I wandered around for a few minutes trying to process everything that happened. The events blurred together starting with the first sight of the mine surrounded by the army. So much death and destruction on display was like a cold splash of water in the face. The King knew where we were, and he was angry. Lost in thought as I was, I didn’t hear Camile approach until she threw herself against my chest.
“We were so worried about you out there all alone.” The young woman said. “What happened out there?”
“Let him rest Camille, he’s been through his first real battle, against humans anyway.” Arthur said from behind us both before I could respond. “Come Sylar, let’s get some food in you and get you some rest.”
I began to protest but he put his strong hand on my shoulder and steered me through the mine to the mess hall. A plate of mystery meat and vegetables was put down in front of me. It was steaming against the cold temperature of the mess hall. Halfway through before I even realized it, I had been starving. My health bar was more than half full but my body and mind were fatigued beyond measure.
Waking up to darkness, panic set in for a moment before I realized I was in my bed. It was dark out above the skylight, I couldn’t even remember getting to bed. Marci was curled up on the pillow beside my head. Knowing my stamina wouldn’t let me back to sleep, I began to process the mountain of notifications blinking in my vision.
Congratulations! You have reached level 29!
Congratulations! You have reached level 30!
Congratulations! You have new classes available!
Congratulations! You have new skills available!
Congratulations! You have a new title!
Congratulations! You have a new title!
.......
So many notifications! Starting with the simplest, I reviewed my new titles first.
New Title! Slayer of Eter II - First in world to slay 50 Eter soldiers! Grants 10% damage increase to soldiers of Eter, -20 disposition to people of Eter, Ruby item box!
New Title! Unorthodox III - Kill 50 enemies without engaging in combat! Grants +8 to primary stats.
At this rate I would never have a positive interaction with someone who didn’t know me already again. Considering I was in Eter and my negative charisma, every encounter would start off on bad footing. The only bright spot of this new title was that it didn’t consider the soldiers of Eter my allies. That would be a hard title to have to stomach again. The upgrade to unorthodox was a nice bump to my primary stats. There didn’t seem to be a hard set of accomplishments required to be granted a title, unorthodox had been given for combat and non combat feats.
Bringing up my combat log to see how many Eter soldiers were killed by the poison, I was shocked to see it at 64. Nearly one fourth of the first army unit had died to the banshee briar dropped in the cooking pots. It was a dangerously effective poison. If it grew in many other places of the forest we would need an antidote as soon as possible.
Next was my first class choice since the framework initialized. I had started with the class Wildcard after the 24 hour judgment period had ended. Unlike many other people, I hadn’t been offered a new class at level 10 or 20. I pulled up the description of Wildcard to review it before looking at my new choices.
Wildcard - Jack of all trades, master of none. Grants +1 wisdom, +1 stamina, +2 skill points per level. New skill slot granted every 10 levels.
The benefit of the class to my stamina couldn’t be understated. Without such a high stamina my health pool would have been much lower. I wouldn’t have survived many of the encounters of the last few months. Realizing I was delaying out of nervousness, I triggered the new class notification.
New Class Available!
Wildcard - Jack of all trades, master of none. Grants +1 wisdom, +1 stamina, +2 skill points per level. New skill slot granted every 10 levels.
Town Guard - Solid and Steady, proud to defend one's home. Requirements - Guard position in a town or city. Must perform guard duty once per week. Grants +1 strength, +1 agility, 1 skill point per level. Primary stats increased by 25% while acting in defense of a town or city. Grants skill - Basic weapon proficiency - basic proficiency with sword, spear, shield and bow. Grants new skill every 5 levels.
Explorer of the Wilds - One who is never more happy than when exploring the untamed wilds. One with an unparalleled ability to survive them. Requirements - Natural explorer skill, solo trip to unmapped area, survive an encounter deep in the wilds. Grants +1 stamina, +1 agility, 1 skill point per level. Primary stats increased by 15% when no allies are within 5 miles. Grants one new skill every 10 levels. Grants skill - Stealth - Become harder for enemies to spot, sounds of movement decreased.
Friend of the Forest - One who would rather befriend a forest beast instead of fight them. Requirements - Bond with a forest beast or communicates with forest beasts regularly. Grants +1 wisdom, +1 attribute based on beast composition, 1 skill point per level. Grants skill Empower - Once an hour you can empower bonded companion by increasing your companions primary stats by 50% of yours for 10 minutes. Grants new skills every 10 levels.
That was a lot to take in. Town guard sounded great if my plan was to remain at the mine at all times. My stats would be truly fearsome while acting in defense of the mine. The requirement of performing guard duty once a week would limit any exploration or trips back to Etes to find my mother. The guide didn’t say what would happen if I didn’t meet those requirements. Basic weapon proficiency would be a great boon for the sword and shield as I hadn’t learned them well at the academy. A new skill every 5 levels would also allow for a quick increase in power, my strength and agility would stop lagging behind my stamina.
Explorer of the Wilds was tempting in many ways. If this was offered to me before the mine and residents of Burch joined I likely would have taken it. Only getting the bonus to stats when alone was disappointing as that was hopefully going to become a more rare occurrence. Stealth would be a great skill for increasing my own survival odds.
Friend of the Forest was easily the best choice. I had met the class requirement with my bond to Marci and communication with Halev. Further increases to my wisdom would leave my stats rather unbalanced, it didn’t say what would decide which stats were increased and how the beast composition factored in. Empower would be an amazing skill if I bonded with a stronger beast or Marci gained levels.
I spent a few minutes rereading all of the choices before picking Friend of the Forest. I still had a skill slot available and skill choices to choose from after hitting level 30. Empower was included with the class. I looked over my new skill choices and saw Creation Synergy and Leave A Mark were still available. There was only one new skill to choose from.
Creation Synergy - Items created by you receive a damage multiplier.
Leave A Mark - Mentally mark a target, allowing you to track them on your map.
See What I See - Allows for seeing through the eyes of a bonded beast companion and communicate telepathically for up to 10 cumulative minutes a day.
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It was a little underwhelming of a choice after receiving beast companion and empower. The only difference this would add would be being able to see through Marci’s eyes in real time rather than wait for her to return to me and project the images. There were situations it would prove helpful I knew but I couldn’t help but feel disappointed. I briefly reconsidered leave a mark now that the King had fixed his attention on the mine. In the end I felt pulled to pick the skill that would increase my bond and abilities with Marci.
Using my 4 skill points left over from levels 29 and 30 in my wildcard class, I brought Empower to level 4. Adding levels to the skill increased the percentage increase of primary stats to my bonded best by 1% per level, so 54%. As if she knew I was thinking about her, she opened her eyes and gave a soft chirp. I brought up her menu under beast companion.
Marci - Dusk Falcon
Level
11
Health
66/66
Armor
12
Strength
4
Stamina
22
Agility
31
Intelligence
8
Wisdom
18
Her interface had changed as well. I was able to see her primary stats as well as an armor rating. She had leveled 7 times during the fight with the army first unit and the forest apes. Her stats were buffed by mine through Beast Companion. She was getting strong in her own right as more than a distraction or scout. She had also grown in size, it was a subtle difference but she had filled out her frame. She straightened out her wings and stretched, wingspan nearly three feet now. She also had a skill tab now available.
Skills
Level
Description
Power Dive
1
Dive from heights at an increased pace and deal extra damage to target.
So Marci gained predetermined skills or made the decision on her own. I tried to ask her which one it was but all she projected back was confusion. As far as she was concerned she had always had the ability to dive and attack enemies. She sent me images of her diving for prey and grabbing them with her sharp claws. I tried a few different ways of asking her my question leading to her getting annoyed and flying off the bed and out of the room. My stomach growled and I followed her out while looking over my own interface.
Sylar Till
Age
18
Race
Human
Class
Friend of the Forest
Level
30
Strength
39
Stamina
73
Agility
45
Intelligence
43
Wisdom
75
Charisma
-1
Luck
4
Armor
75
Health
219/219
Disposition
Friendly
Reputation
Dire
Titles
Quick to Violence
Violence I
Fickle Ally
Slayer of Norx I
Slayer of Eter II
Out with a Bang
Bombadeer
Unorthodox III
Crafty
Punching above your weight Class III
Well Rounded III
Slayer of Region Beast Lord
Survivor II
Dungeon Explorer
Weapons of Mass Destruction III
Lord of Destruction
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
Skills - Level - Description
Enchanced Explosion
8
Explosive base damage*8(8-18)*(Luck)
Identify
12
Displays all known information about a target
Natural Explorer
10
All resources known to subject added to explored areas.
Remote Detonation
8
2 explosives, distance = (10)*20 feet
Beast Companion
20
Bond with a beast
Symbiosis
1
Two way communication with intelligent non-bonded beasts, sharing of skills and attributes with bonded beasts.
Empower
4
Once an hour, empower bonded companion by 54% of primary stats for 10 minutes
See What I See
1
See through the eyes of a bonded beast and communicate telepathically for 1 hour a day.