Of course Luna's parents had plans for the evening, cooking a sumptuous dinner and spending it with their daughter. They told Luna their plans for the future, finding an apprentice for each of them, but assured her that they would have done that even if she had stayed. Her leaving just made them speed up their plans.
As Luna had suspected, her parents also had small gifts for her. A scarf from her mother, to help with the wind on the road and a little sack of rock hard, over baked trail bread, which would keep for weeks. Just in case.
They sat around the table for way too long into the night, but Luna enjoyed spending the time with them. Even if it was bittersweet. When she finally made it to bed, against her own expectations, she fell asleep instantly.
Her awoke nervous, a good time off till dawn. She got dressed in the dark and stuffed the last bits and pieces into her backpack and then made her way for a last visit to the Class Tablet. It would be foolish to not check in one last time, the next chance might be weeks away.
Putting her hands on it, the usual message greeted her.
Greetings Emiluna
Your gains since your last visit at a Class Tablet.
General Experience [Experience gained by performing Class actions]
Pathfinder: 277 XP
Stalker: 201 XP
Additional Experience [Noteworthy Achievements]
None
Name: Emilia Lunare Sylvanlake
Level: 4
Race: Sylvan
Age: 16
Class 1: Sylvan Pathfinder - Level 2
Experience: 673/800
Class 2: Sylvan Stalker - Level 2
Experience: 560/800
Class 3: N/A (Requires a total level of 45)
Health: 165/165 [(Vitality x 10 + Strength x 2.5 + Dexterity x 2.5) x 1.1]
Stamina: 181/181 [((Vitality + Strength + Dexterity) x 5) x 1.1]
Mana: 129/129 [(Wisdom x10 + Intelligence x 2.5 + Charisma x 2.5) x 1.1]
Regeneration - Per Minute
1.58% Stamina [1% base x Body/Mind x 1.1)]
0.77% Mana [1% base x Mind/Body x 1.1)]
1.1% Life [1% base x 1.1]
Stats - Body
Strength: 11
Vitality: 9
Dexterity: 13
Stats - Mind
Wisdom: 8
Intelligence: 8
Charisma: 7
Available Points
Stats: 0
Skills: 0
Skills - Personal
[Athleticism] - Level 6 (Level Up)
[Languages] - Level 5
Skills - Race
[Dryad's Body]
[Natural Insight]
[Ancestral Memories]
Skills - Crafting
[Cooking] - Level 3
[Sewing] - Level 2
[Field Dressing] - Level 4 (Level Up)
Skills - Combat
[Bows] - Level 6 (Level Up x2)
[Small Weapons] - Level 3 (Level Up)
[Small Shields] - Level 3 (Level Up)
Skills - Utility
[Tracking] - Level 4
[Stealth] - Level 4 (Level Up)
[Survival] - Level 4 (Level Up)
[Field Craft] - Level 4 (Level Up)
[First Aid] - Level 1
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Skill - Magic
[Purify Water] - Level N/A
[Spark] - Level N/A
[Conceal Presence] - Level 1
[Seal Wound] - Level 1
Skills - Class
[First]
[At home in the wilds]
[Silent Observer]
[Stalker's Precision]
[Silent Shot]
[Double Jump]
For once there was nothing special going on. Just her usual Experience gained from doing her job around the village. Her race was still the same, no new skills had appeared and no big decision required her attention. The double Level Up of her bow skill was a nice surprise though, her increased hunting paying off. She was still working on using [Silent Shot] efficiently, and every Skill gain helped.
Next she realized that she might have forgotten to actual test her magic skills. Just the idea of having magic was so alien to her. that it had slipped her mind. Not that [Purify Water] and [Spark] could even gain additional levels, they were just simple utility spells after all. One was made to purify water in a small container, like a water skin, and the other one created a simple spark to light a campfire with. She also never had any need to use any of those two Skills so far.
Better not show those to anyone until she got a better understanding of classes and what was considered normal abilities. Standing out was the last thing she wanted. [Conceal Presence] would require some testing though, most likely during night watch. She was not going to hurt herself to test [Seal Wound] and using the skill on someone else would reveal it, better to stick with the usual treatments and [First Aid] if need be.
Luna wondered what the other kids she grew up alongside would think. There was a time she enjoyed playing with them, but when they grew up the time was quickly taken up with work. There was no time to slack off, they all lived off the land and work never stopped.
The second spring rolled around, they were outside preparing the fields for sowing, checking the houses and storage sheds for damage, making sure the melting snow would properly drain away and not flood the village. And then work never stopped, there was always something to do, preparations to make for the next winter, wood to be chopped, chicken eggs to collect, rips in clothes to be sewn, an ever repeating cycle or preparing, creating and repairing. Luna's dream of the Hunter class was partly because she wanted to escape at least the daily cycle of constant repetition.
Would the other children be envious of her? Were they talking about 'Emiluna who thinks she is too good for village life'? Shaking her head, to get rid of those silly thoughts, Luna let go of the Class Tablet and turned around to walk back home. It did not matter what people in the village thought, she would not be here long enough to care.
Back home her parents were up and about, for a second they had feared Luna had left without saying goodbye, but then they saw her backpack waiting at the door. One last time they had breakfast together and Luna made sure to stuff herself for the road. The next meal would not be this good and she would not be as warm while eating it.
The time finally came and Luna grabbed her backpack, hugged her parents goodbye and started walking towards the village gate. She only turned around to wave several times and for the second day in a row Luna was fighting back the tears in her eyes.
She arrived at the gates, just as the sun was starting to rise over the horizon. The little caravan seemed to be ready as well, more or less. Martha seemed to be in charge right now and Luna had the slight suspicion that Jurgen, the son, was just the face of the little operation. Martha waved to Luna and told her she could sit with her on the lead wagon. Apparently her son was still hung over from drinking last night and was slumbering deeply in the back of the wagon.
At least the two guards, which Luna finally remembered to identify with her skill, were up and about. Not that there was any real danger in the village, but you never knew who might be tempted to steal given the right opportunity.
[Franz]
Level 17 Human
[Rich]
Level 41 Human
Well, the one called Franz seemed to be rather young and Rich the more experienced one of the pair. Maybe a Guard in training? Luna had no idea how things were done outside of the village, so guessing would not do her any good.
One of the village Hunters finally decided that it was late enough in the day to open the gates and Martha steered the wagon on the road. Her backpack was stashed safely behind the driver's seat, but her weapons were still in easy reach. Sitting next to Martha, who was steering the wagon with practiced boredom, Luna started to question how she was going to spend the days on the road. Just sitting there was not going to work, that much she could already tell. Well, maybe Martha could tell her about some things and she turned her head towards the woman to ask a question.
Unbeknown to her, Martha had been studying her out of the corner of her eye and when Luna finally turned towards her she talked first. "Took you long enough, I had expected you to start peppering me with your questions right after we crossed the village gates. Now would you look at that, you held out until the village was just barely visible anymore." Martha finished with a big grin on her face. Luna, who had been looking timid at first, quickly looked away, crossed her arms and pretended to not be interested in talking at all.
"Come on girl, you cannot fool me. Don't you think we get questions all the time? Your village is not special in that someone thought it funny to place it at the absolute arse end of the world. We often bring news of what is happening elsewhere and you aren't the first one to leave their village by joining a merchant for the trip. You are only the third one I take with me, but everyone traveling around will have it happen at one point or another; and one thing that never changes is that you have questions, lots and lots of questions. So, out with it, what do you want to know?"
As the wagons crept along the road, blessedly dry and not yet muddy from constant autumn rains, Luna did as she was told and peppered Martha with questions about everything.
She learned that they were going all the way to the capital, Laven City, which was a few weeks' travel to the west. Every year they would load their caravan with goods in Laven and then head towards the Midding River, then turn south and follow the coastal road. Not that it was always in sight of the coast, but it loosely followed the coastline. For the rest of the year they would follow this road, taking short detours to visit more remote villages and then turn inland again when they reached the port city of Estingport, which marked the kingdom's eastern border where the Esting River flowed into the great sea. Then they just had to follow the Esting upriver all the way back to Laven.
The majority of goods was transported on the river, but there was still business to be had at the villages along the way and they stocked up on goods to sell at the capital, especially furs and meat jerky, which would fetch a good price during winter season. This was also the primary reason for their stop at Creek Springs, the remote village had been a staple stop for decades.
Luna also learned a very interesting tidbit of information. There was no actual Class for being a merchant. It was only a description for what they were doing, but most people who were traveling a lot for a living had classes centered around organizing and driving caravans, providing a buff to the animals doing all the work and also gave access to minor crafting skills to deal with repair jobs on the road.
Apparently there were a few different combinations, some dealing with cooking while on the road, going as far as providing skills that helped with cooking while inside a moving wagon, others more oriented towards combat, which in turn gave access to combat related skills. Luna assumed that both [Rich] and [Franz] had such a combat hybrid class, making them the perfect drivers for wagons, as they could act as guards during their stops in villages and cities.
Contrary to what Luna had learned in the village, where classes were either inherited or picked based on the needs of the community, a city had many different schools where children could start training towards a specific job at the age of twelve. Some families took great pride in the lineage of Crafters and encouraged their children to join the family business, but it was, at least in theory, possible to train towards any class, no matter your heritage. Some schools were restricted to a select group of people though, as these schools were either geared towards training the next generation of kingdom officials, or taught special knowledge about magic or cleric classes. The restriction could be as simple as money, the cost being simply too much for most normal citizens, difficult entrance exams or even a grant signed by the king himself.
Martha and Luna both snacked on some bread and jerky while talking, and around noon even Jurgen decided to wake up. At that point Luna quickly decided that she should maybe range a bit ahead to hunt, glad she had an easy excuse to get away from the argument between mother and son that had quickly broken out.
If she wanted to have some fresh meat in the evening, it was up to her to hunt for it. She decided to also keep her eyes open for some roots, wild onions or mushrooms. While they were close enough to the village she might as well use her knowledge to forage. Luna was not so sure if she could count on her knowledge when in other regions or if the [Survival] Skill could help with that.