The next few hours were filled with what I could only describe as pure torture. Running laps around the track, what the guide called it, until all I could do is crawl just to eke out a little bit more distance.
Just before I passed out the guide had me drink some potion and all my stamina and strength was back to normal again. After that I was teleported to a new area with thin beams suspended over a pit and was told to try and get the greatest distance along it. Now I could tell you that I did great in these two trials but that would be a lie.
I was never much of a runner, and I would trip over a twig so in my mind I failed both of those tests. The last of what I would call the physical tests was a bit more strange and I have no idea how well I did.
I was led to a long corridor. The guide told me that I just needed to get to the end. It seemed easy enough and I was determined not to fail this test. After a few steps my body started to feel heavy, and the weight just increased with every foot. At roughly the halfway mark my knees gave out and I had to crawl on heands and knees just to make progress, I was only about a foot or two away from the door when the weight became too much and I had to give up.
As soon as I did that the extra weight went away and the guide teleported me to another room with just some tables and chairs.
“Now for the last tests, these ones are the non-standard ones. They are designed specifically for you and were dependent on how and what you did in the previous tests.” The guide told me.
“We will start with a game called Ur, then move on to backgammon. After that will come a game called chess followed by go. Now dont worry just like with the weapons we will temporarily give you the ability to know all the rules to these games. With each one you will play against a simulated opponent multiple times each one getting harder until you lose.”
After a few more hours filled with this, and I had no idea how well I did I was finally done. I was teleported back to the first room with the table and chairs for me and the guide to sit on.
“Now its time to tell you the results of the tests” And the guide showed me my new status.
**
Name: Drak Nolan
Race: Revenant
Class: Necromancer
Profession: Commander (Sergeant)
Level: 1
PP: 15
Stats:
Str: 6
Dex: 5
Sta: 9
Int: 12
Will: 19
Cha: 15
HP: 90
MP: 120
Paths:
Revenant (0/10) Necromancer (0/10) Command (0/100) Control (0/10) Bones (0/1) flesh (0/1) heart (0/10) Sword (0/20) Staff (0/20) spear (0/20)
**
I was about to speak up and ask a ton of questions when the guide held up his hand to stop me.
“Let me give my explanation first which will answer most of your questions.” He started. “Lets start with class and profession. Your Class is necromancer, now usually they are evil spellcasters with a limited ability in summoning temporary skeletons and zombies.”
“Now as your a revenant and them being good aligned almost all of the spellcasting of the class will be unavailable to you. But with the commander profession your summons will now be semi-permanent, meaning until destroyed or you yourself unsummon them.”
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“The types and amounts of undead you can control will go up depending on the paths you go down. Wich brings us unto paths.”
“When you level up, or sometimes when you do certain achievements/quests you get pathpoints (PP). Every time you rest you are able to spend those PP into one of your paths. Some will give you abilities, some stats. When you put points into them the quick rule of thumb is. The shorter ones are usually abilities that wont give you anything until you finish the path, While the bigger/longer ones will sometimes give a bonus every few points you put into it.”
“Now I have to warn you. Sometimes picking one path will close down another and you get no warning for it. My suggestion is to think carefully but not to overthink it or to worry about the paths not chosen. New paths will open up in a variety of ways. Easiest one is finishing one path will usually open up a new one. Deeds and achievements including leveling up is the other way.”
“Now any questions about the PP” he asked.
“Is there a way to see what each path unlocks before I start down one, and can I do multiple paths at the same time?”
“On the first question its a no, but you can usually infer by the name roughly what putting points into it will do. Second question yes but once you start on a path if it would make any other paths go away it will happen as soon as you put the first pint in, not when you finish a path. An example to give an answer to both questions For instance for a mage might get the fireball and the icicle paths. As soon as he puts his first point into fireball the ice path will close of to him. When finished will give him the fireball spell and might unlock fireball 2 path unlocking more/bigger fireballs, and/or the firebolt path which is single target version.”
“As you can tell I have used the words usually and/or and so on very often, thats because no two people and no two paths are the same. Like in the above example, a different mage might not have the ice path blocked off but not get any advanced versions of the spells and become more of a generalist instead of a specialist for instance. And some smaller paths might just be a big stat boost instead of giving or upgrading an ability.”
Having no further questions we continued on to stats.
“Now this is one of the places where the status screen will help you out. Im going to give you full access to your status now, note dont spend your PP yet. Just mentally click on one of the stats to see a description.”
So I went through them one by one.
**
Str: Strength. Not so much an increase in muscle mass but more a better way of using what you have. Increases damage done with certain weapons. Will also increase carry capacity. Also effects how much armor slows you down and saps your stamina. Very useful for fighters
Dex: Dexterity. How agile and fast you are. Increases damage with certain weapons and accuracy of ranged weapons. Also increases movement speed and fine motorcontrol. Very useful for ranged classes and those who do crafting.
Sta: Stamina or some people might call this constitution. Is about how many hits you can take and how long you are able to do certain physical activities. Only stat that is trainable outside of using PP. Useful for all classes.
Int: Intelligence altho some people might call it intuition. How smart you are and how good you are at using that intelligence. Higher IQ does not automaticaly translate into high INT. Just like muscles its not how much raw power there is its how you use it. Also effects mana points. Usefull for all spellcasting classes.
Will: Willpower. How much your mind and body can endure and resists certain effects. Affects all other stats in different ways. Might give you that extra boost of strength that you needed. Or help with concentration when doing dexterous stuff. Usefull for all classes
Cha: Charisma. Your natural ability to influence others. Effects the people around you in different ways. Allies will like you more or listen better to your commands while enemies might fear you or become jealous. In your case also effects how many summons are in each squad.
**
“Now one last task left before I send you back. Everyone gets a companion guide. Most times its a spirit nobody else can see or interact with. As a necromancer class with the commander profession tho yours will be corporeal.”