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Fractured
Chapter 3: Learning the Ropes

Chapter 3: Learning the Ropes

The shadows cast by the Light Rune danced on the walls of the room. The group huddled together, excitement and uncertainty hanging in the air. Cracked plaster crumbled beneath their feet, and the stale scent of dust hung in the air. Everyone looked disheveled and dirty after their escape.

"Alright," Mia said, breaking the silence. "We've got these... skills now, but we need to figure out how to use them effectively if we're going to make it through this. We need to avoid a repeat of last time."

She felt better when she acted, the fear was more manageable.

"Any ideas?" she asked then looked at Hector, who quickly turned away. Mia thought she saw something in his eyes but he turned too quickly. Was that anger? He had reason to be pissed at her after all.

"Maybe we should share all our abilities first," Diana suggested, her voice calm. "That way, we'll know what each of us is capable of and can adjust our strategies accordingly."

Mia nodded. "Sounds like a plan, We know what Hector has. Frank you're up next" she added turning her attention to the rogue.

Frank grinned and stepped into the shadows. To Mia's eyes he was putting on a performance to not deal with their current situation.

"Watch closely, my friends, for I am about to perform the dance of the silent shadow." Frank's voice held a touch of mockery, but his movements were anything but.

He effortlessly blended into the darkness, moving with remarkable grace. Even knowing where he was, Mia struggled to follow his movements as he weaved between pillars and debris. It was as if he was one with the shadows. When he suddenly appeared behind Hector, tapping his shoulder before vanishing again, even the warrior couldn't help but be impressed.

"Nicely done," Diana admitted, her eyes wide with surprise. "I didn't hear a thing."

"Silence is key when you're sneaking up on your enemies, it's called Shadow Dance" Frank replied, his voice emerging from the darkness before he reappeared beside them. "Now, if only I had some daggers, I could use the second one, Precise Strikes, it allows me to, and I quote, execute quick and accurate attacks on enemy weak points."

"So you got only two actives? What about passives?" Diana asked

"Acrobatics, Dodging, Sleight of Hand" Frank answered plainly "Let me check something"

Frank leaped into the air, showcasing a perfect back flip. As he completed his acrobatics, Frank transitioned into demonstrating his impressive sleight of hand skills. With swift movements, he manipulated cards he took out of his pocket, making them vanish and reappear at will.

"Nice moves, Frank," Mia said, impressed by his skills demonstration, even more so considering his usual clumsiness. His abilities could be used way more efficiently than throwing stones at monsters.

"Never could do a backflip before, also I could use some water after all that exercise." Frank said. “If you have any questions, this is what I know.” He raised his fist.

FRANK THORNE

CLASS: ROGUE

LVL. 1

STR: 7

DEX: 10

INT: 6

WIL: 6

HP: 70/70

MP: 60/60

SKILLS:

- SHADOW DANCE LVL. 1: MOVE SILENTLY THROUGH SHADOWS, BECOMING NEARLY INVISIBLE.

- PRECISE STRIKES LVL. 1: EXECUTE QUICK AND ACCURATE ATTACKS ON ENEMY WEAK POINTS. REQUIRES PIERCING MELEE WEAPONS.

PASSIVES:

- ACROBATICS LVL. 1: THE ART OF PERFORMING FEATS OF BALANCE, AGILITY, AND COORDINATION, OFTEN INVOLVING JUMP, FLIPS, AND TRICKS.

- DODGING LVL. 1: DODGE ENEMY ATTACKS WITH INCREASED AGILITY.

- SLEIGHT OF HAND LVL. 1: YOU'RE GOOD WITH YOUR HANDS. PERFORM SIMPLE TRICKS OR HELP PEOPLE EMPTY THEIR POCKETS.

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"Your turn, Mia," Hector said, still rubbing his shoulder where Frank had tapped him.

Mia hesitated, glancing at her empty hands. "Well, I'm supposed to be a ranger, but without a bow or arrows, it's hard to show my skills."

"Maybe you can practice with something else?" Diana suggested, looking around the room for anything useful.

"Here," Hector offered, picking up a small stone and handing it to Mia. "Maybe try to throw it?."

"Alright," Mia shrugged, taking a deep breath. She felt like this was not going to work but wanted to try anyway on the off chance that it might. She positioned herself as if she was holding an invisible bow, her focus narrowing on a small crack in a distant wall. As she pulled back her imaginary bowstring, her muscles tensed, and her breathing steadied.

Mia released her breath and threw, sending the stone flying towards the wall. It struck the wall a couple of feet away from her target with a crack.

"Was that where you were aiming? " Frank said, clearly unimpressed. "I guess you need a real bow."

"Yeah" Mia said dejectedly " My skill didn't activate, it's called True Shot and is supposed to give me perfect timing. My other actives are Tracking and Camouflage, which seems similar to Franks ability but it slowly gets better the longer I don't move"

"Passives?" Diana prompts.

"Foraging, Wilderness Survival and Animal Bond, first one i assume is pretty straightforward, the second one says less damage from environmental effects, whatever that means, and last one is reading animal emotions"

"Did you get anything on the monsters?" Hector asked.

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"They are not animals" Mia responded with a shudder.

"Alright, Diana, walk us through what you have," Mia prompted, turning to the enchantress.

Diana nodded and stepped. She took a deep breath and held out her hands, fingers poised to channel her magic. The air around her seemed to shimmer as she concentrated, and suddenly, runes appeared at her fingertips. With a flick of her wrist, Diana sent the glowing symbols toward the floor where they formed intricate patterns.

"Watch this," she whispered, and the runes began to pulse with energy. One by one, they triggered, creating small explosions that shook the room and sent dust billowing into the air. Another set of runes shone with purple light.

"Those were Explosive Runes and the purple one is a Slowing Rune" Diana explained.

Suddenly Frank rushed into the circle and immediately seemed to loose his coordination and fell, barely protecting his face from the floor.

Everyone stood dazed looking at Frank "Why would you do that?" Diane asked.

"Testing," Frank breathed, picking himself from the floor, not revealing anything more.

Hector rolled his eyes "Testing for what?"

"I ran into the circle and my momentum didn't go away, but my reaction and muscle movement was slowed. That's why I fell. The conclusion is that the slow ward doesn't affect time or something like that, just the creature inside." Frank said, checking his bruises.

Everyone was dumbfounded again in a span of two minutes. "I'm not an idiot." Frank said.

"Anyway, those rune traps will definitely come in handy," Mia said. "What else can you do, Diana?"

"Healing and light but you saw those. As for passives I have Enchantments and Sense Magic," Diana replied, her voice quiet. "Seems like I could make our equipment better, if we had any. Also about what Hector said before? That this feels powerful? I absolutely agree" Diana said with a glint of hunger in her eyes. She also flashed one of her rare smiles.

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As Mia watched others show off with their abilities she felt a mix of conflicting emotions. On one hand she couldn't shed the thoughts of the monsters lurking nearby and on the other the strength displayed by her friends made her envious, since hers appeared weaker.

She wanted to go home more than anything and the situation was getting to her. She started paying close attention to how others were dealing with it. Hector, though trying to appear stoic, couldn't hide the tension in his clenched fists.

Frank eyes, although bright with humour and excitement with his new skills betrayed a bit of worry.

Diana was unreadable as always, she seemed to be experimenting with her runes already. It was time to be the leader again.

"Alright," Mia said. "Now that we've seen what we can do individually, let's focus on making some sort of battle plan?" That was a sentence Mia never thought she would say.

"Agreed," Hector nodded, his brow furrowing in thought. "I can lead in combat, take the front line, draw enemies' attention, and protect all of you. But I'd be even more effective with a weapon."

"Maybe Diana could enchant this for you?" Frank suggested, holding a long rusted pipe.

Diana bit her lip, hesitant but intrigued by the idea. "I could try," she admitted. "Let me see." Her eyes started glowing and a single line slowly appeared on the pipe.

ENCHANTING RUSTY PIPE. TIME LEFT 3H59M

"It will take about four hours to finish this, I just got a popup." Diana said.

"Save it for later then," Hector conceded, hefting the pipe and taking a few practice swings.

"Frank, your stealth and agility make you perfect for scouting and ambushing," Mia continued, her eyes narrowing as she considered their overall strategy. "You'll be our secret weapon—striking quickly from behind before disappearing again."

"Right," Frank chimed in, a sarcastic smile playing on his lips. "I'll be their worst nightmare, sneaking up from the shadows on them and landing some critical hits with a pair of sharp rocks. Again, some daggers would be really helpful."

"Maybe we can search this city for better weapons later," Mia offered, trying to assuage his frustration. "For now, we'll have to make do with what we've got."

"Alright," Diana chimed in, her voice excited. "I can set up rune traps to control the battlefield, and if any of us get injured, I can heal us."

"Great," Mia said, feeling a sense of faint hope forming among them as they planned their strategy. "As for me, I'll provide ranged support. But like Frank, I'm in need of a proper weapon—an actual bow would be nice. Right now I'm only capable of tracking and throwing stones."

"Once we've found you a bow you will be more useful," Hector lamely tried to lift her spirits up.

"Indeed," Diana agreed, her tone dry. Mia noticed that Diana was often in opposition to Hector recently.

"Speaking of adapting," Frank mused, his gray eyes narrowing as he contemplated their next move. "We should also prepare a few backup plans in case things don't go as expected. You know, like knowing an escape route before we start a fight."

"Good thinking," Mia commended him, She knew that working together and keeping each other safe was the way to survival.

"Sounds like we've got ourselves a game plan!" Hector declared, grinning so broadly one could almost miss the tension in him.

"Let's make sure we practice our skills a bit before we face any real threats," Mia urged, knowing that their lives depended on their ability and nothing else. There was no safety net.

"Agreed," Hector said, his eyes filled with determination let’s get familiar with this stuff.”

Diana just stood there with her eyes closed, magical energy crackling around her.

They continued to practice their skills, each member of the group focused on their own skills.

HECTOR MATTHEWS

CLASS: WARRIOR

LVL. 1

STR:10

DEX:7

INT:6

WIL:6

HP:100/100

MP:60/60

SKILLS:

- POWER STRIKE LVL. 1: UNLEASH A POWERFUL MELEE ATTACK.

- BATTLE CRY LVL. 1: BOOST ALLIES' MORALE AND COMBAT PROWESS BY 10% BOOST YOUR OWN BY 15%

- SHIELD BASH LVL. 1: ATTACK AN ENEMY WITH YOUR SHIELD, POSSIBLY STUNNING HIM AND PUSHING HIM AWAY. REQUIRES SHIELD.

PASSIVES:

- COMBAT PROWESS LVL. 1: PROVIDES A SOLID FOUNDATION FOR CLOSE COMBAT, OFFERING A BASIC KNOWLEDGE OF MULTIPLE WEAPONS LIKE SPEARS, MACES, SWORDS AND SHIELDS.

- ARMOR MASTERY LVL. 1: CHARACTER'S PROFICIENCY IN WEARING AND UTILIZING ARMOR. MAKES MOVING IN ARMOR EASIER, NEGATING SOME DISADVANTAGES OF WEARING HEAVIER ARMOR.

- HARD TRAINING LVL. 1: THIS SKILL REFLECTS THE CHARACTER'S COMMITMENT TO RIGOROUS PHYSICAL CONDITIONING RESULTING IN IMPROVED ENDURANCE, STRENGTH, AND MENTAL FORTITUDE.