I was so excited that I had finally got the profession that I nearly started shouting in joy. It then dawned on me how late it was and thought better of it. I had already been making enough noise with my hammer, no need to add to it by shouting.
The exhaustion from the day came and hit me in full force and I internalized what time it was. It was the dead of night with the only light being the twinkling of the stars above, no moon to light the way. I didn't know where we were exactly but the no moon thing still threw me for a loop every time I looked into the sky.
The night sky just looked so different than what I was used to, all of the constellations were different and I couldn't find Orion in the sky. It was the end of winter when we were sucked into this tutorial and Orion should still be in the sky to signify winter was still here.
I knew of other constellations but none I could pick out as easily. There was obviously the big dipper and the little dipper but they were absent as well. Even the north star was missing from its rightful place in the night sky.
Orion was always my favorite because if I could see it, it meant winter was coming. It was usually only visible halfway through fall where I lived and there would be a chill in the air as it began its stint across the horizon.
Winter had always been my favorite season and I absolutely loved the snow. It was a beautiful time with the chilly weather, foggy breath, and the crispness in the air. It was a thousand times better than the humid, suffocating heat of summer or the pollen-infested winds and rains of spring.
Fall, or autumn if you're fancy, was a close second. Watching the leaves change and the beginning of sweatshirt weather was second fiddle to the snows of winter, but it would always remain second. At least to me.
I was in dire need of sleep so I left my ruminations about the sky there and made my way toward my bed. Sleep claimed me quickly and I was off to dreamland.
Austin had to wake me up the next morning or else I would have slept in.
I must've been more tired than I thought and it took him a few minutes to wake me from my slumber. I was still wiping the sleep from my eyes as we walked through the gate out of camp.
"What time did you go to bed last night? You were sleeping like the dead." Austin asked.
"I don't know, I didn't check before I went to bed, but it was late," I answered.
"I know it was late, I heard your hammer until midnight keeping me up. Don't worry you'll get it soon enough." He said while patting me on the shoulder as if to console me.
"I don't know what you're talking about, I got it last night," I said smugly.
Austin took a moment to process what I said before laughing. He shook his head and smiled, "Of course you did. Well how is it, what did you get?"
I hadn't actually looked at it yet. He had pulled me out of bed so early my mind was still waking up. Pulling up my notification screen I dismissed the usual training one after checking it over and pulled up the one he was talking about.
Congratulations, you have unlocked the Blacksmith Profession!
Novice Blacksmith
Blacksmiths work with metal and their hands to create works of art. Whether that art takes the form of structures, weapons, armor, or anything else it is up to the creator. See where your creativity takes you and create works of wonder.
Common evolutions: Armor Smith, Weapon Smith, Apprentice Blacksmith, Artificer.
+2 Strength, +1 Agility, +1 Fortitude, +2 Endurance
You have acquired a new skill!
Sense Metal(Common) – Scan an object with your mana to reveal the inner workings of the metal. Can see faults and stresses hidden to the naked eye. Detail scales with the amount of mana used and time.
There was a lot to take in from the notifications and it was all good news. The act of getting the profession made it start at level 1 and applied the stat increases to my body. I already had the highest strength in the camp and now it got even higher.
The profession touched on most of the same stats as my class and they were starting to dwarf my other stats. With the level from the profession, my strength hit 35, while my intelligence sat in relegation at 9.
One point away from being four times as much. I didn't know the specifics but it seemed like I was more than four times as strong than when I started. I didn't think the points were linear, but more akin to exponential with each point meaning more than the last.
It was yet another example of things we had yet to find out. I could probably test it over time by lifting various things and seeing where the limit was and doing it again 10 points later or something, but I didn't have the time nor the patience to do something like that.
I felt stronger and hit harder and that was enough for me. I could figure out the details after we were out of this tutorial if I wanted to.
I relayed all the information to Austin and told him about my new skill and class. he was justifiably jealous and said he couldn't wait to get his profession. I mentioned how it was cruel that the profession's starting skill was the one you had to learn to get it. Sense Metal was the skill for the mana technique the book walked you through.
"What profession do you even want? I don't even know which one you are waiting for." I realized I didn't even know which one he wanted to get.
"I was thinking Explorer. You know, to go on grand adventures and stuff. I had always wanted to see the world but never got the chance, now I could get a profession dedicated to it. You and I contribute the most during the waves so it should be fine to get a profession that isn't strictly helpful." He said, starting to get a bit passionate.
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I didn't know if that was the best decision and getting a profession like that, instead of one that could make something useful didn't sound the greatest. I told him as much and he just shook his head.
"This isn't all there is to life Chris. If all we do is fight or craft for the purpose of fighting, that's a rather grim life. Life is full of wonderful things and the earth is changing to be even more magical than it already was. Don't you want to go see it, and bask in the majesty of the views? Think how good Mt. Everest is now with magic. With our stats high enough, we could climb to the top with ease. Or with magic equipment, explore the ocean." He said while gesturing with his hands excitedly.
He had this gleeful smile on his face and it looked like he was fantasizing about the future. On all the places he would go.
He came down from his musings and said, "Just think of the possibilities."
"I don't need to think of the possibilities, I need to think about tomorrow and what I need to do to get there," I said back. It didn't matter how wonderful the world was if you didn't live to see it.
"Oh don't be a Debby downer, life's no fun if you think like that." He mocked.
I knew what he was talking about and it was usually me making the same point to Abigail all the time. I wasn't one to stew in negativity or focus on the bad, but there were too many things we didn't know and I would feel better after learning the rules of our new world.
If you prepared for all possibilities you will never be caught off guard or something like that. I knew there was a famous quote about it but couldn't think of the exact words.
"Nope, I'm not letting you ruin this by saying something stupid. Eye on the prize, we are evolving our classes today and I won't be bogged down by you and your stupid sayings." He said waving me off, "You're the same as your Dad."
"Take it back!" That was a grave insult. I was nothing like him, he was old and always had some stupid quote or saying that applied to every situation. We were nothing alike.
"Make me!" He said before running off into the woods like a child.
There was no way I was going to stoop to his level, I was above this and wasn't going to engage in his childishness. So that's why I was running after him, for safety, no other reason. It's dangerous to be in the forest alone.
We scoured the forest for anything that could help us level up and pass the threshold of level 10. Since we had begun using the forest as our hunting grounds, prey became increasingly rare. It was getting harder and harder to find monsters to fight.
We would have to switch up our hunting ground soon enough or venture even further into the forest where the more powerful monsters roamed. It was cutting into the time we could spend fighting and was getting increasingly longer. If we leveled up enough we could start going into the forbidden territory in the north.
Austin and I mowed through most creatures in the forest now and the evolved beasts were the only thing that gave us even a little bit of a challenge anymore. In the hopes of getting enough experience to level up, we went even further than we usually did and found evolved beasts far more often than not.
There were even a few wolves in the forest that started making themselves known this far in. We had fought wolves before but not ones that had evolved. They were a menace to fight and always took forever because where there was one, there were more.
They always roamed in a pack and it varied in size from four all the way up to over 10. We steered clear of anything with that many and stuck to the smaller packs we could handle without getting too overwhelmed.
It was getting near the time we would normally start heading back, but that idea was nowhere in our minds. We were so close and this pack would push us over the edge.
There were five of the creatures and three of them were evolved. They were all trotting around and sniffing the air. Their fur was a mix of brown and grey to blend into the surrounding forest and they came up to about my belt in height and were around 4 feet long. These things could easily kill a level 1 human.
We had enough experience to be downwind of them but they would catch our scent soon so we had to be quick about it. The alpha was the highest level at 12 and the rest were below that. It would be the most challenging fight we had attempted and it would see us through to the next level... hopefully.
We had fought multiple enemies before and there were quite a few times where a boar's squeals would bring over more of its kind that were nearby, but it was never more than 3 at a time.
We did what we usually did in situations like these and focused on the weak ones first to begin our attack. The one I targeted went down from a nicely placed javelin through the eye and Austin ran up and stabbed his target in the throat.
My throws had gotten extremely accurate with all the practice and could kill most weaker beasts in one empowered throw.
The 3 remaining wolves went into a frenzy at the loss of their own and came charging at us to avenge their fallen pack members. Their growls and barks announced to the world their hostilities.
Two charged at me, while the alpha charged at Austin. Fighting two evolved beasts at once wasn't the ideal situation to be in, but it was nothing I hadn't done before.
I had superior strength and I knew how to use it effectively. One of the hardest things about fighting opponents who were faster than you was actually hitting them. They were quick enough to turn devastating blows into mere grazes and anything less was dodged outright.
It was extremely frustrating and a great ability to have that would work on most people who didn't focus on speed, like me. The only problem was I had my own annoying speed demon and I fought him regularly. Sparring with Austin gave me extensive experience with fighting enemies like this.
I could tank a few bites from them so being outnumbered wasn't the worst thing in the world, but if I didn't fix that soon it would start to add up.
The first thing I had to do was reduce the space they used to move. It didn't matter how fast you were if you didn't have the space to use it. My new skill excelled at constricting space during a fight and a well-placed Ice Wall could be debilitating to an unsuspecting foe.
One of the wolves circled behind me while the other snapped at me to keep my attention. It kept eye contact while growling menacingly. Its fur was all spiked up and its hackles were raised. It knew it faced a strong opponent. I don't know why but that filled me with satisfaction, that the wolves recognized that I was a threat.
I knew what they were doing but didn't care to stop it. The one behind me would get in a free attack, but I was willing to pay that price.
It happened much like I thought it would and as the wolf behind me went for its attack, the one in front came in for its own. It was a marvelous pincer move that would defeat most enemies. Well, most besides me.
My fortitude boosted by Fortified Body would make it so the attacks wouldn't be that bad and would only pierce the skin, causing a little bit of damage. Their jaws weren't strong enough to break my bones and if I had better armor, I could probably ignore it entirely.
Since the wolves were kind enough to get up close and personal, I would make them stay that way. After tearing off a chunk of skin and muscle with their sharp teeth, they attempted to back off to get out of my range of attack.
They didn't expect to run into a wall made of ice right behind them. Faced with the fact they couldn't get away and my empowered axe coming for their head, there was only one conclusion. Death.
They didn't have any tricks I hadn't seen before and I had tricks they didn't expect. Knowing thy enemy and all that.
The wolf's head exploded into bits of bone and gore and the body slumped to the ground.
The second wolf used the fact I was focusing on its partner to try to end the fight, but all it managed to do was chomp down on my shoulder. It was painful, but pain was a close friend by this point. If there was pain that meant I was doing something right.
It was almost like deja vu watching the scene repeat itself and I had two dead wolves at my feet. Austin and the alpha were still fighting, scurrying around each other trying to land attacks without getting hit themselves. Wimps, a little pain isn't that bad.
I thought about going to aid him but thought better of it. He would be fine and I wouldn't want him interfering in my fight. It didn't take much longer for him to wrap it up with a well-placed thrust into the chest. After the wolf breathed its last the battle notifications rolled in.
You have slain {Forest Wolf – Level 8}. 64 Points earned.
You have slain {Forest Wolf – Level 10}. 100 Points earned.
You have slain {Forest Wolf – Level 11}. 121 Points earned.
Congratulations! You have leveled up.
Hah, I did it.
It was with happy smiles and bloodied clothes that Austin and I limped back to camp.