Jordan felt like he’d been walking for almost an hour and a half now, since getting the new Quest. Thankfully, he had his drone as a pretty accurate measure of time passing since all he needed to do was keep track of how many times he’d summoned it. Ah, but it was about ten minutes ago that something of note finally happened.
Yep, his drone had finally spotted something. Which Jordan then identified as the following when he saw it himself and used Appraise.
Species: Bark Snake
Level: 2
Description: A common reptile found within the giant forests of Vervina-C. They are carnivores that primarily spend their time camouflaged in the branches of the trees they call home. As ambush hunters who rely on constriction to kill, they often stay hidden from anything not small enough to be their prey.
While actually seeing the snake had required directing the drone to hover directly above it, Jordan didn’t spend a lot of time appreciating just how much it looked like tree bark. Because it was only a few seconds later that he then gave the drone a new order. One that almost immediately resulted in a new pop-up entering his vision.
Experience Earned!
+24 EXP
So yeah, that was pretty nice. Along with Experience, he now had a dead snake in his pocket space. It hadn’t been very large, only about the same size as a common garden snake back on Earth. But it would probably make for an interesting meal, and the skin might turn into a cool piece of clothing with its bark-like texture. Now did Jordan even know the first thing about the process of turning raw skin into anything usable? Nope, but that’s what learning through trial and error later would be for.
Anyway, finding the serpent had actually done a fair bit to help with Jordan’s nerves. Something was a lot better than a suspicious amount of nothing, after all. Since the drone flew around at a fairly constant height, he imagined that there were a lot more that it simply hadn’t gotten high enough to spot.
Now all wasn’t quite peachy yet. There was still the matter of keeping an eye out for both what the serpents considered prey, and far more importantly, anything higher up in the food chain. The fact that the first thing that he encountered had been Level 2 compared to all the Level 1 Rabbits in the field was also a bit concerning. Because if that turned out not to be a coincidence but instead a pattern, it would mean that the strongest things around here would likely also be at a higher Level than the Grass Panther.
As Jordan continued to cautiously walk through the almost totally dark forest, he could tell that he’d been making progress. The pull was getting every so steadily stronger as he got closer. It’d been so gradual that he hadn’t even noticed it at first. But as he consciously compared it to how the pull initially felt, the difference was definitely there.
However, there was an issue. Because even though it felt like he’d been making decent speed, considering the circumstances, it was starting to feel like it wasn’t fast enough. This was due to the tracker that the Temporary Quest had provided, which clearly showed that others had already gotten ahead of him.
Mandates remaining for this Quest: 21/25
Since the Quest had started, three more spots had been taken. Counting the one that started it off in the first place, it meant that there was only one more left to claim a spot in the top five. But as risky as it could be, Jordan would be willing to pick up the pace if it meant that he could make it. Since the extra rewards should be paced on placement, the top three would assumedly have been the best, aside from the first. So if he just hurried up and barely made the top five, that should still be-
Mandates remaining for this Quest: 20/25
Well, fuck me then! Like seriously, right as I was having that thought? That’s just personal at that point; I don’t care what anyone else says. No way that was a coincidence and not specifically to screw with me, Jordan swore. Well, it seemed that just grabbing a spot in the top ten would have to do instead.
Jordan was tired, thirsty, and rather drained by the traumatic experience of the past day’s events. As far as being in his right mind was, this was not one of those moments. He had already been starting to feel rather irritable, but the setback of losing out on his initial hope of making the top five was only making it worse at this point.
Taking a deep breath of the cool night air, he tried to calm himself. No human was perfectly rational and able to always look at things objectively like a robot; that was an obvious fact. Yet Jordan, at least in his opinion, believed that he was decent at becoming self-aware of his emotional state and trying to address its impact on his thinking. Missing the top five wasn’t the end of world, nor would it be the case even if he missed the top ten as well. All he needed was to grab just one of those spots to complete the Quest, even if it was the very last one and didn’t give him any additional rewards for it.
Yet the competition was clearly fierce. And as he thought about it, he realized that there was every chance that someone else was being pulled toward the same Mandate as him. Jordan didn’t know if it was simply a matter of who claimed it first, or if this was a matter where people who got there around the same time could compete for it. A big part of that depended on if the claiming of a Mandate was an instant thing, or actually a process that took some time to do.
If it needing to compete was the case, and the person or people there were also on the Slayer list, but for the wrong reasons…
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The thought lingered in Jordan’s head as he then soon ran out of TP. Which as usual, forced him to pause for a few minutes and wait. But as he leaned back against the trunk of one of the trees that might as well have been a wooden wall to him, he looked down at the tattoo on his palm. A few moments later, one of the gems appeared in his hand.
His original plan had been to wait until he was somewhere that felt safe and secure. Then just figure out what to do with them all as a collective. Part of that waiting until later was because he’d felt hesitant to consume one now to see exactly what happened. Because what if something too dangerous to handle had attacked him, and he could have used the one-time use effect to save himself?
Jordan was also the type who always hoarded even the most common consumables in video games, and then beat the final boss while barely using any of them. So that natural inclination was also a likely factor in his thinking so far. In the real world, however, it’d do him no good. His thinking needed to be a bit more short-term to address his more immediate concerns.
Name: Advancement Crystal
Grade: E1
Description: This gem contains the essence of a Mage and a random selection from their highest Grade Class Skill. The Advancement Crystal can be consumed by any Initial Merger, and the essence inside may be used to influence the consumer’s next gained Skill or evolution of a current Skill. Alternatively, it can be shattered for a single and highly potent use of the Skill contained within.
Out of the about two dozen members of their group, a few had been Mages. Which was totally fair, as who wouldn’t pick the magic Class when not offered something you really considered to be better? But it meant that he also had a couple of spare gems of that type, so he was now willing to at least sacrifice one as an experiment.
Welp, here goes something, then. How literal is consume? Jordan asked as he tried to focus on the gem. He first tried to imagine it just breaking and absorbing its power directly into his hand. When that didn’t work, he went ahead and just popped the whole thing into his mouth.
The instant the Advancement Crystal made contact with his tongue, it vanished before he even had a chance to taste it. Immediately afterward, a new screen appeared before him.
Advancement Crystal absorbed!
Please select the following for its essence’s use:
Influence next Skill gain.
Or
Influence current Skill evolution.
Note!
A Skill gained or evolved through the use of an Advancement Crystal will not take away from either earned from future Level increments. However, subsequent uses of either method will require the consumption of additional Advanced Crystals after each use.
Jordan’s eyes widened as he read through the text. From how the gem’s Description had read, he kinda assumed that it would be a future thing. Like if he consumed the gem now, it would only have an impact down the line when he actually gained or evolved a Skill later. But now he’d been hit by a double whammy of very critical information.
First, it had just said that his guess had been wrong, and it would actually have a very real impact right here and now. But it also just confirmed how he was meant to go either even without the Advancement Crystals. And as simple as it sounded in retrospect, all he needed to do was keep gaining Levels. Specifically “increments,” as it’d said. Which meant that the first major increment would be either Level 5 or Level 10, if he just had to assume.
The question is… do I want a new Skill or evolve one of the ones I already have? Evolving should mean a beneficial upgrade of at least some kind, right? Otherwise, what would even be the point? Jordan asked himself as he thought about it.
As far as his Skills went, Summon Air Drone being the current MVP was no question. As far as the least valuable… Zap would be his pick, if he had to be honest. Because while Tinker as a Passive Skill might seem like the more obvious choice, that was kinda an unfair comparison.
Description: Increases the user’s ability to modify existing machines and create their own.
This is what one would describe as a downtime Skill. Where when he actually had time to just sit down and work on trying to create something, it would finally get its chance to shine. He just didn’t get any use of it now because the present circumstances hadn’t given him the chance to.
So, between what could be called the more combat-minded Skills, Summon Air Drone didn’t need an explanation, and Overcharge was at least immediately useful when paired with his Energy Pistol.
Heck! Jordan could probably even use Overcharge on the drone, now that he suddenly realized his foolishness in somehow not thinking of that sooner. So if that idea worked, then Zap just became even more of an ugly duckling in comparison. So as far as the evolution went, his choice would be to hope that Summon Air Drone got even better, or that it could make Zap into something more useful.
It was either that, or just roll the dice on what a brand-new Skill might look like.
Hold on… let’s try this. Just to see what will happen before I’ve picked. Jordan made a second Mage gem appear in his hand. Then after just thinking about it for another second to make sure that this was what he wanted to do, he ate it.
Advancement Crystal absorbed!
Please select the following for its essence’s use:
Influence next Skill gain.
Or
Influence current Skill evolution.
Warning!
Previous selection is still pending. The currently absorbed Advancement Crystal will be held until after the first selection is made. It can then be used to either make progress toward the subsequent use of whichever option is picked, or immediately applied to the first use of the other option.
Ahah! There we go, now we’re talking! Jordan felt a triumphant grin finally tug on his lips as he made the System cough up some more info. So if he understood that correctly, then he should actually be able to pick both at least once. Then he’d just have to see afterward what it’ll take to do it again for either one.
But with that weight lifted off his shoulders, it meant that he could put off his decision for a Skill evolution for just a little bit. That can just keep stewing in his brain as he got to check out what a new Skill looked like in the meantime.
Alright, System. Influence the next Skill gain.