Klint stood in the center of a broken encampment, having just decapitated their leader. The rest of the population had run, scattering across the forest they were in as he destroyed their buildings, and stole their valuables. He really didn't care much for whatever they had, except for the occasional upgrade to his armor. That was his biggest annoyance with his class, having little access to gear upgrades due to killing anyone he saw that might be able to make them. He supposed it didn't matter though, as the levels more than made up for it.
*Class level up x2! One Man Siege (level 34)*
*Encampment defeated! As you have killed the leader, you may choose to conquer this encampment. [Y/N]*
He selected no, the same as he had done for the past several encampments he had destroyed. Now, it was time for a greater challenge. One of his skills, which identified the presence of large gatherings of mana, pointed him in the direction of one particularly large encampment, maybe even a settlement. It was far, but Klint was a patient man. His mouth watered at the prospect of getting stronger, and he began his run, ready to face his next great battle.
__________
Mike and Lucas sat in the mess hall, a grin on the rogue's face despite being covered in dirt, leaves, and various pieces of shrubbery that Mike had thrown him into. With them sat Aaron, Nema, and Vladimir. This was the first time they had gathered together in quite a while, as Mike had outpacing them more and more in levels, making it impractical for him to go monster hunting with them.
They sat around the table, catching up on what had happened since they last spoke. Everyone except for Vladimir had evolved again, and he had been held back due to trying to organize a crowd for him to play the flute in front of. Apparently, his profession was more about musical showmanship than his actual skill with the flute.
Nema had evolved before Lucas had, having specialized in her class. Mike could understand why, as she never seemed to truly have any passion for making bows and arrows. Aaron decided to not specialize, since his class and profession were quite similar, and leveled doing the same stuff, just in different situations. They split up again, going their separate ways after they finished eating.
Mike had a very particular destination in mind, as he headed for the cave that had been used as residence for the settlement's resident beast master. He walked into the entrance of the cave, greeting the man as he entered.
“Hey man, what have you been up to.” He asked, trying to keep the conversation as casual as possible. Martin stopped what he was doing, answering Mike with the same forced casual tone.
“I’m doing quite well, thank you for asking.”
“How’s Kenny been? Is he still your strongest tame?”
Martin gave him a smug look, before whistling a pattern of notes. Big, heavy footsteps sounded out through the cave as Kenny walked over from around a nearby turn.
“What the hell!” Mike shouted, as he was pounced upon by a bunny that had to be at least 5 feet tall now, knocking him to the ground. “What are you feeding him?”
“Oh you know, just 30 pounds of meat and berries each day.”
“Does he actually need all of that?” He was genuinely curious, since most people needed less and less food as their constitution increased.
“No, but he gets cranky if he doesn't get it.” Martin tossed what looked like a large apple into the air, which Kenny quickly ate after using Mike's chest as a launch pad. “So, what brings you to my cave of critters.”
“I wanted to see if you would be interested in a job. Terrible name by the way.” Mike said as he got off the ground and dusted off his new armor.
“What kind of job?” He responded, raising an eyebrow.
“Did you specialize in your profession?”
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“No, I didn't.”
“Did your class evolve into something that is basically the same as your profession?”
Martin gave a so-so motion with his hand. “Kind of, there are a few differences, but functionally it's almost the same.”
“How would you like to be in charge of the spider nest I conquered?”
Martin gave him a very surprised look, answering slowly. “What exactly would that mean?”
“It means that you have an entire dungeon of spiders at your disposal, instead of just what you tame. I don’t think they would be able to leave, but I’m not completely sure of that yet. It also means switching out your profession, but I’m sure if your class is so similar then it wouldn’t be a problem.”
“I don't know, that seems like a big switch to make. Could I have some time to think about it?”
“Of course, just let me know when you make your choice.” With that, Mike left the cave, leaving Martin to consider his offer. Mike left the settlement, ready to do some more hunting, when he looked at the gate in front of him and the wall it would allow him to pass through. He looked up at the nearly 50 foot wall, and decided it was time. He had thrown every free point for quite a few levels into strength, and was confident that it had been enough.
He didn't want to do this without the wall guards seeing it, so he notified the guard captain of what he would be doing. He waited for about ten minutes for all the guards, and quite a few others he had not expected to gather around. The crowd of nearly 100 people watched as he backed up, giving himself a large runway to build up speed.
Mike felt the pressure of their gazes, but his mind was focused entirely on his goal. He took one step, then another, then another. Each step left dents in the ground behind him, and his body burned with the mana he pumped into Self Enhance. Within less than two seconds, he had chewed up the distance and kicked off the ground with everything he had. He soared through the air, feeling the wind against his face as his speed carried him upwards.
He hadn't gone more than ten feet in the air before he realized it wouldn't be enough. He could just kick off the wall for a little extra distance, but that felt cheap. He wanted to clear this wall with nothing but his own power, and he would do everything he could to accomplish that. Time seemed to slow as he reached the apex of his jump, just 10 feet from the top of the wall.
One effect of his agility stat was giving him finer control over his body, and it was thanks to this that he managed to stay upright in the air. He lifted his leg, pumping as much mana as possible into the air just below his foot. His intention had been to create a platform of sorts that he could leap off of again, but instead the massive amounts of mana leaving his foot in such a short amount of time propelled him ever higher. Mike wasn't sure why dumping mana out of his body had never done this before, but it was a mystery for later. For now, he needed to deal with the consequences of his actions.
He came to a halt in the air, a solid 50 feet above the wall. While he had completely and utterly crushed his goal, and gotten the awe of all those who bore witness, he also was now falling from 100 feet in the air. For a normal human this would be near certain death, but for one who had been enhanced through levels, it wouldn’t be nearly as lethal. This didn't mean that it wouldn’t hurt, and Mike tried desperately to think of how to slow his fall before hitting the ground. Using that mana launch might work, but he didn't want to seem like he had no control over what he had done, so he decided to go for the flashy yet painful option.
He landed on the ground in a superhero landing, with one knee on the ground, a foot planted in front of it, and a fist striking the earth under him. A crater in the ground was formed where he landed, though it was less than 2 inches deep. He had certainly achieved his desired reaction from the crowd as he got many cheers, and a few curses thrown at him by the guards. They were all in good spirits though, and he had certainly gotten a bit of fun out of it too.
*Skill Gained! Burst step (Rare)*
He began walking victoriously through the settlement, taking a roundabout path to get to Aaron's home. He knocked, and was soon let in by the healer, with the door being closed behind him. It hadn't even been 2 seconds after the door closed before Aaron knew he was hurt.
“What the hell? Did you get hit by a train or something?” He asked, looking over Mike's body.
“Something like that, how could you tell?” Mike asked, pretty sure there were no outwardly visible wounds on his body, at least none that were not covered by his armor.
“I’m a healer, and I wouldn’t be a very good one if I couldn't tell when someone was injured.” His eyes were glowing a soft yellow, and were jumping all over the place, scanning for what exactly was injured. “I have seen you come back from hunts fighting monsters that could have torn just about anyone else apart, and yet this is the first time I have seen your bones fractured. What did you fight this time? Rock golem, a particularly strong bear?”
Mike avoided eye contact as he responded, a bit sheepish. “I tried doing a superhero landing, and nailed it perfectly. Wasn't very nice to my body though.” It was true, and a combination of Mike's constitution and Fortitude were the only things that had kept him from limping his way to the healer's home. He was quickly fixed up and sent off with a firm suggestion to never do something so stupid again. Mike considered heeding the given advice, but when he saw the looks people around town were giving him, he only had one thing to say about the ordeal.
“Worth it.”