man once said, if the cops don’t see it, it's not illegal.
And despite the effect it can have on his health, Andy was still going to keep the meat for emergencies, and also to test something he had on his mind, whether the inventory kept what was inside of it fresh, or time pass normally for whatever inside, and there is the probability of the health problem being fixed by increasing his CON.
The teeth, claws and bones can be used to create tools and weapons, but he was lacking the knowledge and tools to do that, so he just decided to keep it stored in his inventory if needed, after all, a person can never have too much loot.
Unsheathing his knife, he went about skinning the carcass, the only experience in skinning he had was with sheep, he had a Muslim friend who invited him once to a religious holiday, a few misshapes here and there, Andy managed to walk away with the meat, and a mostly intact pelt, he hoped he can fashion a blanket out of it later, or better yet just sell it to the shop.
It was hard to focus on the skinning job, mid work, he realized that he spent most of the night defenseless, laying on the ground beside a dead animal, laying in its own pool of blood, it was his luck that none of the animals or scavengers around the area took notice and decided to make dinner out of him, it might have been due to the fact that the alpha was the apex predator of this area, and it existence kept other animals at bay, “but aren't wolfs pack hunters? It seems odd that this one was taking a lonely night stroll, so it's safe to assume that whatever left the alpha injured last night also took care of its pack, I just hope whatever it was, it died in the process”.
He didn’t want to meet whatever did that, at least until he gets stronger, "speaking of strong, I should address the blinking dot in my vision, I remember getting a few levels and a title, and also should check how much SC this wolf was worth”.
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[giant slayer I: this title is given for slaying an elite monster 10 levels above you without help
Reward: +10% extra damage against foes higher level than you, 5AP.]
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10% extra damage didn’t seem that high to Andy, but he would take whatever advantage he can his hands on, yes 10% might not be much now, but later when he is capable of ditching a lot of damage, 10% more damage might be exactly what he needs to win a fight, and also, he noted how it said without help, even though the alpha was heavily injured, did the system not include help from other monsters, or is it something else? He would need to ask about this when he found his way to civilization.
Taking a look at his status, Andy noticed another oddity in his AP reserve, he had a whopping 24 AP, that when he facepalmed so hard, his nose might have bled.
His title [Visitor from another world] came with 10 AP, 10 AP that he could have used in his last fight, a bit more DEX would have made dodging the wolf a piece of cake, or some STR to help his attacks penetrate deeper.
He sighed, that was a foolish mistake, one that could have cost him his life, saving a few points isn't a bad strategy, but forgetting about them completely was. Now that he is aware of his accumulated AP, he wasn’t sure where to put them, he could use more of everything, but that wasn’t possible, these points are his way to more power, and he wasn’t about to spend them carelessly.
Scanning his status, he quickly dismissed his mantal stats, for now he had no need for mana or mental defense, so investing in INT and WIS wasn’t an option, so that left 24 AP between STR, DEX, END, and CON. the fight opened his eyes to some things, he enjoyed dodging around his enemy, outlasting his opponents and biding his time for a chance to deliver the final blow, so following exactly that logic he invested 7 AP in each of END and DEX, and 3 in each of STR and CON, that left him with 4 spare AP in case he needed a quick power up, and this time he wasn’t going to forget about it.
Increasing his states felt like the mana baptism but to a very lesser degree, he felt his muscle contrast and bulge a bit under his tunic, a hint of toned muscle came to him when he pressed his finger against his bicep, he felt lighter on his feet, he even managed to stand on his feet for a while before losing balance, his lungs felt bigger and drew more air, he could sear he felt blood circling faster in his veins, it was a soothing feeling, a rush of power coursing through his being, he could see himself get addicted to the rush of assigning AP’s.
Next it was time to spend his UP’s, unlike AP this was a bit vague, he had to try a few times but eventually managed it, all you had to do was think of the skill you wish to upgrade, and a screen will pop up, so he started with his first skill ever.
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[unique skills cannot be upgraded further]
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That was a disappointment to say the least, he was hoping to unlock the uncommon section of his shop with UP’s, but it seems that unique skills had a different was of progressing. He didn’t dwell on that thought much and went for upgrading his legendary skill.
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Increase equipment stats [0/10]
Damage negation [0/10]
equipment slots I [0/5]
Save enchantment I [0/5]
Tyrant form [0/30]
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[Increase equipment stats [0/10]
Each point spent in this path will increase the base stats of any absorbed equipment by 2%]
[ Damage negation [0/10]
Each point spent in this path will increase the amount of damage negated before it reaches the defense by 2%]
[ Equipment slots I [0/5]
spending 5 points in this path will increase the number of equipment slots by 1 for each type]
[ Increase enchantment efficiency [0/10]
Each point spent in this path will increase the effectiveness of any absorbed enchantment by 2%]
[ Tyrant form [0/30]
Finishing this path will unlock the tyrant form, while in tyrant form all stats and equipment stats increase of total stats by 50% and allow access to the martial experience and the aura of the tyrant emperor for 30 second]
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All of the options sounded cool ,the increase in equipment stats, mainly damage and defense will cover the weakness of his current build , he was aiming to be fast and precise, being a pain in the ass to catch, but outlasting your opponent meant nothing if a stray shot could kill you, and seeing that magic do exist in this world , an AOE attack strong enough will toast him, or fighting something with strong defense, speed means nothing if all your attack feel like a 5 year old trying to hit mike Tyson.
Damage negation was completely defensive in nature, it acted as a softener, making sure any attack done to him would be sufficiently weakened enough for his armor to block the rest of the damage, leaving his body in pristine condition.
Equipment slots was obviously the best pick, but currently Andy lack the means to fill most of his slots outside of the shop, so this option was dismissed for the time being, until he fills his current slots, he prefers to spend his UPs on something that will increase his power now rather than later, he wasn’t on a position to think about the long term.
The increase Enchantment efficiency fell in the same problem as the increase in slots, none of his armor or weapons are enchanted, except for his utility equipment. So, the extra efficiency didn’t benefit him at all until he got his hands on more enchanted equipment.
As for the last option, the tyrant form sound cool as hell to Andy ears, the bonuses to his personal attributes and his equipment stats was amazing, and the increase wasn’t to his base stats but the total, and to top it off , it will cover his lack of formal training in martial arts, or any form of combat for that matter, as far as Andy remember his last fight was in his first year of high school with some lame ass bully, also if what he knows as aura is the same as what the system refers to then he will have a zone of his control, it can have any effect , from amplifying his strength, empowering allies or weakening enemies, it sounded really cool and Andy was excited to have it , but the only downside was that it lasted only for 30 seconds, so it was a trump card type of ability, but that wasn’t an option for the foreseeable future, this path required an outrageous amount of UP , an amount he will not have access to , at least until level 30, or less, depending on how acquiring a class will change the amount of UP and AP given per level.
His only two logical options were the increase in equipment stats, and the damage negation, both were useful to his needs and will cover his weakness and were withing his current budget.
With that being said, he dumped all his points in the first path, yeah damage negation was good, but he will rather improve both his attack and defense, rather that negating some of the damage and then have his armor break because it wasn’t strong enough to block the weakened attack. And it will scale well with his giant slayer title, he was so low level that most things in this forest will be of higher level than him.
[identify; provides you with information about whatever you trying to scan, the information is limited to name, specie, level, and rank, you can only scans being 10 levels above you.]
They say knowledge is power, even if this knowledge is limited and situational, this skill will prove useful with some upgrades, and maybe he can get his hands on a better version, he still don’t know if skills can naturally upgrade to a higher rarity or he will be stuck with the common version until he buy a new one.
Speaking of buying, it was time to check how much SC the wolf netted him, and he was satisfied to see the number he had, 3213SC to his name, enough to buy 3 common skills, it was a good sum, so he did the natural thing any man would do, going on a shopping trip.
Browsing in the equipment section, Andy noticed that unlike the common skills, that were all priced at 1000SC, the equipment varied a lot, the lowest he found was a rusty knife for 40SC, and the highest was a katholian bastard sword for a 1500 SC, plus there was something that Andy wanted to experience with his skill.
How was the equipment weight factored in? he can vaguely remember that his spear felt light when he fought the alpha, but otherwise it had the same weight to it.
Andy was browsing light armour, it provided less protection but weren’t heavy, but if his theory proves to be correct, than he can purchase plate armour, and still maintain high mobility, and benefit from the high defence.
So, Andy bought a heater shield, it was made of wood, with leather padding from the inside, it had a handle to hold and a strap to be fixed on the forearm, it wasn’t that heavy, being made of wood, it had cost him 1100SC
Mentally equipping it to his left arm, he absorbed it, it dissolved in a cloud of black smoke, and materialized almost immediately, it was completely black just like his spear, and it had the same weight to it, nothing different if you don’t count the new design.
Andy bent his knees, summoned his spear and took a fighting position, recalling his fight, he imagined the alpha lunging at him, but instead of dodging to the side, he blocked the imaginary claw coming at him, the block was done effortlessly, it felt like swinging his empty arm. And he managed to get the shield in position very fast.
Trying again, but this time Andy imagined the wolf trying to tackle him, he moved the shield to the front of him, bent his knees to help him absorb the imaginary attack, the shield didn’t get light, it had the same weight to it, the heavier he was the harder he was to move, and it seems that the skill understand that well, Andy sent a silent thanks to ash’lak for his foresight when creating a legendary skill and dismissed his equipment. the legendary skill either had its own way of knowing when to change the weight, or it was reading his intent and acting accordingly. It didn’t matter as long as it got the job done.
But the little experiment made Andy aware of another weakness of his current build, he had no training with neither the spear nor the shield, it might look easy to do it , but mid battle, the lack of training will prove disadvantageous, with that in mind he spent his remaining SC on buying the basic spear skill and the basic shield skill.
[basic shield: this skill implants the basic use of the shield to your mind]
[basic spear: this skill implants the basic use of the spear to your mind]
He expected a headache with the info implant, but nothing came, his knowledge of this world and how it operated was only based on his gaming experience, and that didn’t cover everything, so he just made a mental list of all the stuff he has to research when he gets the chance.
Walking toward the pile of twigs and wood he had, he retrieved the bedroll and laid it on the grass beside the now lit fire.
Resting by the fire, gazing at the endless stars, and the two beautiful silver moons, he will go and explore the surrounding area and try to map as much as he can from the forest, but for now he would just relax and enjoy the atmosphere.