Sufficient Wyrdgeld is present, presenting ascension options for Tier II Rank VI.
You currently have one Trait slot available and one Skill slot available.
At this time, you have unlocked three additional Skills that may be purchased.
Lesser Sprint - Common - 100 Wyrdgeld
Lesser Blade Mastery - Uncommon - 200 Wyrdgeld
Dodge - Uncommon - 200 Wyrdgeld
At this time, you have unlocked four additional Traits that may be purchased.
Lesser Endurance - Uncommon - 200 Wyrdgeld
Lesser Weapons Expert - Uncommon - 200 Wyrdgeld
Wand Wielder - Uncommon - 200 Wyrdgeld
A Weapon for Every Occasion - Rare - 400 Wyrdgeld
At this time, you have eight available Plexus Points.
Boons available to be upgraded
Hidden Fang - 3 Plexus Points
Orchard’s Gift - 3 Plexus Points
The Mighty Drake - 3 Plexus Points
Dauhaust’s Root - 2 Plexus Points
Hunter’s Grace - 2 Plexus Points
Shroud of Shadows - 2 Plexus Points
Would you like to purchase or upgrade a Skill, Trait or Boon?
Jake was tempted, very tempted, to pick up one of the Skills or Traits, but the addition of the newer options gave him pause.
A Weapon for Every Occasion was a rare Trait, which suggested that he could unlock other rare Abilities in time. He had one slot left for each, and he knew that as soon as he filled it, something excellent would come along.
Instead, Jake decided to spend the Wyrdgeld upgrading his existing Abilities, to see if they could be improved. Starting with Lesser Delver’s Will, he spent four hundred Wyrdgeld bringing it to the tenth rank.
The Skill Lesser Delver’s Will may now be advanced to the next tier.
Available Advancements
Delver’s Will - Uncommon
Relentless - Uncommon
Would you like to proceed?
“Yes, I’d like to advance to Delver’s Will,” Jake said, deciding to take the flat upgrade rather than try something new.
The rest of the Wyrdgeld went into the Infused Strike Skill, bringing it to rank seven.
Just like that, Jake went from having fifteen hundred Wyrdgeld to less than a hundred.
The question now was what to spend his Plexus Points on, but the choice was an easy one. Dauhaust’s Root had been his main weapon since he gained it, and bringing it to rank three would hopefully make it even more powerful.
The remaining three points would bring The Mighty Drake to its third rank. While Moby lacked a lot of the combat power of the others, Jake couldn’t ignore how useful he’d been overall.
If nothing else, Moby had saved his life with the Murkling, and Jake wanted to repay that.
Finalising his choices, Jake felt the System begin to make the changes as he slipped into a deep sleep.
-**-
Jake woke abruptly, a cold certainty filling his veins that he wasn’t alone.
He wasn’t sure what he’d heard, but he trusted his gut, and it was telling him to be ready to fight.
One hand crept under his pillow for the dagger Jake kept there and he made sure to move as little as possible as he listened for the intruder, keeping his breathing steady and slow.
Light footsteps crossed the cabin, moving steadily toward Jake, and he risked shifting enough to crack open one eye and see what was happening.
Pale moonlight illuminated a white mask with traces of black across it and the glint of bared steel as the classer crept closer to Jake’s bed.
Fortunately, Jake had been asleep long enough that they’d reached the point where his Boons reset, and he quickly called one to mind as he prepared to act.
The masked classer must have sensed that something was amiss as they abandoned their steady approach to rush at Jake, their dagger raised.
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Rolling out the other side of his bed, Jake threw his pillow with his free hand while brandishing the dagger with the other.
The masked classer grunted in surprise as the pillow hit them, but quickly adjusted to lunge at Jake, their dagger glowing with Wyrd.
A menacing quack filled the cabin as Jake summoned Moby, the duck immediately diving forward with a snap of his wings to rake the classer with his feet, which were now metallic, and larger.
Bright red blood splashed across the pools of moonlight as the classer cursed, twisting aside from the sudden attack.
Rushing forward, Jake batted the infused dagger aside before filling his own with Wyrd and slashing for the assassin’s throat.
The masked classer jerked back in a grey blur before dropping down and sweeping Jake’s legs out from under him.
Jake gasped as he hit the ground, keeping just enough presence of mind to throw his dagger at his attacker. The assassin slapped it aside with their free hand, dodging an attack from Moby with another grey-tinged movement as they did.
Feigning that he was more stunned than he was, Jake let the assassin close the distance before expending a second Manifestation and summoning Dauhaust’s Root into his hands.
The abrupt appearance of the spear caught the assassin mid lunge, and they tried to use their Skill again to dodge aside, but couldn’t completely evade the spear.
The classer let out a muffled cry as they stumbled and fell to the ground next to Jake, giving him chance to push up and drive the spear down into their back as they tried to rise.
Something crunched as Jake drove the spear down, and blood pooled out from his attacker as they slumped limply to the floor.
Pulling the spear free, Jake saw Moby flutter up onto the bed and took a moment to appreciate how much larger Moby had grown. He was too big to pass for a normal duck, even at a casual look, and was more the size of a large goose.
Jake’s spear had also changed. It was denser now, with a larger spearhead that had small thorns jutting out below it at an angle to function as barbs.
It was an impressive weapon, and he was already looking forward to seeing what the Hidden Fang would look like.
Glancing over at the dead classer, Jake frowned and moved next to the window, looking out to see what was happening outside.
There was a chance there had been just the one assassin, but Jake’s gut told him it was more than that.
The view from the window didn’t tell him much. He couldn’t see any sign of more assassins, but he could hear something. It was muffled, but it sounded like fighting.
Moving for the door, Jake decided to dismiss his spear and grab his sword and belt, keeping the Boon weapon in reserve.
Stepping out into the night air, Jake kept low as he worked his way along the cabins toward where the sounds were coming on.
A startled exclamation came from the next cabin along and Jake rushed forward as he heard the sound of metal on wood moments before the door broke open and a masked classer went sprawling out onto the floor.
Aspen came blurring out through the doorway and stabbed down at his attacker, but the classer created a shield of Wyrd at the last moment to block the hit.
Rolling away as Aspen recovered, the classer surged to his feet, right into the path of Jake’s right hook. Dazed and off balance, the classer put up little struggle as Jake opened his throat.
Scum like this deserved no mercy, and they would find none from Jake.
“Shit. Jake, are you alright?” Aspen asked as he looked around, watching for any other attackers.
“Yeah, I’m fine, I had the same treatment, though. We should check on the others and see what that sound is.” Jake nodded toward the trees, where he could still hear muffled sounds of fighting. “You should take care of that wound as well.”
Aspen glanced at a long, deep cut that ran down his upper arm and nodded. “Wait one moment, I’ll grab my stuff.”
Jake nodded and was just turning to watch the other cabins when he saw a pair of black-clad figures moving their way from closer to the Dungeon.
The two of them split up, one heading for Nepthys’s cabin and the other for Alan’s. Cursing, Jake hissed for Aspen to hurry before starting forward to intercept the one going for Nepthys.
Trying to do this quietly wouldn’t help, so Jake shouted to get the man’s attention and pulled his wand out, firing thorns at both of them.
The two assassins dodged the attacks but seemed unsure of how to react, giving Aspen time to rejoin him, tossing aside an empty potion bottle as he did.
“Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” Aspen asked as the two assassins changed direction to come for them, their masks glinting eerily in the moonlight.
“Not in the slightest,” Jake said, focusing his efforts on just one of the assassins, who was ducking and weaving through the hail of thorns as best he could.
Despite the best efforts of the assassin, Jake managed to land several thorns, but then it was down to blades and Jake had no time to worry about anything else.
Dodging aside from a slash, Jake’s eyes went wide as the masked classer’s dagger shimmered and elongated, extending a blade of Wyrd that reached out several inches past its tip.
Hot pain traced along Jake’s arm as the Wyrd tip found purchase, slicing through his shirt and flesh without pause and making Jake lose his grip on his sword.
Hissing in pain, Jake dodged back to avoid a follow up slash before summoning his spear and awkwardly twisting it in the way as they lunged, catching them in the thigh.
Blood spurted free from the wound and Jake surged forward, pressing the advantage to unleash a series of short stabs, catching the assassin again and again.
Jake lunged to impale his attacker, but they slipped to one side in a blur of Wyrd, just far enough aside that the spear slid right past.
Hauling back on the spear and swinging it closer, Jake stabbed the ring of thorns into the classer’s neck, yanking him forward and into Jake’s elbow.
Porcelain cracked and the classer fell back with a cry that cut off sharply as Jake spun the spear around and drove it down through the assassin’s heart.
A bright light flashed past Jake and he felt uncomfortably warm for a moment as Gargan made his presence felt by roasting Aspen’s opponent.
Nepthys and Alan had woken up and left their cabins, engaging another classer that must have been trying to sneak past.
Alan looked unsettled but fine, while Nepthys was wrapping a bandage around her leg.
“Everyone okay?” Jake called out, looking around for any more masked attackers.
“More or less,” Gargan said, clutching his side where his shirt was badly ripped. “Nothing that a potion won’t fix in time. Where are Felix and Ari?”
Jake turned to the woods and strained his ears, but the sounds of fighting had finished. “There was some fighting that way, let’s check it out.”