Tom stared at the guild employee. "But why me? there's plenty of other people who could do this instead," He complained as he looked down at the report in his hand.
"You know that's not true. That forest is a class three danger zone, and no one else has the scouting ability you do paired with that annoying tendency of yours to just not die," The employee retorted. Honestly, it wasn't that the job was very difficult (in Tom's VERY skewed opinion). Just find and harvest a specific type of toadstool for an Alchemist's research. The trouble was the forest was filled with a highly invasive and clinging toxin. Most scout types lacked the fortitude to resist the poison for long, and tougher contenders got swarmed over by the wildlife. Tom had both, and could do the job easier than anyone else in the town, but he had just gotten back from a job, and wanted to relax.
"Look. We know about your tendencies, and that you just got back. So, the guild is willing to add a 25% bonus to the mission if you do it."
"..."
"..."
"Fine! I'll do the damn job," Tom finally agreed. "I'll leave tomorrow."
After finally wrangling the stubborn mule known as Tom Williams in, the employee released a relieved sigh. She had expected it to take at least twenty minutes, and had gotten it done in less than 5. "You know the procedure, prick a finger, press the blood on both copies of the contract. One is yours; we keep the other."
"I know, I know."
"The guild regulations require I say it every time, as I've said every time." After the signing process was complete, Tom collected his now binding contract and left the hall. He headed off to his first stop, the general goods store. It was run by one of the few elves that lived in a human town, and had the best rations and wood products you could get. The rations were dry and tasted of strawberry; However, that was better than anywhere else, where they were dry, bland, and hard.
"Welcome to- Oh, it's just you. The usual?" Earlish started cheerful, but quickly toned down when he saw it was just the local lay about. The two had known each other for nearly ten years, almost the entire time since Earth had been assimilated. Earlish had been one of the first non-humans to work with humans, and represented the most common variant of humanity.
Every species, when assimilated, was giving a unique trait, and element. Elves naturally had a better connection to nature than almost anyone else, any Dwarf could point out the weakest points in stone, and minotaurs were NEVER lost. Humans though, started with nothing. Instead, they got a very strange trait.
Bloodline Adaption, and Elementary Adaption. Any human exposed to the blood of another species could adopt that bloodline, gaining a lesser version of its abilities. And when exposed to a high concentration of some element, adopt that. Choosing a race or element was required to select a subclass, and reach level 50 or higher. These traits allowed humans to live anywhere, but they always fell slightly short compared to others who had a racial advantage. Most humans choose a race and element almost immediately when able, within weeks for those who were adults during the Assimilation, or after they turned 15, when the system allowed children to access it. Tom had used neither yet, and was still capped at 49, making him the slowest leveling human known.
"Half the usual. Last trip took less time than I expected," Tom replied, handing over a silver half-crown. "And an air filter. Gotta head into that thrice accursed forest."
After a few moments to pull out the rations, Earlish handed over the goods. After their first exchange, neither said a word. They dealt with the other often, but dislike liked the other party, and they both knew it. Tom didn't like Earlish's obsessive desire for order, and Earlish disapproved of how Tom didn't do anything if he didn't have to. But Tom was Earlish's best customer, so he wasn't about to say anything.
Tom left without a word, and immediately headed towards his inn. After arriving at his destination, he walked through to door, and after waving at the cat eared receptionist, headed upstairs towards his room. He had a room booked permanently, that he paid for monthly. It gave him somewhere to use as home base, and he got along well with the receptionist, who understood his desire to sleep the days away. Once he was safely locked in his room, he laid on his bed, and mentally called up his status.
Name
Tom
Experience
Next Lv.
Race
Human
120049
120050
Age
28
Class
Sub-Class
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
Level
49
Survivor
N/A
Element
N/A
Maximum
Current
Regen/Sec.
Health
354070
354070
87.93
Stamina
1082103
1082103
2199.79
Mana
110260
110260
35.93
Will
279132
279132
20.91
Stat Points
Total
Used
Available
245
245
0
Strength
17.8
Intelligence
17.8
Endurance
44.6
Attunement
34.8
Perception
49.6
Wisdom
39.6
Agility
54.4
Spirit
17.8
Charisma
17.8
Luck
27.8
Well, no changes. He wasn’t really sure what he expected, he was still level capped. A miracle? Those only happened in books and movies. This was life, as much as it seemed like a game sometimes. Miracles were a once in a lifetime thing, unless you had absurdly high luck. Then weird shit started to happen. He’d known a guy who came across a leprechaun’s pot gold once. Man must have had well over 100 luck for something like that to happen.
Oh well, he decided he might as well check his skills, those at least, could still level.
Skills
Survival
Lv. 199
Rare
Fused
General fused skill. Allows the user to better preform any skill directly relating to surviving in any environment. Passive
Camping, Foraging, First Aid, Identify, Escape
Claw Combat
Lv. 98
Uncommon
Allows the user to better use Clawed gauntlets in combat. Passive.
Targets bleed easier and longer.
Bleed
Essence Siphon
Lv. 79
Rare
The drains the life essence of foes with melee strikes. Strikes deal damage equal to half skill level to all other resources, and restores user resources by damage dealt. Passive.
Improved Drain
First Gen.
Lv. 99
Supreme
Skill given only to those who survived at least ten years after Assimilation, and were active system users in that time. Various minor effects.
?????
Unseen Passage
Lv. 99
Uncommon
Fused
Allows the user to travel without being noticed. Less effective when near alert beings, and when outside natural landscapes. Active: 200 Sta./ Sec., 5 Will/Sec.
Sneak, camouflage
Regeneration
Lv. 49
Uncommon
User regenerates health at an increased speed. X1.49 Passive health regen. Passive. User regenerate at a highly increased rate. X10 Health Regen. Active 1 Mana/Sec., 200 Will/Sec.
None
One level in claw combat and one more in essence siphon. Not bad for three days’ worth of work. Unlike many, he only had a few skills, but what he had was either specialized, and hard to level, but powerful; or very broad. Survival was the result of about 7 other skills being fused, to create something that helped every action, from fighting, to choosing clothes. But that utility made it very difficult to level. Well, he decided, time for bed. After dismissing the screens, he promptly fell asleep.
Author’s Note:
Coins are divided as such:
100 copper is one silver, silver to gold, gold to platinum
A button is worth 1, half crowns 5, crowns 10, Large crowns 50.
I apologise for the weird indenting, they didn't like the move from word to here.