Nathan's feet dangled from the edge of a cliff as he took in the spectacular view. Directly beneath him was a clear lake, and even from this height, he could see fish and sea serpents swimming in it.
Directing his gaze towards the horizon, he saw an enormous mass of green and brown, too distant to make out its form.
It was a branch of the world-tree, Nathan knew. The image of an enormous tree filled his mind, its trunk stretching upwards for multiple kilometres, entire cities held by its canopy. There's no reason for me to visit the elves on this floor, of course, but it makes for a convenient waypoint. As long as I know where the tree is, I can navigate this whole floor.
A few days had passed since the assault on the bandit camp, and he had steadily moved towards this floor's guardian. The lord had promised him a substantial amount of money for the job, but returning to that village seemed like a bad idea. Credits could be earned everywhere in the tower, there was no need to risk his life for a few hundreds of them.
Right now, he was relaxed, most of his wounds almost healed. Nathan was not far from the guardian any more, and it was finally time to take a step he had not been able to plan for in his last life.
Accepting the system reward that had been hovering at the edges of his vision, Nathan saw the environment fade away until he found himself in the familiar white space. Grinning, he read the message that appeared in front of him:
Congratulations, Nathan Andrews
Your Spearman class has reached level 10
You can now select a skill
Let's see the skills then. I hope I get good ones.
Skill: Double Tap
Your swiftness is unrivalled, attacks so fast that enemies fail to react. After executing a stab, use a moderate amount of stamina to instantly perform another stab.
Skill: Swift Riposte
Your movements follow one another at a speed that is impossible to surpass. After successfully blocking an attack, immediately use a small amount of stamina to perform an attack.
Skill: Fast Mind
You react before your opponent even moves, countering and attacking with a fluidity that leaves onlookers in awe. Use a variable and sustained amount of stamina to speed up your reaction time and thought process.
Nathan took a while to analyse all three skills. It was all too easy to misunderstand skills by missing a single word.
Looking forward, he saw a humanoid figure made of wood, holding a sword and a shield. Its body was an exact reflection of Nathan's, though it was missing a face.
Training Dummy – Variable [Variable]
Let's test the skills then. Walking up to the construct and taking out his spear, Nathan focused his intent on the dummy. Stand still, do not move.
Following that, he returned his attention to the boxes of text floating in the air. I want to test Double Tap.
He felt the skill take root in him, almost eager to be used. Nonetheless, Nathan was filled with certainty that this was a temporary power — the skill would leave him should he decide to test another one.
Attacking the unmoving figure, Nathan landed a stab, the dull spear barely scratching the wood. At the moment of impact, he felt the opportunity to use Double Tap and immediately did so.
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His muscles moved without input and at enormous speed—Nathan himself could not follow his weapon's movement as it was pulled back and another stab landed on the dummy.
The whole attack took less than a second, landing in exactly the same spot as the first one, piercing slightly deeper. As the skill faded, Nathan felt a noticeable amount of energy leaving him, his breathing becoming slightly heavier as a small amount of fatigue settled in his body.
Not a bad skill, but to make full use of it, I will need a lot of training. Firstly, I'll need to work on its activation condition, the standard skill can only be used exactly at the moment of impact. For now, I also can't control the movement at all—the skill will be far more useful once I can actively decide where the second stab lands.
With how low my stats are, I should be able to activate it a handful of times per fight, often enough to make a difference.
Changing the skill he was testing to Swift Riposte, Nathan felt a pang of loss for a moment before the hole left by Double Tap's absence was filled once more. Become level 10. Attack me only with the sword, use moves that are easy to counter, do not harm me. he instructed the mannequin.
The dummy started moving, dropping its shield. Taking a stance, it attacked with a fast but telegraphed swing. Catching the sword on his spear, Nathan activated Swift Riposte.
Once again, a skill took over his body, the spear hitting the mannequin in the side and leaving a long scratch. Its sword, however, was freed. The mannequin took advantage at once, bringing its weapon up to Nathan's throat, where it rested without touching his skin. Go back to your basic position, Nathan commanded the dummy.
This skill is more difficult to use. I once again couldn't control where the spear hit, so this time it was only a glancing blow that wouldn't have killed an actual opponent. It uses far less stamina, though. Definitely a good skill to have, particularly against many weaker opponents, who would die to a single use of Swift Riposte—there would be no problem with them counterattacking then. Hardly useful against the upcoming guardian, though.
Finally, Nathan exchanged Swift Riposte for Fast Mind. Ignoring the dummy for now, he immediately activated the skill, finding it much more malleable than the other two. It has no activation condition, so there is no need to work on that. It also takes as much stamina as I am willing to provide and I can end it at any time.
Keeping it active at a low level, which would leave him exhausted only after multiple minutes, Nathan started executing different attacks. Compared to before, his movements seemed about 10% slower to him. He also gained expanded control over his body, allowing him to make corrections almost instantly.
Keeping that up for an entire fight will give me a big advantage. If I can quickly activate Fast Mind, I'll also be able to dodge ambushes far easier.
Testing the upper limits of the skill, Nathan pumped all of his remaining stamina into it, immediately feeling a strain on his mind. His body, however, seemed to move in slow motion, while every single twitch of a muscle was exceedingly clear to him.
Currently, Nathan was in the process of performing a stab, but using his accelerated reflexes, he commanded his body to stop the movement. As soon as that thought formed, his body halted—there was seemingly no delay between the intent and the action.
Different muscles in his body tensed and relaxed, absorbing the inertia of the abrupt stop perfectly, leaving him completely still without affecting his balance.
Suddenly, the skill dropped, and Nathan found himself in a world of exhaustion and pain.
He dropped to the ground, gasping for air, unable to move even a single limb. All over his body, muscles screamed out in pain, especially in his arms.
It took a while until he was able to think clearly again, though his body was still unresponsive. That felt like my thought process sped up at least five times and I had perfect control over my body. With my current stamina, I could only keep that up for less than a second, though. Still, Fast Mind will be incredible once I have the stamina to spare.
Nathan did not rush to pick his skill, waiting until his energy fully returned before performing more tests on all of the options. In the first timeline, he had not been as thorough, and some of his initial skills had been entirely useless after climbing just a few more floors.
Time flowed differently in this white space, but he must have spent subjective hours until finally making a decision. I need a skill that helps me beat the next guardian, but that also keeps getting stronger as I gain power. The choice is clear then.
“I choose ...”
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It had not taken long for Nathan to arrive at the place this floor's guardian dwelled after choosing his skill. Currently, he was standing just outside a forest, the trees looking out of place compared to the relatively barren surroundings.
The longer he stared, the stronger a longing grew inside of him, urging him to enter the forest. With reluctance, Nathan finally looked away and entered the tent he had pitched just outside of it.
I can't risk stumbling onto the guardian yet by entering. My wounds have not completely healed, and while my spear does have a self-repair enchantment, it will take a few more days until it is back in pristine condition.
The fight with the bandits had left Nathan in a bad condition even after more than a week had passed. According to his original schedule, he would have bested the guardian by now and received his tenth level only after that fight.
Still, having an extra skill before fighting that beast would be extremely valuable.