Chapter 2: Status Report_I Just Want to [Fly]!

“Agh! ...What the fuck?” I exclaimed as I literally jumped out of bed. Adrenaline quickly making any sort of morning grogginess immediately disappear.

Pretty reasonable reaction, in my defense, waking up to a strange voice whispering right into my ear. Actually, now that I think about it, more like I just knew what it was trying to communicate, no hearing required. As I was panicking about my new demon visitor, I realized who my guest actually was.

Dramatically turning to look toward the corner of my room, I narrowed my eyes and confronted the monster. “Ah it was you, my old nemesis.”

Ok so a little bit of dramatic flair never hurt anyone. And I’m pretty sure you’re not some monster or old nemesis of mine. But I am confident that I heard you… sorta. Maybe you should work on communicating.

What tipped me off, besides our abnormal introduction yesterday, was that no sane person would be asking questions about the System. Yes, that does mean I’m claiming you’re not sane or not a person, keep up.

I can absolutely grant your startling request to learn about my Status. Everyone can access their Status even before they are Classed, but there’s not much to do. A lot of the functions require a Class for some reason or another, even just allocating free stat points, so for me, I pretty much only get to see my main screen.

I’d actually show you mine right now (it’d literally take just a thought), but I never finished telling you about my special situation yesterday. You know, slow leveling and whatnot? Desperately wanting to get a Class that would let me fly? Seeing my Status would really just raise questions I should address beforehand.

I bet you were wondering, ‘Leo, why on Seia did you spend so long describing breaking the perfectly good System?’

See, I explained that to establish that there is one big bad no no that every child is taught as soon as they listen to bedtime stories. When you get to [Level: 10] you need to choose a class. Even if they all sound boring or actually suck, never skip your class selection.

Which is exactly what I did. Oops.

There’s a reason there are so many stories about people not following the unwritten (and sometimes the clearly defined) rules of the system. Doing something stupid like that can leave you with a shattered mind, crippled bodies, or worse… a broken system. But you haven’t been to my town, I think, so you probably don’t understand what we have to go through.

Most of those big bad scary stories start with some lucky nine-year-old or something who awakens her class a whole week early. Yay! Her family lives two days from the nearest town Class Stone, though. Oh no! See, the System is generous, so it will always allow you to choose your classes without a stone, showing you your top recommended options, but this little girl decides she doesn’t want to be a [Gossip (common)], [Seamstress (common)], or [Chef (uncommon)]. Getting her full list of unlocked classes lets her be a heroine and choose a warrior class, or some other reason she’s desperate for something in particular. So she doesn’t listen to her parents and problems ensue.

Sometimes she doesn’t make it to the class stone and the system will randomly select the [Gossip] class, with the moral being that the uncommon [Cook] variant was a gift wasted. Weird how [Gossip] had such a stigma there, they’re really pretty helpful.

Some versions say once the selection disappeared after the first day, she was never able to choose a class at all! No access to strong Class Skills or the additional stat points meant leveling up becomes nearly impossible.

In one, I heard that she ‘forced’ the System to let her use the stone a whole week after her class selection disappeared, and she even managed to become a [Knight (rare)]. But because of her meddling, the ‘vengeful’ System didn’t let her level up again. All in all, just a bunch of cranky village elders reinforcing the belief to always accept one of the options you earned from the system.

So back to me doing exactly that. To be fair, I had a perfectly good reason. I didn’t get a class that would let me fly! Nothing even close! …Ok so a good reason for me doesn’t mean a good reason for you. Agree to disagree.

I could’ve taken something that had potential, like [Daredevil (uncommon)] or [Cliff Tumbler (rare)] and chance that my class upgrade at level 20 would modify it enough for flight. But the upgrade at 20 was pathetic, even if I leveled to the 4th or 5th tier and directed all my upgrades to focus on flight, it would still be a long shot. Better to start out with a class that’ll give me real flight than hope the [Cliff Tumbler] upgrade somehow gains a pseudo flight skill.

A shame, because I really thought plucking all those chicken feathers and glueing the makeshift wings to my arms would’ve gotten me something. To be fair, I also thought they would’ve done something to make my landing hurt a bit less. That awful headache lasted for weeks and I swear I lost all my progress toward my next point in Wisdom.

I had a few thoughts going in about what to do if I couldn’t choose a class. I knew it wouldn’t be hard to prevent the System from randomly choosing an option for me, especially since I was confident that was a myth. From there, I just needed a way to modify the framework so that my chances wouldn’t be over.

My first thought was that I could just keep the selection screen up past the 24 hour timer, and check it whenever I unlocked an additional requirement. Problem was, I knew I couldn’t even fully convince myself that it could be possible. For that big of a change, I’d need to believe it with all my being before I would even attempt to apply that intent to the System.

Then I thought, ‘What if you do get the option to choose your first class after [Level: 10], but only during each level up?’ That could definitely work with only a bit of intention applied to reinitiate the Class selection process.

My last idea was the best, though. The Class selection option already comes up at [Level: 20] to upgrade or choose a second Class, so there would be no manipulation needed!

There was just one pretty big problem. Even without a class, you get one free stat point per level, which is why at [Level: 10] everyone has 10 free points to spend. But Classes give more stats on top of that, based on rarity. Common classes give 2, Uncommon classes give 3, Rare give 4, Epic give 5 (probably?), and those higher likely give even more. Apparently past that is Mythical and Legendary and Heroic and Unique, but personally I think half of those titles are made up. Having a class no one else has? Absurd.

Clearly, stats aren’t everything. The consensus for any Class Upgrade level is to go for the improved version of your Class, even if it is not guaranteed to upgrade rarity, rather than choosing a second Class. Unless that second Class synergies really well with the first, its not worth the slower leveling. Upgrading gives upgraded Skills, one of which is just better than two of its basic counterparts.

Back on topic, you can see how it was physically painful for me to wait until 20 for another chance to choose my class. I’d be losing anywhere from 20 to 40 stats, which become so hard to get later on. With my stats hanging around 10 when I had to make this decision, the thought of doubling four of my attributes was incredibly tempting.

Luckily (or unluckily), smarter minds prevailed. I wouldn’t be able to get those points back, but I’d have enough to sustain [Flight], whether it ended up being physical flight or magical, and since I am not one of those people obsessed with getting stronger at all cost, what were a few stat points in exchange for flying? Since I didn’t take the first Class, it’s logical to assume the benefits from upgrading at 20 would be applied to my options, right? Certainly, if I am intentional about it.

So that’s my plan. Do everything I can think of which might be requirements to unlock a Class with [Flight] and work on just unlocking it as a general Skill in the meantime. A general Skill is a Skill that’s not granted by a class, by the way. I’m also doing my best to keep training my attributes, mostly so I don’t get killed trying to hunt for food before I can allocate free points. When I get anywhere close to [Level: 20], head straight to a Class Stone and only gain experience nearby. Once my Class Selection timer starts, spend the day researching every option and choose the best one that’ll let me fly!

Now that you’ve got that background, you won’t have to ask why I’m Classless past [Level: 10], or why I haven’t allocated my free points. Here’s my Status:

Name:

Leo of Cold Harbor

Level:

18 (8,471/19,000)

Age:

Class:

N/A

Stats:

Strength

Constitution

Dexterity

Intelligence

Wisdom

Charisma

Free Points

Professions:

Achievements:

[Reminiscent Traveler]

Skills:

(Slot Open)

Yeah, it’s admittedly not much. I’ve held off accepting any skills that would fill my General Skill spaces and don’t have an actual Profession, though I was offered [Vagabond] once. Still a bit offended at the term used, even if the System didn’t mean it. Probably.

Getting more than a couple of Achievements is a pipe dream. Besides [Classed], the one everyone gets when they choose a Class, it’s really hard to learn about [Achievements]. Much harder to learn about what the requirements are, since knowing how to get some of the more powerful bonuses is often a family’s biggest secret. The one I have wasn’t anything special, but I was quite happy about earning it.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

[Reminiscent Traveler]

Forget walking a mile in someone else’s shoes, do it in your own first! You probably need to do some self-reflection, anyway.

Requirements: Travel 10,000 miles exclusively on foot, without returning home. Spend most of the journey in meaningful, quiet introspection.

+1 Wisdom

Reduced physical fatigue while traveling.

Improved effectiveness of meditation while away from home.

I certainly needed the Wisdom boost, as it was my lowest stat of the time. Besides Charisma, obviously. And the travel benefits, subtle as they may be, are pretty nice all in all. The day I got it I was so thankful I’d never had enough excess coin to buy a horse or to pay for a seat in caravan wagons, rather than walking alongside. Its the little things.

Definitely curious to think I still subconsciously consider Cold Harbor to be home, hell I’ve been here in High Valley for almost a year now. And haven’t been back for nearly five!

As for the stats… well I don’t really feel like getting into that whole discussion, but let’s assume I’ll cover it if its important. Or maybe I won’t, nothing you can do about it. It’s probably enough to know 10 in a stat is right near the limit of what you could have without the system. Like where serious diminishing returns really sets in? Like you could get to 11 or 12 in a stat without the system awarding points, but only if you dedicate your life to that.

So my stats are nothing special. Far below where they should be for someone almost halfway to [Level: 19]. Hey you know what might be fun! A bit of math!

Yeah I know, I don’t like to think about it. The only thing more traumatizing about forcing yourself to learn math is realizing you now find math to be pretty fun.

Like I mentioned earlier, Classes give stat points for every level up. Depending on the Class, they can be anywhere from all automatically allocated to all free points for you to spend, but let’s focus on the amount. A [Common] Class gives 2 stat points per level, but clearly I’d have qualified for [Uncommon], even if I leveled normally.

So let’s say 3 stat points each level I missed. That is 8 levels where I get 3 points put somewhere, so 24 extra points, 42 if you include the 18 I naturally earned but can’t allocate. Instead of a sum of 84 points over my six stats, 42 more would bring it to 126. Wow that’s exactly a 50% increase of overall level, now thats depressing.

But that’s only generalized. If I put all 42 points in Strength, I’d be four times as strong with four times the amount of HP. Or about three and a half times as much mana if it went to intelligence.

…I remembered why I don’t like math. Now I’m sad.

Anyway, I wanted to let you know I decided yesterday I’ll be moving on. After Beyers had gotten back from his day of errands, I was promptly kicked out of the shop. The few coins I’d earned taking over for him were nice, but his brusque comments about my work ethic threatened to sour my mood. It wasn’t my fault hardly anyone even came to buy anything! At least I got one of your stupid stands sold. Hmm, maybe I shouldn’t have mentioned that. I never figured out if the furniture was for sale or not.

So I meandered around the city, checking in with a few people to see if they could use a worker. I spent most of those coins on dinner at an inn to listen in for any useful System related tidbits. You know, promising rumors or world shattering secrets. Had an unfortunate lack of success with that endeavor. I considered splurging to get the inside scoop with an [Informant] or [Whisperer], but I’d spent quite a bit of time in High Valley already. Not much more to learn about the isolating little patch of paradise we were stuck in.

Sure, its pretty peaceful being secluded here, and the sunsets on the mountains are really incredible. But I recognized that my progress has started slowing down the last few weeks. Even my XP gain (the slang term for experience, for when I’m feeling extra hip) from my hunting expeditions has gone down. Apparently the System recognized that knowing the nearby game trails and watering holes like the back of your hand makes the same prey too easy.

Experience and awarded stat points were the only quantitative assessments of my improvement, but I’d worked hard to understand the more subtle System cues. I can pretty much quantify how close I am to being awarded attribute points in the categories I train and I am getting better about recognizing when my work is just about enough to unlock a general Skill. The last few years I’ve been offered quite a few.

The first month or two in High Valley I made huge gains toward meeting flight requirements, if the number of general Skills offered was any comparison.

That’s pretty common for each new place I settle down in. I think it’s my perspective on how traveling enhances experiences and allows for better character development. Or maybe not everything is about me and the System actually experiencing things outside of your comfort zone. To be fair, that would explain why [Adventurers] can get so strong.

Side note. I don’t want you to think [Adventurer] is a class. Well I think it is too, but I meant it as the profession. Having a profession often doesn’t actually do anything more than add a line to your visible status, but it sure is a handy way of referring to people. Happy to talk about that later, but let’s get back to my progress.

Consistently trying to meet class selection requirements for something that would let me fly is a full time job, but I’m not putting all my eggs in that basket. A much harder solution would be to unlock a [Flight] as a general skill.

It's harder because those skills are usually much weaker and without any class bonuses. Cantrips to a [Mage]’s arsenal. Often they’re extremely general or specifically chosen to support a class, like [Identify], which is a popular favorite. So trying to unlock a powerful skill like [Flight] right off the bat is definitely a challenge.

Not to say that I haven’t gotten some pretty cool (and frankly sometimes quite strong) skills offered. Even in the year or so I’ve been at my latest stopover. I got [Mountain Survival (uncommon)] for living in the forest for a while, saving up until renting a room was feasible. More of a surprise was [Factotum Crafting (rare)] for learning the basics of so many random jobs. Incredible crafting class. Too bad it has terrible odds it’ll teach me to fly.

And if I ever regret my choice not to take something, let’s say the time I was offered [Llama Defense], I could always use a Skill Stone to choose it later. Luckily, there is no problem waiting to confirm skill choices or using either type of granted skill slots with either type of skill, interchangeably. But hardly anyone got better general skills than class skill options. I mean, I doubt I’d use a class skill slot for something like [Llama Defense].

[Llama Defense] (uncommon)

Passive: +5% defense against all attacks while mountaineering. +10% resistance to llama spit. Increased chance to befriend llamas.

The specific bonuses of the Skill are pretty damn good, considering the dynamic percent-based boost. Just don’t ask about the first time it was offered to me. I still sometimes shudder at that memory. At least there was no-one else hiking anywhere near me that day.

Ok wow, got sidetracked there. Uh… we were talking about how my progress was slowing down, right? Yeah, so like I was saying, I started thinking about spending the last few months before my Class Upgrade in a new environment. Immersing myself in the mountain air was a great move initially, but I just don’t feel that improvement anymore. It might be time to move on to a city. Scary thought, considering this is the largest town I’ve lived in since Calm Harbor, not that it was actually bigger, just that it felt huge while I was a 10-year-old.

I finally finish up with my morning routine, and apparently my long winded monologue, and head out of the room I’m renting. I join the sparse crowds and head towards the market district, or toward the center of town, since High Valley isn’t really big enough for districts.

A block off the main square I’m able to find the market square. The only two adequately cobbled places in the town. Well, besides the main road that extends from the main square and goes to the southern and northern passes, of course.

Seeing how lively the market is reminds me that High Valley really is a bit of a merchant town to supply the frigid wilderness that is the south. Not the main connection, that would be taking the coastal road or going by sea to Cold Harbor. But in the summer, when the passes aren’t snowed over, it seems this town sees trade from the towns closer to here than Cold Harbor. Plenty of furs and food come north from all those tiny towns and villages that I grew up in.

The market square feels more like a bazaar though, with lots of crowded isles selling all sorts of items. I spend a decent amount of time here, considering I rarely purchase anything beyond necessities for a day hike or some hunting supplies. It’s fun to be around people, without the need to interact or anything.

And, of course, this was the best place for gathering information when I first got here. I even discovered my favorite meditation spot after overhearing the path to a secret hiking trail. Really confident I deepened my connection to the wind and sky that first day.

My first stop was to a vendor that specialized in hard tack and rations. Had to give up a few coins but gained plenty of terrible bread, jerky and cheese. I also bought more salt and restocked on my hunting spices, just so I don’t run low. The salt was painfully expensive here, but I’d grown up spoiled in Cold Harbor, plus I’d need it if I did end up hunting.

My next few stops got me new rope, in case I need to tie my food up at night, warm socks, for the frigid temperatures of high elevation for the day crossing the pass, and a few other essentials.

I still had a sizable amount of coin saved for my last stop: buying travel shoes. I traded in my worn pair when I got into town months ago for some less supportive day-to-day shoes. Not particularly sturdy, but at least they were waterproof and prevented any cuts from sharp rocks. The shoemaker had plenty of second hand and standard sized options on display, as well as the more popular custom fit service available, but I knew what I was here for.

There aren’t many enchanted, or otherwise magical, items in High Valley, but almost all you come across will be practical. For workmen, not warriors. Well, one of those practical things was a pair of enchanted travel boots, sitting up high behind the counter.

And like most magical items, they had mending and resizing capabilities built in. These one’s were very low leveled, absorbing ambient mana only (instead of being able to insert it as well) and taking the last few months to repair the minor nicks and scratches. However, I didn’t care about mending, as resize of that power meant within a day they’d fit me like nothing else.

Best of all, there was a stat boost. Nice custom boots could feel almost as good as this minor resize enchantment, and at a fraction of the cost, so most of the gold and a half price tag was due to the enchantment. It was +1 stat point to constitution.

They were perfect. Not nice enough for anyone who could afford to travel through town, too nice for someone who wasn’t going on a long trip to waste money on, and too expensive for anyone with halfway decent stats.

For me though? Even with 17 points in constitution, that was a sizable improvement. Since normal 1st tiers find an apprenticeship, school or guard force to join and level slowly to 2nd tier, hardly anyone below [Level: 20] (pretty much only people who would have a constitution of 17) are traveling far enough to warrant this expense.

Unfortunately, my haggling skills had improved quite slowly, so I was totally getting inferior prices at the bazaar. I’d like to blame my Charisma level, but it would be more accurate to blame how few Charisma points I’ve been awarded on my poor haggling skills, among other things.

With that in mind, I’d come prepared. I marched up to the counter and gave the owner my spiel. I started with the fact that the boots hadn’t sold for months and they probably make his boots look bad, when they were clearly the better product–ignoring the stupid enhancement. Then a bit of a sob story, talking about how I pooled everything I had for the boots, I even revealed I was Class-less and that’s why I needed the point. Luckily, his responses were expected.

I offered ten silver plates instead of the fifteen plates it was worth. Ten plates is a coin of the next denomination, by the way. When he claimed to pay ten for the boots, I then told him I knew he only paid 35 silver. Three and a half silver plates, if you can’t keep up. I ended up giving a gold and 12 silver, having to pour my coin pouch on the table, before I finally got my precious boots.

Traveling Boots (common)

Sturdy traveling boots that absorb ambient mana to slightly resize and mend minor damage.

+1 Constitution.

Wasting no time, I slid on those new boots immediately. My first magical item! I nearly made it out the door before realizing I was still holding my old boots. And short a few silver for the caravan. I raced back to the counter, still on a rush from actually getting the boots, and sold my old pair for the coin I needed. The shop owner was definitely disappointed realizing he could’ve squeezed more out of me for those enchanted boots.

With everything prepared, I now just needed to figure out where I was going. I didn’t have too many options to choose from, with only two real cities nearby, but I did know I wanted to go north. Seaside was to the north, the main merchant connection where most of the trade from High Valley comes from. Pretty big harbor, a nice place to hear class rumors. Ironwood City is more toward the north-west and, if you can believe it, focus on selling lumber. Shocker. It’s farther, so I would have to do more hunting on the way, but higher leveled people than Seaside, so maybe more promising to learn about getting Skills?

Luckily, I’d heard there were caravans heading to both those places in the next few days and I’d mastered the art of tagging along with groups like that. Wouldn’t be able to offload my bag in the wagon, hop on for a ride or even eat their food, but for a trip like this I’d be paying silver instead of gold for minimal extra effort. It’s essentially the same as going alone, except surrounded by guards who already plan to keep watch for you all night. Only for a few silver!

If only people weren’t so chatty on long trips, I’d have nothing to complain about.

I’ll take my time to decide where to go. I’ve got all night before I should talk to the head [Merchant] of whichever group after all, so there really is no rush. In the meantime, I think I’ll go hike up the closer mountain side and take in the view. I really am going to miss the sunset on these mountains.