Strike was also tempting. The idea of being able to deal more damage and get better control over his weapons would be fundamental to his survival in more fights.

Skill: Strike

Attribute – Strength

Rarity – Basic

Cost – 1 Skill Point

Power and control are the basis of any effective warrior attack. Strengthens basic melee attacks, improving damage and the potential of each attack to hit the targeted area. Each level increases physical damage output by 2% per level + 1% Strength.

However, his lack of strength would be a bit of an issue, also the fact that his skill level with his sword was about as good as a kid with a stick pretending to be a knight at preschool meant that he wouldn’t get any real use out of the skill until well down the line. Plus the skill wouldn’t be of any use to him if he was already dead. He needed something that would keep him alive, and neither Magic Sense or Strike would do that.

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

His gaze caught Mark who had wandered over to where Tom had left his shield. Mark picked it up, strapped it to his arm and began to practice wielding both at once. He was quite good at it too, Tom thought.

Looks like it’s been decided that I’m not good enough with the shield after all, he thought glumly to himself.

Seeing as that decision had been made for him, he turned back to his skill list. He wasn’t strong enough to pick a strength skill or a weapon skill, not that he could use Shield Mastery without a shield. He might be able to use Evasion to survive, but that wouldn’t help him if he needed to fight, so most of the others that he had access to. He did have one particular skill that the others didn’t have, one that when he had seen it he had been intrigued by the possibilities it might offer him.

If he couldn’t fight, or fight well enough by himself, he could at least see if he could support those that could. That way he could make himself a valuable member of the team, instead of just the fleshy roadblock he had been in the skeleton fight.

It’s time to do some testing, he thought to himself as he spent both skill points on Evaluate.

Chapter 7 – How Long is a Piece of String?

Instantly, Tom clutched his head as a wave of agony spread from his eyes to the back of his head. To Tom, it felt like he was being electrified, the pain building as wave after wave assaulted him. He fell to his knees, gritting his teeth as the waves built to a crescendo, before it suddenly stopped.

The pain vanished just as quickly as it had started. Tom wobbled back to his feet, his legs unsteady and shaking.

Just as he stood back up, a surge of boxes appeared across his vision, peppering his view with snippets of blue boxes and black text. A new form of agony threatened to overtake him as the boxes overwhelmed him. He had no sooner wished that the boxes would go away when, to his surprise, they did.

The headache that had started to build began to recede