While my words were of beauty and the wind as I sang the song of the wood and gave each of them a fallen branch of the Home-Tree growing in my Refuge that Briar collected for me, inside it was all about the number-crunching. The burning question in my mind was, “What could I do to increase their Proficiency scores?”. The answer was "a lot".
To start, the {Muse Inspiration} Perk gave them +10 to all Attributes and a flat +20 Proficiency bonus. While the Attribute bonus didn’t matter much, it still improved their craft by minute amounts, by making them more dexterous, their moves more precise and stronger, increasing their stamina, their focus, the chance of having an idea or noticing some irregularity in the materials, and not to mention sheer luck. Then {Muse of the Arts} gave them a 132% boost to the quality of their work which was reflected in the price, aesthetics, and durability of the item. Then the almighty {Shadow Workshop} gave them a 35% bonus for the Proficiency score and quality. A Craftsmen with a score of 300 would work with an actual value of 432 and 213% improved quality. They wouldn’t gain any extra Abilities but the impact on the ones they had was enormous. ]
Not to mention they gained a 72% bonus to their Proficiency learning rate because of my [Leadership]. That on top of the quality of the rare material they had the chance to work with. Make copper rings for a month and you probably wouldn’t see a single point of [Jeweler]. Make a platinum ring once, and you’ll gain two or three points. This was more valuable to them than whatever currency I threw at their feet.
After a week of nonstop work (The Sanctuary healed their fatigue twice as fast), they made ten fairy-sized bows out of the Home-Tree branches infused with my living silk around the limbs and forming the multicolored bowstring. This one was the winner.
> Level 0 Pixie Goddess’ Living Recurve Bow
>
> Price: 41 Kingmetal Coins. Materials: Carbon steel, World Tree wood, Living Silk.
>
> Range: 100m
>
> Damage: 6d6+11
>
> Minimum Strength: 80.
>
> Size: Tiny (x0.2 Damage)
>
> Durability: 668/668 Hardness: 18
>
> Made with a branch of a World Tree under the inspiration of a Goddess.
The living silk would probably go dormant inside the dead magic zone because it fed on ambient mana. Maybe it would even starve to death if left inside the zone for too long. But for hunting and training in the rest of the world, it was the best I could wish for. If I had a bowyer with a higher Proficiency, he could make something better but this was good enough. They also crafted hundreds of pixie arrows with hardened steel tips, Home-Tree shafts, and pegasus fletching. These arrows were so good they added 2d6 to the base weapon damage.
I also trained the bow under the watchful eyes of the masters. They weren’t archers by trade or Class but they understood bows and were excellent teachers.
Archery [ 32 ]. Select 2 Abilities
* Shoot: (2*Proficiency)% damage, (Proficiency)% accuracy.
* Take Aim: Spend 1 second to aim. Gain (Proficiency/2)% accuracy.
Still far from being a top-notch marksfairy but we’ll reach it in a few lives. Fairy steps. I’d also only pick strictly physical abilities, so I could snipe things in the Desert with impunity.
I let the craftsmen take the scraps and leftover branches. Every single ounce of Home-Tree wood was extremely valuable, as one would need to go to Fulgen to have a chance to acquire the material. Spoiler alert, good luck requesting the elf Queens for anything related to their sacred trees. I knew that very well.
Armed with a new weapon to train and the damned Royal Writ of Exploration, which granted me access to any Dungeon, monster den, or catacombs in Ackerton, Nenandil and I made our way to the entrance to the Labyrinth.
A lot of Adventurers waited at the entrance to the Labyrinth. They offered their services as porters, scouts, healers, frontliners, and whatever job they thought we needed (even the naughty ones) in hopes of earning the bragging rights of being part of a Goddess’ Adventuring party. We ignored them and showed our guild cards to the representative in charge of admissions, paying the delving tax of twenty silver per person. I didn’t use the Writ even though it would waive the tax.
With the widespread use of personal storage devices, mostly rings for convenience, they stopped taxing everything brought back from the delve, instead of raising the entrance fee. Now they taxed the sales of monster materials in town unless you had paid import taxes on the goods. If someone delved here and left the country with the materials, they would find a similar tax levied elsewhere as every kingdom followed suit.
Once cleared to delve, Nenandil and I became invisible to mortals. Only other fairies or people who could see invisible creatures would see us. We flew at top speed down the tunnel while I mischievously sent a gust of wind out of the cave, spreading documents and loose objects everywhere.
We didn’t stop, going as fast as we could manage in the wide cavernous tunnels as we went deeper and deeper. The tunnels next to the entrance were too crowded and one had to move long before they found something worth fighting for. Unless you were hunting people which once again was made easier thanks to the storage devices. The PKs usually stole only the head of their victims to make identification more difficult. There was a Perk that if you took the head of a body, it rendered the rest of the corpse almost unidentifiable unless you had a ridiculously high {Appraise} Proficiency to investigate. Just to put things into perspective, I didn’t have the required score at the time. And {Appraise} was a bitch to train. You needed to move through crowds spamming the ability and risking angering someone.
Nenandil harassed the monsters and created opportunities while I killed the monsters one arrow at a time. It was a hard and slow grind but it was necessary for my grand plan. The Exp slowly accrued too and I gained levels. Neither of us needed to eat and Nenandil would withdraw to my soul to rest when she grew tired. We lost track of time during our stay in the deep Labyrinth. Sometimes I would open the sanctuary gates and train this or that crafting proficiency to burn the fast-growth I had left.
I learned I could use the trees in the sanctuary to move into my refuge. There I could raise my plants and train both {Botanist} and {Harvester}. One of my long-term goals was to create a non-poisonous Deathberry variant that had more sugar content than the poisonous one. My experiments told me the plant’s metabolism converted some sugar into poison so if I could stop the poison genes from working, it would have more sugar to extract. I could always grow sugarcane and do like they did back on Earth but the deathberry sugar had a characteristic berry flavor that was hard to replicate. It gave some pastries a very distinctive taste I didn’t want to lose.
But Deathberries had their name for a reason. They were extremely poisonous to animal life. I had to craft enchanted glass greenhouses with no openings whatsoever to grow the deathberries and select the next generation. The glass was enchanted to regulate oxygen and carbon levels so the plants wouldn’t die but no poison would leave the bubbles. The only way inside was through teleportation. I had an empty bubble that I used to decontaminate myself when I left the greenhouse ones so I wouldn’t take poison on me or my clothes.
One day, I was trimming the deathberry bushes and checking the ripe berries for any favorable mutations and did my procedure to exit. Nenandil was having tea with Vesper and the dryads, the fairy gang of six imitating the noble ladies of human society. I listened to them as they laid slander and over-the-top remarks about this or that imaginary Lady.
“Oh, back already, gardener?” The water fairy stared at me like I was garbage. I didn’t like it and a wave of relief washed over me when I figured out I didn’t have that particular fetish.
“Yes, m’Lady,” I lowered my head. “Had ‘ta check 'me' clothes so no poison came outside.”
“Well, that sort of delay is unacceptable! Next time, go inside naked so you don’t need to bother with clothes. We’re all ladies and all fairies here. We don’t mind some naked Goddess goodness to stare upon.”
Nenandil stared at vesper. The silkie blushed and lowered her head, nodding slightly. I raised my eyebrow as I fluttered over to their fairy-sized table. Arms akimbo, I stored all my clothes.
“What did you say? Lady Nenandil, please do tell, do you want to see me naked? Do you, Lady Vesper?” The silkie’s pointed elfin ears were beet-red. “No, please. Feast your eyes on my person in all its nakedness.”
“Okay, that’s enough emotions for a day,” Briar shouted, throwing me a towel. “Cover yourself before I demand an extra tithe of blood, mistress! See, the children are already drooling.”
The three new dryads, Walnut, Wawanna, and Wollemi, squealed. I summoned a dress back on from the item box.
“Sorry, Briar. We all know how much you value the quiet,” I replied.
The dryad smiled, “I don’t mind. A little commotion to spice up things every decade or two is fine.”
It spoke wonders of the fairies’ sense of time.
Nenandil stored the tea set for another time. “How was your gardening today?”
I answered with a grin, “I got a less poisonous deathberry. I’m going to replant it tomorrow, hopefully in a month or so I can harvest them and see if it improved or not.”
“Just for the record, what do you consider as less poisonous?”
“A person with a hundred-fifty Endurance and a few {Poison Resistance} Perks wouldn’t die.”
Nenandil rolled her eyes, “Right.”
----------------------------------------
We alternated between the refuge and the Dungeon for a year. My deathberry experiment was partially successful and I lowered the plant’s toxicity by a large amount. Maybe in a few decades, I would have a completely non-toxic variant. My Proficiencies and levels greatly increased during this time, most of it the fast-growth that spilled over from the removal of [Spellcaster].
> You gained 75 points in Archery
>
> You gained 3 points in Appraiser (*)
>
> You gained 74 points in Clubs
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> You gained 100 points in Martial Arts
>
> If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
>
> You gained 47 points in War Technique (**)
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> You gained 77 points in Blades
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> You gained 44 points in Spear
>
> You gained 37 points in Combat Technique
>
> You gained 2 points in Wild Warrior
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> You gained 18 points in Spellcaster (**)
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> You gained 10 points in Assassination
>
> You gained 2 points in Mental Mastery
>
> You gained 63 points in Mobility
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> You gained 32 points in Physical Mastery
>
> You gained 2 points in Furtivity
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> You gained 84 points in Harvester (**)
>
> You gained 67 points in Rune Scriber (**)
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> You gained 117 points in Silkweaver (*)
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> You gained 107 points in Gnome Machinist
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> You gained 120 points in Physician (*)
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> You gained 110 points in Metalsmith (*)
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> You gained 90 points in Baker
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> You gained 74 points in Jeweler (*)
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> You gained 10 points in Botanist
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> You gained 10 points in Dismantler
>
> You gained 10 points in Miner (*)
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> You gained 7 points in Musician
>
> You gained 10 points in Alchemist (*)
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> You gained 8 points in Cartographer
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> You gained 4 points in Diplomat
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> You gained 6 points in Enchanter
>
> You gained 3 points in Leadership
Archery [ 127 / 147 ]. Select 6 Abilities.
* Long Range: Increse your maximum range by (Proficiency/3)%.
* Farsight: Reduce range penalties by (Proficiency/4)%
* Mobile Marksmanship: Reduce movement penalties by (Proficiency/4)%
* Sureflight Arrows: Reduce arrow drag by (Proficiency/5)%. This increases Accuracy by the same amount.
* Bullseye Shot: Improve your Accuracy for trick shots by (Profiency/5)%. This can only ofset the trick shot accuracy penalty.
* Belt Slasher: Attack an object worn by a creature with a (100-Proficiency/4)% Accuracy penalty. If it succeeds, deal damage to the object. This is a trick shot.
* Snipe Hand: You take a (100-Proficiency/4)% Accuracy penalty to your attack. if it succeeds, opponent has one limb appendage maimed and rendered unusable until the damage caused is fully healed. This is a trick shot.
Clubs [ 188 / 297 ]. Select 5 Abilities.
* Homerun: Your attacks deal (Proficiency)% more knockback force.
* Reverberating Impact: Your attacks ignore (Proficiency/8)% of the target’s armor.
* Numbing II: Hits numb opponents, reducing combat proficiencies by (Proficiency/10) for (Proficiency/25) seconds.
* Numbing III: Hits numb opponents, reducing combat proficiencies by (Proficiency/8) for (Proficiency/20) seconds.
* Numbing IV: Hits numb opponents, reducing all proficiencies by (Proficiency/8) for (Proficiency/20) seconds.
Martial Arts [ 324 / 329 ]. Select 7 Abilities.
* Weapon Kata: You can still use martial arts with a weapon you are proficient in in one hand.
* Body Weaponry: Your base Martial Arts damage is (Proficiency/60) d8.
* Quivering Palm: Hits stagger enemies for (Proficiency/300) seconds.
* Eagle Claw Fist: Your punches deal (Proficiency/5)% extra slashing damage.
* Knife Hand Strike: Your critical punches deal (Proficiency/2)% extra damage.
* Diamond Body: Gain (Proficiency/50) more Endurance.
* Chokehold: Targets of your grapples cannot breathe for the duration of the grapple.
War Technique (**) [ 239 / 317 ]. Select 3 Abilities.
* Zerg Rush V: Your units gain (Proficiency/25)% Accuracy, Damage, and Evasion for each ally engaging the same enemy.
* Zerg Rush VI: Your units gain (Proficiency/20)% Accuracy, Damage, and Evasion for each ally engaging the same enemy.
* Strength in Numbers: When one of your units that has at least 3 allies within 2 meters (or is within 2 meters of yourself) receives a killing blow, reduce the damage by (Proficiency/10)%. If the soldier would survive with this damage reduction, split (100 – Proficiency/10)% of the damage avoided among all friendly units in a 2-meter radius. This damage split cannot trigger this Ability. You may choose to shoulder all the damage avoided if you are close enough. The same unit cannot benefit from this Ability more than once every hour.
Blades [ 359 / 361 ]. Select 5 Abilities.
* Riposte III: If you parry a blow, you can attack immediately with a damage bonus equal to (Proficiency/3 -100)%
* Riposte IV: If you parry a blow, you can attack immediately with a damage bonus equal to (Proficiency/2 -100)%
* Deadly Riposte: If you parry a blow, you can attack immediately with damage, critical rate, and accuracy bonus equal to (Proficiency/2 -80)%
* Body and Blade: If you have a free hand, you can attempt a martial arts attack or maneuver in tandem with your blade attack.
* Blade Precision: You have minute control of your blade and can stop an attack just before it touches another’s skin.
Spear [ 401 / 405 ]. Select 3 Abilities.
* Scorpion’s Tail: Attacks with a poisoned spear have a (Proficiency/5)% extra chance of not consuming the poison coating.
* Combination Strike III: You slash then stab with the spear at once. The stab has a damage increase equal to (Proficiency/4 -70)% damage.
* Combination Attack: You slash then stab with the spear at once, using the lowest armor value against these types of damage. Increase damage by to (Proficiency/4 -50)%.
Combat Technique [ 378 / 381 ]. Select 3 Abilities.
* Bushwacker: During a charge attack, you can attack up to (Proficiency/30) enemies once between you and your main target, with a damage penalty equal to (90 - Proficiency/12)%. If you fail to kill one, your attack stops.
* Harassing Footwork: If you have more movement than your opponent, you gain (Proficiency/10)% more damage, accuracy, and evasion.
* Chain Attacks: You can execute up to (Proficiency/50) extra attacks in rapid sequence. Add up the base damage.
Spellcaster (**) [ 173 / 175 ]. Select 1 Ability.
* Mana Funnel: Increase your MP regeneration by (Proficiency/10)%
Assassination [ 291 / 297 ]. Select 1 Ability.
* Invisible Killer II: You remain stealthed for (Proficiency/40) seconds after ambushing a contract. You must rest for (200-Proficiency/5)% of the period you remained stealthed before you can sneak again.
Mobility [ 434 / 435 ]. Select 4 Abilities.
* Cloud Step: You suffer (Proficiency/10)% fewer penalties to your movement speed.
* Dune Strider: Your move rate increases by (Proficiency/5)% when moving over sand.
* Dune Runner: Your move rate increases by (Proficiency/2)% when moving over sand.
* Improved Dexterity: by (Proficiency/50).
Physical Mastery [ 640 / 672 ]. Select 2 Abilities.
* Body, Mind, and Soul (capstone): Gain (Proficiency/80) on all Mental, and Spiritual, (Proficiency/40) to all Physical Attributes.
* Damage acclimation IV: After getting hit (90 - Proficiency/14) times with the same attack in the last hour, reduce all damage from that type by (Proficiency/15)%. Track different types individually. The bonus ends if you go for (Proficiency/100) hours without taking damage from that type.
Harvester (**) [ 186 / 317 ]. Select 6 Abilities.
* Fast Harvest I: You gather resources (Proficiency/15)% faster.
* Fast Harvest II: You gather resources (Proficiency/10)% faster.
* Fast Harvest III: You gather resources (Proficiency/5)% faster.
* Speed Harvest: You gather resources (Proficiency)% faster.
* Empowered Harvest: Resources you harvest are (Proficiency/2)% more potent.
* Survey Resources (Cartographer): After a day of analysis, you can determine the presence and nature of resources in an area of (Proficiency/20) hectares and the underground up to (Proficiency/2) meters around the point of survey. Add half of your lowest score between [Harvester] and [Cartographer] to the highest one when you use this Ability.
Rune Scriber (**) [ 171 / 307 ]. Select 5 Abilities.
* Charged Runes IV: Each Rune you carve adds (Proficiency/25) enchantment points.
* Empowered Runes: Each Rune you carve adds (Proficiency/20) enchantment points.
* Rune Words: Add an extra (Proficiency/10) to write a sequence of runes. The final rune sequence gains (Proficiency/100) extra points per rune.
* Runic Spells: You can write runes on a temporary surface to empower a spell or ritual. Add (Proficiency/10)% of the enchantment points to the casting Attribute to determine the effect.
* Air Rune: You can draw a single rune (in the air or inside a spell circle) as you cast a spell, adding the bonus from Empowered Runes to the spell’s effect.
Silkweaver (*) [ 291 / 341 ]. Select 8 Abilities.
* Enduring Threads I: Your living threads require (Proficiency/15)% less nourishment.
* Enduring Threads II: Your living threads require (Proficiency/12)% less nourishment.
* Enduring Threads III: Your living threads require (Proficiency/10)% less nourishment.
* Hibernate Thread: Your living threads go into hibernation, slowing metabolism by (Proficiency/5)% if they are starving.
* Devouring Threads: Your threads may consume dead organic matter to sustain themselves.
* Exfoliating Threads: Your threads devour dead skin and debris on the wearer’s body, improving health and cleanliness.
* Hardened Threads: Your Threads enjoy (proficiency/20) more Hardness.
* Smart String: Your threads gain (Proficiency/2)% more Exp.
Gnome Machinist [ 192 / 212 ]. Select 7 Abilities.
* Oiled gears II: Rotating parts in your machines are subject to (Proficiency/6)% less friction if it’s beneficial.
* Oiled gears III: Rotating parts in your machines are subject to (Proficiency/5)% less friction if it’s beneficial.
* Maneuverability III: (Proficiency/14)% better steering and control.
* Speed II: (Proficiency/12)% faster top speed.
* Energy Storage II: (Proficiency/8)% more autonomy.
* Efficient Design II: (Proficiency/17)% lighter without any loss of strength.
* Load-Bearing II: (Proficiency/5)% greater maximum load.
Physician (*) [ 297 / 304 ]. Select 8 Abilities.
* Hyperbaric Bubble: Spend Energy to protect an area (Proficiency/20) meters in radius, preventing (Proficiency/5)% of all contaminants from entering.
* Surgeon: Your surgical procedures fix an extra (Proficiency/5)% of all internal injuries.
* Tissue Graft: You can take healthy tissue from another body part to fix wounds. Increase chances of success by (Proficiency/15)%.
* Bone Setting: When you fix bone fractures, you heal an additional (Proficiency/10)% of the damage.
* Personalized Prescription: Add a tenth of your Physician Proficiency to [Alchemist] to prepare medication for a specific patient.
* Long-Term Care I: You can stay up to (Proficiency/50) hours away from a patient before the benefits of continued care fade. After your return, you must spend at least half of the time you spent away looking after the patients before you can leave again.
* Long-Term Care II: You can stay up to (Proficiency/40) hours away from a patient before the benefits of continued care fade. After your return, you must spend at least a third of the time you spent away looking after the patients before you can leave again.
* Long-Term Care III: You can stay up to (Proficiency/30) hours away from a patient before the benefits of continued care fade. After your return, you must spend at least a fourth of the time you spent away looking after the patients before you can leave again.
Metalsmith (*) [ 424 / 432 ]. Select 8 Abilities.
* Alloy Mixture: Your alloys are (Proficiency/5)% better mixed, improving all aspects by (Proficiency/20)%
* Separate Metals: You can separate up to (Proficiency/5)% of the metals in a molten mixture.
* Recycle Slag: You can reprocess slag, recovering (Proficiency/10)% of the materials that would otherwise be lost.
* Geomantic Admixture: Metal may gain special properties depending on the location it’s forged.
* Secret of Steel: You have (Proficiency/5)% better control of the element mixture in steel alloys.
* Precision Crafting: Parts you craft are (Proficiency/2)% more precise and (Proficiency/10)% more resistant to degradation.
* Variable Hardening: When applying different hardnesses to an item, it is (Proficiency/10)% less likely to contain hidden stress points.
* Tamahagane: You can process a metallic piece several times to improve its quality.
Baker [ 289 / 297 ]. Select 6 Abilities.
* Ingredient Processing: You can clean and prepare ingredients to increase their quality by (Proficiency/10)%
* Food additives: You can add special non-poisonous materials to make your products (Proficiency/5)% more nutritious and expensive per extra ingredient.
* Rich Yeast II: Your leavened dough yields (Proficiency/2)% more portions.
* Yeast Cultures: You may cultivate your own yeast. It increases dough quality and quantity by (Proficiency/10)%.
* Alchemical Flavoring: You may use [Alchemy] to make special additives, increasing flavor and acceptability of your products by (Proficiency/10)%. Add a tenth of your Proficiency to [Alchemist] for this purpose.
* Jeweled Frosting: You can decorate your pastries by crafting intricate designs with frosting. Add a tenth of your Proficiency to [Jeweler] for this purpose.
Jeweler (*) [ 402 / 406 ]. Select 5 Abilities.
* Goldsmith: You can add a tenth of your [Metalsmith] Proficiency to all [Jeweler] tests when working only with metals.
* Secret Compartment: You can add secret compartments to your crafts. Add a tenth of your [Gnome Machinist] Proficiency to craft these.
* Infused Properties: You can add special materials to your jewels, increasing value and enchantment potential by (Proficiency/10)%.
* Gemstone Affix: The difficulty to remove decorative items in your jewelry without using destructive force is (Proficiency/2) higher.
* Runic Gemstone: You can carve runes on the facets of cut gemstones, adding (Proficiency/200) enchantment points to each rune carved.
Botanist [ 291 / 297 ]. Select 1 Ability.
* Plant Grafting: You may graft a shoot of a plant onto the root system of another. Increase the chance of success by (Proficiency/10)%.
Dismantler [ 291 / 297 ]. Select 1 Ability.
* Legendary Butcher: Add (Proficiency/4) to all Attributes while out of combat and engaged in dismantling a carcass.
Miner (*) [ 322 / 326 ]. Select 1 Ability.
* Mine Canary: You are more sensitive to disturbances when underground. Add (Proficiency/5) to all perception tests.
Musician [ 306 / 309 ]. Select 1 Ability.
* Phantom Orchestra: You can summon (Proficiency/25) phantom instruments to accompany you at the cost of 25MP/s for each. Instruments play with half of your Proficiency.
Alchemist (*) [ 354 ]. Select 1 Ability.
* Property Prospection VIII: You have a (Proficiency/7)% chance to find new properties in rare or new ingredients. You can only inspect a single item type once.
Cartographer [ 349 ]. Select 1 Ability.
* Enchant Map II: Maps you craft hold up to (Proficiency/20) Enchantment points.
Leadership [ 361 ]. Select 1 Ability.
* Elite Lieutenants: Up to (Proficiency) combatants who swore fealty to you and are under your direct command gain (Proficiency/40) Strength, Dexterity, Endurance, Mind, Willpower, and Luck. This is not cumulative with Commanding presence.
Numbers going up was good. And it wasn’t over yet. I still had to apply my Exp, purchase my Perks, and rank up. But before I could rank up, I had to complete my {Journeyman’s Trial}. It was time to cross the ocean and go back to Windemere.