I walked over, recovered my bow, then went to greet the other men. Crossing back to the other side of the street, I clasped hands with Johnny and Pete. Then it was bro hugs and buddy pats all around. “Speaking of healing," I said, turning back to Johnny. Would you be so kind as to top off our health? I took some damage with that shield bash of his and I know he took at least a couple points of damage when I bitch-slapped him with the flat of my blade.” Complying with my request, Johnny hit us with a group heal bringing us back up to full health. I looked at Johnny with an impressed grin and said, “Nice.”
Taking off his helmet, Joe said, "You killed me with that Tombstone line. I almost lost it right there.”
“And you almost killed me with that first blow,” I retorted with a bit of a chuckle.
“I would’ve pulled it back in time if I thought it would’ve landed," Joe said with a sheepish look. What about your dog there? If I’d have gotten you one more time, I would’ve been kibble.” I just shrugged my shoulders with a smirk and called Dog over to me.
Joe stuck out his hand and let Dog sniff it. “What’s your dog’s name?" Joe asked.
“Dog,” I replied.
“Yeah, your dog. What's his name?" Joe asked again.
“Dog,” I replied. Joe looked at me puzzled.
“Wait, I got this,” Johnny responded. He shot me with two finger guns and said, “John Wayne right?”
With a laugh, I answered, “Got it in one.” “So are you guys ready to get into some shit?" I questioned.
“We’ve been in it for days now, Johnny said. Where've you been?”
“Long story. Got a place to talk," I replied looking at Joe. I looked around and saw that we had gathered a crowd during our brief battle in the street.
“Yeah, no worries,” Joe replied. He turned to the crowd of his neighbors still standing around and said, “It’s all good everyone, this is a good friend." Nothing to fear here. We were just doing a little training.”
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Speaking of training, I thought. At the end of the fight, I received a few notifications that I quickly dismissed. I took a moment to read the system notifications again:
-Skills increased: Sword Mastery Beginner 9, Bow Mastery Apprentice 4, Inspect beginner 4.
-Skill gained: Dodge beginner 7, 15% more chance to dodge strikes. Dodging now costs 10% less stamina.
- Dexterity increased by 2
- Strength increased by 1
I was surprised at the high beginner level of dodge I received from the fight. I surmised the system awarded higher skill levels if you could show proficient use of the skill. Then I remembered, I was still under a ten percent boost in strength and constitution from eating Denise's nourishing meal. That boost definitely helped me move and dodge faster. Plus I had a fifteen percent boost in experience and training because of the “Well Rested” bonus. I checked my stats page to see how I was progressing.
STATUS:
Name: Derrick Miller; Race: Human; Level: 6
Class: Ranger
Attributes:
Strength: 19 Dexterity: 22 Constitution: 19 Intelligence: 18 Wisdom: 13 Charisma: 19
Health: 190/190 Stamina: 20/205 Mana: 180 Carry Capacity: 285 lbs. Armor Class: 25
Skills:
Hand to Hand: Beginner 6
Blunt Weapons: Beginner 9
Ax Mastery: Apprentice 3
Sword Mastery: Beginner 9
Bow Mastery: Apprentice 4
Daggers: Beginner 8
First Aid: Apprentice 9
Building: Journeyman 5
Crafting: Journeyman 5
WLDNS Survival: Journeyman 2
Sneak: Beginner 5
Herbalism: Beginner 5
Alchemy: Beginner 5
Inspect: Beginner 4
Dodge: Beginner 7
Arcane:
Minor Heal: Beginner 5
Tame Animal: Beginner 9
Spike Growth: Beginner 1
Dark Vision: Beginner 5
You have 0 unassigned attribute points.
You have 3 unassigned skill points.
Exiting the stat screen, feeling satisfied with how my build was progressing, I followed Joe into the open garage of a nearby residence.