Druid Level 6
Druid Specialization Available
I glanced back at the message curiously as we headed back up the hill to the portal. I forced myself to hold off until we got back to the training yard like we had planned before we challenged the dungeon this time. After running through the dungeon six times yesterday we only needed two more attempts for all of us to finish leveling. Since we leveled from this fight it meant we managed to earn six hundred experiences from this one battle, almost doubling what we earned on our first attempt at the dungeon.
It wasn’t that we had switched tactics from our fights over the past day and a half, we had just become much better at killing the demons that assaulted us in the dungeon. Our attributes quickly climbed under the pressure from the dungeon and the rate we gained experience in our Skills was incredible.
After we finished our sixth run the previous day we had decided to rest and train at the training yards outside of the dungeon instead of continuing. Even though we had only been fighting for a total of thirty or forty minutes all of us were feeling worn out from battling the intense demons of the dungeon. We mostly rested, although I borrowed Gabrielle’s sword to practice with it for a while. I was finding myself in a lot of situations where I felt a sword would be more suitable, recently. Unfortunately, while I wouldn’t consider myself very skilled with a spear, I was much more capable with one than a sword, for now.
We quickly made our way to the training yards outside of the cave and Gary led us to an area close by where we could sit undisturbed. I dropped my pack a second behind him and sat down excitedly. I put the one statistic point I earned from leveling into Spirit as soon as I opened my Status.
Eli - Lvl 6 Druid
Experience - 30\15000
One Skill Point Available
Strength-12 (+1)
Dexterity-15 (+1)
Perception-10
Vitality-12 (+1)
Spirit- 20 (+2)
Willpower-15 (+1)
Barkskin - Level 9\10 (+1) Upgradeable
Experience - 2090\25600
Thornbolt - Level 7\20 (+1) Upgradeable
Experience - 6300\12800
Rejuvenation - Level 6\10 (+1) Upgradeable
Experience - 2010\6400
Snaring Roots - Level 6\10 (+2) Upgradeable
Experience - 130\6400
One Druid Specialization Available
Earth
Nature
Air
Restoration
Bond
I studied the five choices intently, but like when I chose my class, no new information was available besides the names. I glanced at the rest of my party seated beside me and saw all of them frowning at their status.
“Did everyone else receive a choice between five different specializations?” I asked curiously.
“Yeah, I did as well,” Gary nodded. “I’m assuming each choice will unlock a similar type of skill.”
“Or a choice of skills, we don’t know when we can unlock another specialization, after this,” Gabrielle commented. I frowned slightly, without knowing when I could unlock another the choice would be that much more difficult. Everyone grew quiet after that and I studied each of my choices carefully.
Earth, Nature, and Air were all similar and I assumed they were different spells relating to each of the different elements. I wasn’t sure what to expect out of each other than spells related to their different fields. Restoration would allow me to learn new skills similar to Rejuvenation, but I didn’t think that was what I needed right now. I thought back on the monster tamers I had seen in Brightswell when I saw the Bond specialization. Having a strong beast to fight by my side could be more powerful than any single spell I could think of.
I thought over my choices for another twenty minutes quietly with the rest of my team before Zack got up and broke my contemplation.
“I see the Duergar, Aidor, over there, “ Zack saw me watching him curiously and pointed at the training yard. “I’m going to see if he has any information about specializations before I make my choice.”
“I’ll come,” I replied after a moment. Anything I could find out would help me make my decision easier, and I had other questions for the Duergar, too. No one else responded to our quiet conversation so I left my pack beside them and walked with Zack to the nearby training yard. The training yard was massive and there were a few teams scattered throughout sparring and moving through weapons forms. We walked towards Aidor, who was moving slowly through a complex pattern with his polearm.
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“Humans!” he came to a stop with his polearm planted in the packed dirt once he saw us approaching. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“Aidor,” Zack nodded, “I’m sorry I didn’t introduce myself before, my name is Zack of Dusk battalion.” Aidor’s eyebrows lifted a bit and he smiled with a nod of his head.
“Eli, also of Dusk battalion. What did you mean by the wilds, before?” I asked curiously. I had been wondering about it since we had last spoken to him a couple of days before.
“The wilds are what people call the areas outside of a territory,” the Duergar shrugged with one shoulder as he leaned on his weapon. “It’s not very common for people to live there, but it’s not unheard of.”
“We just advanced to level six and unlocked one specialization, could you tell us anything about it?” Zack asked.
“I could see you were all early bronze, but I didn’t expect you to have just advanced,” the man looked surprised. “You unlock a specialization at bronze, Iron, Silver, Gold, and Platinum. Although,” he held up one hand and looked at each of us, “when you unlock one specialization, the others are all changed, slightly. You may be given the same options, but the skills you’ll receive will be different than they would be and skills you upgrade will advance differently. Be careful in your decision, it will lock in your path, in a way.``
I didn’t respond as I tried to absorb all of the information he had just told us and no one spoke for a moment.
“What level is Iron?” I asked. The Duergar stared blanky for a few seconds and I shifted uncomfortably and glanced at Zack.
“Sorry,” Aidor spoke gruffly, “You’ll advance to Iron at level twenty, Silver at fifty, Gold at one hundred, and Platinum at two hundred. People normally separate the levels between each one into early, middle, late, and peak when they’re talking.” I nodded sadly to his response. If I had to wait until level twenty before I could unlock another specialization it would be a long time before I got to choose another.
“Where exactly are you two from, Zack and Eli of Dusk battalion?” Aidor asked.
“A kingdom called Satar, although it’s not a territory, like here,” Zack responded and I looked at him warily. I doubted Gabrielle would be happy to hear that he told the Duergar where we were from.
Aidor hummed and shook his head, “And how did you get here, then?”
“We were training in a dungeon nearby in the mountains when a group of hobgoblins captured us and brought us to the outpost. It was either join the Warband or die,” Zack shrugged, “now we’re here.”
Aidor looked surprised and he chuckled softly for a moment before he responded. “Interesting, I wonder who it was that captured you. If you wish, you could leave the Warband and serve Ascended Skorv elsewhere. You won’t be forced to fight, even if you signed a contract. Although, you would have to pay off the contribution points you spent,” he gestured towards Gary’s mace.
“We can?” I exclaimed in surprise.
“Of course,” Aidor nodded. “They will get a year of service out of you, but there are other places you could serve. You won’t earn as much or advance as quickly anywhere else while we’re at Bronze, though.”
“Thank you for all of the information, Aidor,” Zack said seriously before he stepped forwards to shake his hand.
“It’s no trouble,” he replied. “Good luck with your specializations,” he waved as we headed back towards our team. We had a lot of information that they needed to hear.
I let Zack go over everything Aidor told us once we got back to our team while I sat down close by to contemplate my choices. If all of the skills I would earn in the future would be impacted I would have to choose whatever would suit me best. Earth, Air, Nature, Restoration or Bond. Although I thought Bond could be the most powerful choice in the right situation I didn’t know if I wanted to make that my first choice, especially since I didn't know if I would be able to find a creature to form a bond with.
I knew Restoration would be helpful, but I didn’t think we needed more healing beyond what I already had. Rejuvenation was usually only useful after a battle was already over. My quickly growing Spirit already allowed me to cast the skill twice if I needed to, and I was able to heal any injury we had sustained so far. When I advance to Iron I'll probably end up choosing Restoration if it's offered again.
Between Earth, Air and Nature I was leaning towards choosing Earth. While most of my skills seemed to be Nature oriented, I thought if I chose Earth I would learn skills more suited to what I needed. Also, choosing one of the elements would hopefully offer spells with more utility than Restoration or Bond. Earth felt like it would allow me to handle myself better on the front line when I fought with a melee weapon.
Earth Specialization Unlocked
One Skill Point Available
Tremor
Earthen Might
I was surprised that there were only two choices, but new ones could replace them once I unlocked both. Tremor sounded like a powerful skill and I thought it would cause the ground to send monsters off their feet. Earthen Might, I wasn’t sure about, although I thought it had to be either a passive skill or possibly a buff I could cast on others. I wanted to unlock Tremor, but if Earthen Might was a passive or a buff I would prefer it over Tremor. Over the past few weeks when I had trained with Zack and Gary I noticed both of them had become much stronger and faster than me from leveling their passive skills. I knew over time the gap would only widen if my class didn’t give me the ability to increase my statistics.
Earthen Might Unlocked
Earthen Might - Level 1\10 Upgradeable
Experience - 0\100
I felt the familiar sensation of Essence flowing from my core and into the shape I would need to form it in to cast the skill. As soon as it finished I could tell that it was unlike any skill I had learned before. The Essence formation was complex and continuous, unlike my other skills which were released all at once. I shook my head to clear my thoughts and began the process of casting the spell.
“Earthen Might,” I finished about half a minute later and I felt the skill take hold immediately as I could feel my Strength and Vitality grow. The skill drained about a third of my Essence, but I could tell that the buff would last for a while, probably close to an hour. I pulled up my Status eagerly to see if it would give me some information on what the skill provided.
Eli - Lvl 6 Druid
Experience - 30\15000
Strength-16 (+4)
Dexterity-15
Perception-10
Vitality-16 (+4)
Spirit- 20
Willpower-15
Barkskin - Level 9\10 Upgradeable
Experience - 2090\25600
Thornbolt - Level 7\20 Upgradeable
Experience - 6300\12800
Rejuvenation - Level 6\10 Upgradeable
Experience - 2010\6400
Snaring Roots - Level 6\10 Upgradeable
Experience - 130\6400
Earthen Might - Level 1\10 Upgradeable
Experience - 5\100
I grinned and started laughing when I saw how much my strength and vitality increased from the skill. The first few levels would be quick, too, meaning the skill would be even more powerful soon. I got up and walked back to the rest of my team; I couldn’t wait to see what skills everyone else got.