Four hours later, Nick had walked a good ten miles, becoming more familiar with the intricacies of the bog as he crossed the marshlands and its myriad waterways. He had spotted some impressive beasts out in the distance, but fortunately he hadn’t run into anything else that considered him to be prey.
As the shadows lengthened with the end of day, he began searching for a good place to camp, uncertain what changes would occur when the sun set. He needed to find somewhere that was out of the open with a roof over his head, or failing that, something solid to guard his back. Twenty minutes later, he came across a likely candidate. Because that was when he caught sight of the ruined spire of what appeared to have once been some manner of watch tower, jutting up from the crest of a modest hillock.
The tower was roughly twenty-five feet tall. Its walls were formed from blocks of dark grey stone, with tiny gold flecks that glittered in the light of dusk. Half of the structure’s exterior had long-since crumbled away, the legacy of an ancient battle whose story Nick would never know. The mystery and the lingering signs of conflict scarring the tower sparked his imagination. He wondered who had fought and died struggling to hold the hilltop while deciding whether the structure was stable enough to use as shelter for the night.
The observation platform looked intact, which he took to be a promising sign. It would likely bear his weight, which was trivial compared to that of the remaining masonry. The real problem was the stairs. The planks ringing the interior of the tower were in even worse shape than the wall. Many of the boards were shattered or missing completely. But after running his gaze over the ones that were still intact, he felt confident that his dexterity would see him through to the top.
Pleased with what he had seen so far, he carefully circled the base of the structure, running his gaze across the dark earth along its perimeter. He was seeking fresh tracks or other signs of predators passing through the area, but luckily, Nick found nothing of the sort.
After completing his inspection of the interior of the watchtower, which was filled with rocks and debris along with a few ambitious bushes pushing up through the foundation, he stepped onto the first stair and began to climb. Ten minutes and two uncomfortably close tests of balance later, Nick shouldered open the hatch and stepped out onto the observation platform.
He was just in time to take in a truly spectacular sunset. The molten orb cast refulgent glory upon the land as it sank below the horizon, painting the heavens crimson and the earth gold, interspersed with reaching fingers of shadow that grew longer by the heartbeat.
Finding solace in the timeless beauty of the natural world, Nick cast his gaze into the distance, hoping to chart out some of the terrain he would be crossing over the days ahead, when he resumed his journey in the morning. He took in the sight of hundreds of mirrored pools reflecting the neon clouds above, pockets of rippling light in a thousand shades of ruby and amber framed by the rainbowed hues of the bog’s flora. The overwhelming splendor of nature took his mind off his troubles for long minutes. The profound moment of respite was soothing to his soul. He drank in the wonderous sight of an alien world, simply taking it all in.
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Eventually, as the world faded to soft shadows, he made a final survey of the ground below the tower, saw nothing threatening, then sat down to rest for the night. Having found a decent shelter took the edge off the constant stress that came with journeying across a dangerous and uncharted wilderness, if only by a hair.
It wasn’t completely safe up here by any measure. Flyers and climbing beasts could still appear without warning, but it was a great deal safer sleeping on top of the tower than camping down on the ground. The only downside was that he couldn’t build a fire up here, as the light would announce his presence to every creature within miles.
Before he settled down to plot, plan, and pass out, there was one last thing that he needed to do. It was time to pull up his menus and check out his progress for the day. He was glad that he could pull up his profile once a day from anywhere during this quest, instead of having the process bound to the obelisk like it had been in the tutorial. Nick had decided how he wanted to spend his free attribute point a few minutes prior. As he had been hoping, in addition to having leveled up, he had a fat pile of gains awaiting his perusal.
Congratulations. You have accumulated enough experience to reach level [10].
You have gained one point of magic from your class.
As a reward for reaching level [10], you have been awarded a bonus free attribute point.
You have two free attribute points awaiting allocation at your discretion.
Through use, you have improved the following skills:
Sword has increased from [2] to [3].
Evasion has increased from [0] to [2].
Wand has increased from [5] to [6].
Throwing has increased from [1] to [2].
Awesome, Nick broke into a broad grin, filled with the warm glow that came from watching the numbers go up. That’s just what I wanted to see. Getting another free attribute point for reaching level ten wasn’t completely unexpected, since the same thing had happened at level five, but it was a most welcome boost arriving just when he needed it.
Since it was now so dark that he could barely see his hand in front of his face, he realized that the text displayed on the menus wasn’t actually black, something he had never considered before. Right now, the words appeared white, easy to read in the darkness. The System must automatically adjust my menu’s color and contrast to stand out clearly against whatever I’m looking at. Or not looking at in this case.
Nick was thrilled to discover that in addition to having leveled for the first time with his new class, he had gained five skill points in a single fight. He suspected that just like his attributes, the first few points for any given skill would be easier to obtain than the rest, but it was still a welcome development. Getting evasion off the ground and boosting sword and wand were literal lifesavers, and throwing had all kinds of utility as well.
Before he called it a night, he needed to confirm how he would spend his free points. He quickly reviewed his thinking before pulling the trigger. He had invested a lot into magic recently, and while Nick would always want more, the attribute went up automatically every time that he leveled his Kineticist class. His toughness was pretty high for his level, and although he could use more strength soon, boosting it didn’t seem vital at the moment.
So, what will it be, Nick? Dexterity, mind, or a bit of both?