Status.
Year 2 Month 6 Day 23
Name: Eric
Class: Farmer
Level: 1 12/1000
Age: 9 (57)
HP: 17 / 17 (18)
MP: 15 / 15 (16)
SP: 12
Strength: ++ D [10] 9 (10) + 5 14
Agility: ++ D [10] 9 (10) + 1 10
Smarts: ++ D [10] 9 (10) + 6 15
Stamina: ++ D [10] 9 (10) + 8 17
Skills
Status, Storage (0), Karate (0), Judo (0), TaiChi (0), Swords (0), Farming Plants (2), Artifice (0)
Storage (0): 17/1000
Karate (0): 28/1000
Farming Plants (2): 104/3000
Artifice (0): 11/1000
When I checked in the morning after my first dungeon experience, my Status had changed. Class: Farmer happened back when my Farming Plants skill raised to level two.
I made a few attempts at putting a gem into Storage, and it looks like that gave me 17/1000 as progress to Storage level one. What a grind! But if it meant I could carry more stuff, that would sure make my life easier.
Next to each stat there's usually just a string of numbers that are probably my body's potentials, adds for practice, and totals.
More puzzling is the sudden appearance of double plus signs next to my stat grades. Those don't look like very good grades. I could ask Lance, but he'd just say to trust my intuition and figure it out, and I feel like the ++ means I can add something. Maybe by spending SP, and the [10] is how much it costs. I'd bet anything I got SP from killing goblins. I probably killed 12 of them, so one SP per goblin. If I could one-shot the goblins with more strength, I'd mow them down a lot faster.
I closed my eyes and focused on increasing Strength. Increase Strength. Increase Strength. I hope this doesn't take a thousand repetitions. Increase Strength, then I felt a change.
Status.
Year 2 Month 6 Day 23
Name: Eric
Class: Farmer
Level: 1 12/1000
Age: 9 (57)
HP: 17 / 17 (18)
MP: 15 / 15 (16)
SP: 2
Strength: C 13 (15) + 5 18
Agility: D 9 (10) + 1 10
Smarts: D 9 (10) + 6 15
Stamina: D 9 (10) + 8 17
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Skills
Status, Storage (0), Karate (0), Judo (0), TaiChi (0), Swords (0), Farming Plants (2), Artifice (0)
Storage (0): 17/1000
Karate (0): 28/1000
Farming Plants (2): 104/3000
Artifice (0): 11/1000
Strength C. Do I feel stronger? Maybe! Status says I'm stronger, and spent 10 SP. Time to test it out on some goblins, but first I have to rethink my armor choices. Goblins aren't that much of a threat. I wouldn't want one to bite me but the chainmail and some of my extra layers are just slowing me down.
I finally decided to cut out over half the armor weight I went in with yesterday. My new armor consisted of cut resistant pants and shirt (long sleeves), fingerless leather gloves with pair of brass knuckles (to protect my hands), combat boots (steel toes), with helmet, knee/shin guards, and elbow/forearm guards from my ice hockey equipment. Between knuckles, boots, and elbows that gave me at least six striking surfaces to work with. Maybe eight with my knee guards if I had the chance, but those were mostly to protect against falling.
That afternoon at the dungeon, I lasted a lot longer between rests, and I did indeed one-shot goblins occasionally. They get a punch or bite in sometimes but my gear soaks it. By the end I asked Lance to let me take on two at once. They had no guile whatsoever, no hesitation, no dodging. All I had to do was meet their forward momentum with a solid fist or boot, then finish them off. I think I even caught Lance nodding in approval once.
When I left the building later, I had a thought. It seemed like I spent all afternoon in the dungeon, racking up over 100 SP, but now it didn't seem late enough. Back downstairs, I asked the guardian voice about it. It spoke in a deep rumbling whisper now because I complained about it shouting before and shaking the ground. Kind of creepy in its own way, but easier on the nerves. It confirmed that time outside passes more slowly while I'm in the labyrinth, by a factor of two! I wish this thing came with an instruction manual!
Status.
Year 2 Month 6 Day 24
Name: Eric
Class: Farmer
Level: 1 116/1000
Age: 9 (57)
HP: 17 / 17 (18)
MP: 15 / 15 (16)
SP: 106
Strength: ++ C [100] 13 (15) + 6 19
Agility: ++ D [10] 9 (10) + 1 10
Smarts: ++ D [10] 9 (10) + 6 15
Stamina: ++ D [10] 9 (10) + 8 17
Skills
Status, Storage (0), Karate (0), Judo (0), TaiChi (0), Swords (0), Farming Plants (2), Artifice (0)
Storage (0): 133/1000
Karate (0): 176/1000
Farming Plants (2): 184/3000
Artifice (0): 12/1000
++ Flora Path [100] Allows control of plants.
++ Artifice Path [100] Allows creation of new items.
++ Dungeon Path [100] Allows control of labyrinths.
Paths. Those look tempting. I got the Artifice Skill by patching my armor together, so would the Artifice Path help me do more of the same? One way to find out, but my stats are crying out for attention too. I'll sleep on it.
In the meantime the weather was clear, so I left my armor at the dungeon, switched to my large camping backpack, threw in a few bungee cords, and set off to load up on sleeping bags. Those are light so I might as well grab some camping gear while I'm at it. Even a single futon mattress is a bit much for me on my bicycle but layers of sleeping bags should be fine to keep me off the hard stone floor. This will make the third time I've moved my base of operations in 18 months and I'll have to haul water from a distance but the advantages are too big to ignore.