[Strange Bone
Strange Bone is fading from lack of mana! Give it mana?]
Sure, I’ll give it some mana.
[Error, Strange Bone must be the User’s companion to transfer mana. Activating Companion E (1/2) lv1.
Skill Success. Max companion slots reached, level up Companion E (2/2) lv1 for more slots.]
[Consuming 50 mana]
Shit, I quickly put 10 more points into my Mind stat, so the mana withdrawal doesn’t get to me, I needed more mana points anyway.
Mind: 10 > 20
Mana Points: 50/50 > 50/100
Mana funnels out of me and into this bone, the strange bone uses the mana I funneled into it to create a whole skeleton structure, wait this form. It’s familiar, it couldn’t be the skeleton from the arena! Could it?
Yes, it is!
A [Short Skeleton] stands in front of me, it looks like it's 3 feet tall. The bones look very clean, they must be since my mana was used in the process.
I rub its smooth head, it seems pretty cute. I pick it up with one hand, holding its head like a basketball.
“Your name is now Rob since you look like you’d be named Rob”
Rob looks at me blankly, I look at his pelvis structure and decide that Rob was once a guy. I check his [Status]
Name: Rob
Nickname:
Species: Short Skeleton F (Uncommon Undead)
Level 1 0/100
Evolution Requirements Not Met.
~
Health Points 5/5
Mana Points: 15/15
Armor Points: 0
~
Might: 3
Agility: 3
Vigor: 1
Mind: 3
Spirit: 3
~
Traits:
Reassembling Skeleton U:
As long as the skeleton has available bones, it can reassemble itself from any amount of damage. If no bones are available, mana can be used as a substitute.
Undead Fortitude F:
The user does not need to eat, drink, sleep, or breathe.
The user is classified as undead and is subjected to their weaknesses and limitations,
~
Skills:
Cuteness E
If the user is deemed to not be a threat, creatures will be compelled not to attack it.
Sense Life E
The user can sense the life of those around them, the skill weakens between barriers.
Range 30 feet.
That [Reassembling Skeleton] Trait! That’s strong, my little immortal buddy is indestructible too. As long as there are bones and mana. Cuteness makes sense, but it feels wasted on an immortal skeleton. The Unique rank is strange, it implies that regardless of strength, Rob is the only one with that trait. There might be similar ones in name or effect, but Rob is unique in his own way.
I take a good look at Rob.
Who cares, I’m just glad that my family might like Rob since he’s cute and doesn’t look like a bloodthirsty undead.
Finally. [Status]
[Your deep connection upgrades Title: Proud Owner of a Rock]
[Proud Owner of a Rock
All rocks get +15 Vigor, +15 Affinity to rocks.]
Name: Flash Gordon.
Nickname: Flash Gordon.
Species: Spirit Stone (Rare Rock)
Level: 16 300/2000
Evolution Requirements Not Met
~
Health Points: 475/475
Mana Points: 0/0
Armor Points: 31
~
Might: 0
Agility: 0
Vigor: 80 + 15
Mind: 0
Spirit: 16
Luck: 5
~
Traits:
Spiritual Body A
Armor increases by Spirit. Can hit Spiritual Entities.
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
Hard as a Hard Stone D
Armor is increased by 15
~
Skills:
Who needs Might anyway A
Damage is calculated with Vigor instead of Might.
Bone Crusher B
Deal 30% more damage to bones.
Budding Spirit?
Who knows what happens when Spirit gets developed enough. Gain one Spirit per level.
It’s beautiful, No matter how much stronger I get, Flash Gordon will still have more health than me. And it looks like his defensive capabilities have increased greatly. Everything seems to be getting dumped into Vigor, it seems that leveling up Flash Gordon is the only way to increase his Spirit.
The door opens, and standing there are three people. My foster sister Val, my friend Charlie, and Jerry, the kid from my class. They see the strange sight of me holding Rob up by the head, and talking to Flash Gordon. I hold out Rob out to the gaggle of onlookers, so they can get a good look at him.
“This is Rob, my new companion.” Val tries to close the door in front of the group, so they don't have to be in this situation anymore. Charlie squeezes by and blocks the door with his body.
“Ellis, I heard you got into a horrible accident! Are you okay?” (Charlie)
“Look at him! Whatever happened to him caused his brain damage to progress too far.” (Val). Val starts to fake sob, making fun of me. Who makes fun of hospital patients?
“Where did you find that little guy? I thought Tamer’s couldn’t tame undead?” (Jerry) Thank god, Jerry is asking the appropriate questions.
“I found him in the fracture I got horribly injured in, don't worry, he’s harmless.” I slightly shake Rob a bit, making his limp body sway from side to side. Rob then starts trying to pry his head free with his fingers, but I don't budge. I continue talking.
“Why are you guys all here at the same time, I didn’t know you guys knew each other.”
“I know your friend Charlie, he tried to get me to buy some sort of collectible plushie line, telling me it would go up in value in the future. I’m not dumb enough to fall for his scams, though.” But my sister did buy those plushies at an affordable price, not in the hope that the value will go up, but because they were cute. She has hundreds of tiny plushies in boxes in her closet.
“It was a coincidence that I’m here at the same time, I just wanted to come by since I felt a little guilty that this whole thing spiraled from my invitation,” Jerry says, looking a bit guilty.
“Don’t be stupid, Jerry. It wasn't your fault that I was chased down in the streets and got caught up in an entire situation.”
“What did actually happen? Mom said that you ‘fell’ in a fracture.”
I recall the entire story of getting chased by Arlug and his goons, and I summarize what happened in the fracture.
“That bastard, I should go beat his ass black and blue.” Wow, Val is angry on my behalf, this feels nice. I tell her about how he has our mother's phone number, and she leaves, probably to keep her promise.
There is something bothering me, I ask a question.
“Do you guys know what Resistant Stats are, I have an idea of what they could be, but I’m not positive?”
“Nope”
“Me neither.”
Great, my only two friends are also ignorant of this subject.
“You can go ask a professor. We all go to the same institute, after all.”
“Here Charlie.” I toss him the 10 grand.
He catches it out of impulse. “What's this for?”
“Invest in something for me, also take it as a consolation prize for having a bad friend.”
I’m really glad that I’m wearing pants underneath this hospital gown. I go to a window and open it. My room is located on the second story floor, that’s not too far a drop.
“I’m going now, I’ll see you two later.”
I’ve been at this hospital way too long, before they could interject I stuffed Rob into my bag. He struggles, but he manages to fit in there nicely. I jump out the window.
~
I already called my family that I left the hospital, I had to stop by home to get my pin back from my mom. It also counts as student identification, and I’ll need that unless I plan to sneak into the Institute. My father's reaction to me being hospitalized after getting sucked into a fracture without my consent was to ask me if I leveled up.
He’s a good father. I make my way to campus. Most classes are over by now, the only thing that is going on are various school clubs. I was contemplating if I wanted to join one, but I never had a hobby, just random inspiration to start a new one and drop it for the next one.
I really liked watching the [Status] of mine (also Flash Gordon) getting bigger and better. If getting stronger is a hobby, then it's a common one. It’s the duty of humans to get stronger so we as a race will no longer have to worry about safety and security. I’m lucky the city of Bluefield is a designated safe city for lower leveled humans.
I wonder what life is like outside the Prime Territories. How much bigger our planet has actually gotten? What new things are appearing and disappearing without anyone knowing?
People are staring at me. I make my way to Professor Carmichaels' office, she is the only professor that is probably going to humor any question I throw at them.
I knock on the door.
“Enter.”
The door opens smoothly, and inside are two people. One of them is Professor Carmichael, the instructor I was looking for, and the other is the bob-haired girl, Her name was Amelia or something wasn't it?
“I’ll be heading out now, Professor Carmichael, thank you for your time.” She gets up and walks past me.
I sit down in the seat in front of the Professor.
“Hello, Professor Carmichael, I have some academic questions for you.”
“Ellis, why are you wearing a hospital gown?”
“Don’t worry about it, I was hurt, now I’m not. I have a question regarding a Resistant Stat.”
“I’ll answer all your questions if you show me what's in your bag. It’s moving around a lot.” I look down at the bag I place on the floor. It's squirming. I open the zipper and a pile of bones tumbles out, quickly reconstructing itself into Rob.
“This is Rob, Rob, this is Professor Carmichael.” Rob waves at the professor.
“Why do you have a skeleton and why is it cute?”
I don’t answer her, I sit there waiting for her to answer my question. She did say she would answer it after showing her my Rob.
She clears her throat. “Resistant Stats are stats that are categorized as sub-stats. Sub-stats are stats that fall under the main stat or a hidden stat. Hidden stats are stats that can be unlocked by special requirements or with continuous training. Almost all production classes have unlocked Dexterity. A few of the rarer but known hidden stats include Luck, Charisma, and Perception.”
So luck is a hidden stat… I would be fine if I didn’t know about my shitty luck stat. Did it unlock itself to make fun of my terrible luck? I keep quiet since she hasn’t gone to the main topic yet.
“The more hidden stats you have, the more stats you have unlocked, the more attribute points you get per level. There are more things to take into consideration, but that's not relevant. The reason why I bring this up is that sub-stats do not increase attribute gain. Affinity and Resistance are the only two publicly known sub-stats. Affinity for example changes depending on how it’s used. A fire mage with high fire affinity deals more damage or has better efficiency with fire skills and magic. Affinity with creatures could increase their natural disposition to you, or make them easier to control.”
She looks at me after pausing. She probably knows I’m a [Tamer], maybe she is wondering if I have a high Undead Affinity.
“Resistance is a sub-stat that dictates damage reduction or ineffectiveness, for example, a flame elemental will have an extremely high fire-resistant stat compared to an ice elemental. There are cases of creatures having a negative in a resistant stat, the undead is a famous example. Holy magic, fire magic, some skeletons with bludgeoning damage. They take more damage from them.”
I finally speak up. “How do you increase a resistant stat?”
“With skills or Items, many fire mages unlock some fire resistance skill eventually.” She sees me pondering something. And decides to continue with one more thing.
“Some people believe that you can increase resistance by taking the damage type continuously to build up an immunity. Some assassins train their body to be immune to poisons, but poison is very different from fire, or bullets.”
“It’s the same idea as a broken bone grows back stronger,” I say, startling Rob. I don't know if it has actual intelligence, or if he just recognized the word bone.
“That's not a healthy way to put it, but that's the theory, don’t forget that Resistant stats are there, even if you can’t see them.”
“Thank you, Professor Carmichael, your information is extremely helpful to me, I can see why you have been hired at such a young age.” She smiles at my compliment, she must have enjoyed that.
“You can just call me Carmichael from now on, Ellis.”
“That’s kind of a weird permission for an instructor to give a student, we don’t know enough about each other.” I stuff Rob into my bag and get up to leave. I manage to leave the office before anything else happens.
I head to the tamers' course and watch as the orc instructor is lighting cages and moving them somewhere else. I don’t know where they keep the monsters at night, they probably have a sanctuary somewhere on campus. I look at the Feathered Boa, I cannot actually see the creature from this distance, but I know it's there. My [Companion] skill needs to level up before I can get that snake.
With my pocket change, I purchase a box of matches and walk home. I light them and hold the open flame under my palm until it burns out. It hurts, but I just heal myself with [Heal Anything]. When the twentieth match burns out, the last one in the box, the notification I was waiting for finally appears.
[Congratulations! Unlocked Sub-Stat Resistance]
[Resistance Fire: 1]
Sweet.