Just a little closer I thought as I watched the forest hyena walk under the tree I was currently hiding in. As soon as it crossed the threshold of the boundary I let my arrow loose and watched it drive down through the hyenas grotesque head. Killing the beasts had felt wrong once early in the framework. It felt like a necessary chore now, the mine needed to be defended. Guilt slipped away and was replaced by nothing. The framework changed everything, including how I thought and felt.

There were three disturbances at the boundary this morning. The first two had been forest hyenas. Disgusting looking beasts that carried diseases and usually traveled in packs. The regional beast lord in the area was a massive level 25 forest hyena and it controlled a huge pack in the area. I hopped down from the tree and turned to head west and track the third disturbance, wrapping my cloak tighter around my shoulders. The weather was beginning to turn and the temperature had steadily been dropping.

It had been six weeks since the addition of the townspeople of Burch to the Old Mining Camp. An uneasy peace with the beasts of the forest had been established where we defended the boundary line with no exceptions. Any beast found inside the boundary line was killed. There had only been a few incidents of beasts attempting to get near the mine after a small skirmish had broken out against the regional beast lords pack.

The regional beast lord had made its presence known a few times after that by coming to the head of the clearing and roaring at the defenders in the outpost. It would stay for a few minutes before giving up and returning to the forest. The assumption was it was venting its anger at our culling of its pack.

We had discovered that there was a limit to how many meals the cook could prepare without ingredients, without having to pay the silver fee. Arthur didn’t want to use the towns funds on food when we had many able bodied hunters. Being the highest level I felt it was my responsibility to lead the hunters and keep everyone safe. We hunted every other day, returning with a variety of different beasts, fruits and vegetables for the mess hall. The experience gains were great for the residents of Burch, it took much longer to move my experience bar.

The residents of the mine had fallen into a steady routine and carved out a peaceful living inside the mine. The clearing was being expanded out a few hundred feet by the former loggers of Burch. A rudimentary mill to process the lumber was in the works. Arthur wanted to build a wall around the clearing once the mill was up and running.

It was cramped for space with everyone sleeping inside the mine. Most people preferred to spend the day outside which alleviated some of the issues. There was enough room to sleep 16 people in the two dormitory rooms on the second level. They had been divided one for the younger women and one for the younger men. The foreman's quarters bedroom had remained mine but the office and anteroom were makeshift bedrooms. Arthur and a few other men bunked in the anteroom while some of the older women slept in the office.

The mess hall could sleep around 20 people without interfering with the ability to eat meals and the rest divided up the common room. It wasn’t luxurious but it was safe. There were still packs and piles of belongings cluttered around as the townspeople waited for further expansion.

Checking the site of the third disturbance, there was nothing in the area that I could find. Tracking was a new skill of mine that I was in the process of developing. I had earned it a few weeks prior when following a small pack of hyenas that had cleared the boundary and were stalking around the mine. Deciding there was nothing in this area, I started to walk back towards the camp when a shriek sounded above my head followed by a small gray shape slamming against my chest. I caught the falcon and playfully snuggled it.

“Hey little lady, watch where you're going!” I playfully shouted at the young falcon. I triggered Identify and looked over its sheet.

Dusk Falcon - Intelligent Beast - Level 2

The young falcon wasn’t old enough to hunt yet which was hindering its level. My guide said that once our bond was fully formed it would share in my experience which would make leveling it up quite a bit easier. Without a beastmaster in the town I wasn’t sure how long it would take for the bond to fully form.

I could sense emotions from the falcon when it was scared or tired, and especially when it was hungry. It would follow me around while I hunted the hyenas that crossed the boundary or harvested ingredients for my alchemy. I wanted to name the falcon but had decided to wait until it could project its emotions to make sure it liked the name.

There was no way to know if it could interpret my own emotions yet but there was intelligence behind those sharp eyes. My beast companion was up to level 18 after adding the skill points from my recent levels to it. Letting my explosion related skills decay had become easier over time. That chapter of my life was over, practicing with my bow and spear felt more natural, more comfortable. The bombs remained in my inventory untouched and out of mind. I sighed with content, placing the falcon on my shoulder and continuing back towards the mine.

“Syl!” A voice shouted from the entrance to the mine.

“Hey Camile, only one hyena this time, you didn’t miss much.” I lied to her. She would be jealous to know that I had killed two of the beasts. We had been spending a lot of time together since arriving at the mine and it felt good to have a close friend again. Arthur didn’t want her out past the boundary unless he was with her and he rarely left the mine to venture to the forest. Most of the residents of Burch had had enough violence to last them a long time, content to live in and around the mine. Arthur had proved to be an excellent administrator.

“You didn’t tell anyone you were going. You know father worries when you disappear.” She said while pouting.

“Your father worries huh?” I teased back. I had been recently surprised to learn that she was only 15 years old. She had seemed much closer to my age when I had first met her. Her two sisters followed her out of the mine laughing and giggling about what, only they knew. The two girls were the youngest members of the town at only 4 and 6.

“Anyway,” She rolled her eyes, “there is a town meeting tonight at sundown. Father wants everyone there.”

“I’ll be there.” I replied and she chased after her two sisters. I nodded to the guard on duty on the outpost, it was Rian today. He had volunteered to be a guard for the town alongside his brother. We had 8 guards in total now, Arthur was the mayor and I was the alchemist. We had a cook, a leatherworker and a few other roles. Things were coming together nicely for the small town.

There had been no word from Burch yet. Arthur didn’t want to risk contact yet until more time had passed. He would send a party of residents when the time was right. I didn’t pester him for details, it was their business to handle. I thought of my mother often, if my description had reached Etes, would she have heard? My plan was still to go to Etes soon and try to find her. She would like the mine, the residents of the town.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

The alchemy room was my favorite place in the mine. There hadn’t been an alchemist in Burch and the town herbalist had chosen not to join the group leaving for the mine. There were no new recipes for me to learn. Attempting to create my own recipe led to a few disasters that were only averted due to the protections around the crafting hall. My supply pantry was bursting at the seams as I stockpiled resources for future recipes.

Perfecting the recipe for the major health potion had allowed me to create 50 of the potions. Every member of the town that left the mine was required to carry one as well as every guard on duty. They were stockpiled in various locations in the mine for emergent use. A few of the younger women had tried to learn alchemy but the skill hadn’t stuck. The framework was odd about who could learn a skill and who couldn’t.

Talking with Camile and the others had filled in some of the gaps that I had missed by skipping the tutorial. The others had taken some convincing that I didn’t go through the tutorial as according to them everyone had done it. The few people who lived outside of the town of Burch all died during the initialization when they had to face the beast waves alone. As far as I knew, I was the only one who had survived on my own. The residents of Burch respected me for it but I knew it was mostly luck.

The framework initialized on a person's 15th birthday if they weren’t 15 when the initial announcement had started. Everyone else was able to choose from three different classes that were based on their pre-existing skills or trades. Classes could be upgraded at level increments of 10 depending on if hidden conditions were met. Not everyone was able to upgrade a class as most basic classes followed the progression of a trade.

Arthur had given the example that he was a blacksmith while Jerrel was a Journeyman Blacksmith. Arthur had said the man who trained him was a master blacksmith. Arthur was level 11 and had not been offered a class upgrade. He was the highest level in the town other than me. I was shocked to learn that they had survived the beast waves at such low levels.

The tutorial had stated that experience gained from beasts was divided by everyone who was in range of combat or had contributed to the kill. Contributing could be as simple as crafting the arrow used to kill a beast. The experience was greater for the one who struck the final blow. Craftspeople were able to gain levels by crafting and leveled up that way. Jerrel hadn’t fought a beast until the most recent survival event but made it to level 7 just by working in the smithy.

Family trades were also considered, such as Jerrel taking blacksmith due to Arthur’s influence despite only having just started helping prior to the framework. Skill choices occurred for everyone in 10 level increments, always three choices. The guide and inventory system had been explained in detail as well as how to navigate the interfaces. Unique classes required unique conditions and were not offered to everyone. Unique classes may or may not be changed in the future all depending on the nature of the person and their accomplishments.

Camile had chosen a class called beacon of hope. She was able to raise the spirits of everyone around her and inspire them to be better. This applied to combat but just as much to regular life. Her class was based around stamina and charisma. Her mother, I had learned, had been on the town council before the framework. She had been an inspiring leader, able to sway people with beautiful and thoughtful words and speeches. She had died during the tutorial ending survival event when an intelligent beast had realized she was bolstering the defenders. Neither Camile nor Arthur would talk about it.

Charisma and luck worked differently than the other stats. They weren’t considered primary stats and only a few of the known classes were able to gain points. Most of the charisma gained and lost occurred in titles. I had also discovered that most people had 1 or 2 titles at most while I was sitting on 14 which was unheard of by the residents of Burch. A negative charisma score would influence people's perception upon meeting you. It was still possible to have a positive relationship such as mine with the residents of Burch, it was just harder. Hopefully the future would provide a way to increase my charisma back to 0 or above.

After checking in with Arthur to let him know about the two hyenas at the boundary, I headed to my room to rest and relax. It was a few hours still until the meeting. The falcon jumped off my shoulder and flew around the room a few times until settling comfortably on a pillow near the top of the bed. I pulled up my modified interface and read over it before my eyes got heavy and I drifted off to sleep.

Sylar Till

Age

18

Race

Human

Class

Wildcard

Level

27

Strength

31

Stamina

62

Agility

37

Intelligence

35

Wisdom

64

Charisma

-1

Luck

4

Armor

75

Health

186

Disposition

Friendly

Reputation

Dire

Titles

...

Equipment - Armor/Base Damage

Head

None

Chest

Stryker uniform

10

Arms

Stryker uniform

10

Hands

None

Belt

Stryker Bandoleer

10

Legs

Stryker uniform

10

Boots

Stryker uniform

10

Weapon

Stryker Bow (0/2)

20

Weapon

Stryker Dagger (0/2)

35

Cloak

Stryker Cloak(2)

25