The quest promised two skill points, and the little white stones were there. I would check what I could buy later or save for the Shadow Dance. We will see.

The Quest also promised armour pieces. In the chest was a pair of boots. I pulled them out. They were dark leather and went calf-high with a sturdy sole. Each boot had a knife sheath and a hard toe, which was some sort of bone reinforcing. I looked, and the side of the boot was also reinforced with a bone. I used Appraisal on them.

Bone and Leather Boots. Part of the Armour set, The Dance of Death 1/5.

+1 Agility, Self Repair, Sure-grip.

They were good boots—better than I had ever owned. The Boost to agility was amazing on its own, but then it had two enchantments: Self-Repair and Sure-grip. My current boots had self-repair and would have cost a fair bit of gold if I had paid for them. These were much better. I put them on, and they were very comfortable. It wasn’t soul-bound equipment, but it was the next best thing.

Also in the chest were some trousers.

Bone and Leather Pants. Part of the Armour set, The Dance of Death 2/5.

+1 Agility, Self Repair, +1 Stealth.

That was great. There was bone reinforcing on the thighs, and they fitted with the boost, allowing easy access to the knives. They were the same dark brown leather with black trim. There were a couple of pockets on the side of each thigh, one obvious and larger and one smaller and hidden under the bone reinforcing. They fit well and were a significant upgrade from my worn and ripped pants.

There were some other items in the chest. There were two potion vials, and I appraised them. One was a Major Health Potion, and one was a Strong Poison Antidote. Typical trial, giving me things I need AFTER I need them. I was tempted to drink the Poison Antidote and get rid of this pain in my chest, but I didn’t. My Minor Regeneration was dealing with it slowly, and I had time to deal with it as this was a safe zone. I need to get used to the feeling of Minor Regeneration working, and this would also help it level, which would hopefully make it quicker and better.

There were some gold coins as well.

It was time to get back to looting the village, and then I could rest. Definitely loot before rest. Maybe that could be one of my mottos.

I went to the other side of the village first. I left the wooden building for last as they were the most likely places for the hidden caches. My Observant Eye already identified two probable locations.

The remaining village had more monster cores, weak potions, and copper coins. I examined three Devil cores, twelve Lynx Cores, and fifty-seven Imp Cores, and there was not a single skill. The bloody Trial is more tight-fisted than Odvian, the god of merchants.

I entered the first building, and two walls were still standing. Is it still a building? My observant eye saw a patch of wall that was sturdier and less worn than the rest. I checked the outside, and there was an unusual depth there. I worked my knife between the timber and carefully levered it open. There was a wrapped package there. I carefully pulled it out and unwrapped the old oil skin. I found two knives and a skill stone.

The Skill stone was actually a fighting technique for dual knives, but not just any knives. I unwrapped the knives, and one was not a knife but a Haladie. The Haladie had a wooden handle and a knife blade extended from both ends of the handle. I picked it up, and it felt awkward. I was not used to two blades on a knife. The blades were slightly curved, so it was more for slicing than stabbing, but it could do both. There was a steel bar from one blade hilt to the other, which protected the hand and seemed to be shaped like a knuckle duster.

The second knife had a short blade that was curved in almost an S. There was a solid steel guard on the wooden handle and a larger solid part behind the handle. There was a steel guard that went between the balance guard and connected to the solid part behind the grip. This protected your hand, and it also seemed like it could act like a knuckle duster. This knife looked like it was a specialist knife for parrying.

The Skill Stone, or it probably should be called the Technique Stone, was called the Steel Serpent and was for using these weapons. It used fast, fluid and unpredictable strikes that snaked around defences. It combined fast, rapid punches and seemed to suit me very well.

I learned it because why in all the gods wouldn’t I? Basic Small Blades and Basic Unarmed Combat were two of my maxed-out skills, and this combined both. Maybe I don’t need to save for Shadow Dance, but maybe I do. The longer reach of the sword is very nice to have.

I have heard of people making their own fighting techniques, and I can see how tailoring something to your own skill set would be useful.

I grabbed the knives and moved through the Steel Serpent Technique to get a feel for them. This was certainly more effective and complicated than the Basic Small Blades and also different from Razors Edge. I said I needed new dance moves to survive. I now have some new moves.

I moved to the next place my Observant Eye picked out. This looked to be an underground storage area. I was only small. I checked diligently for traps and then leaned in. It was only about a meter down, a meter wide and two meters long. I pulled out two bags. One had some weapons, and the other had coins. I went to store the coins in my bag when I realised they weren’t all coins. There was a skill stone in there.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

I appraised the skill stone. It was the Medium Armour Skill. I already had Light Armour, which reduced the weight of any armour I wore, but this was different. It worked on any armour that was not metal, and it increased its toughness and resistance to things like cutting, piercing and less obvious things like acids that would degrade it. The effect was only slight at the lower levels but would be remarkable at the higher levels. I learned it straight away.

I opened the weapons bag and appraised each weapon as I pulled it out. A Sword that could be used either one-handed or two-handed. The blade was slightly curved and single-edged. I hadn’t seen the design before. The Appraisal said it did bonus damage against Infernal Beasts, so that was good. Again, it was something I needed before now!

There was a one-handed battle axe and then a larger two-handed axe. Both had bonus damage against infernal beasts. I guess I have more infernal beasts coming. Or maybe the Trial is just fucking with me again.

The one-handed axe had a spike at the end of the shaft and a larger spike on the rear of the main blade. I could probably use Thrust with the end spike, but my basic axe skill does not include any such moves. I guess it is BASIC Axe.

The Two-handed Axe was double-bladed. I don’t know if I am ever going to learn two-handed weapons. It seems to be the opposite of where I am headed with my Ambidextrous Skills. I stored it for sale.

It's time for a nap. I need to level my class and assign my attributes, but I can do that when I wake up. It won’t take long, and I need some rest before the safe zone expires. I had been getting used to surviving on ten-minute catnaps, so a longer rest was sounding great.

I awoke with a start. Something has changed. I was getting used to being a light sleeper. I didn’t appear to be in any immediate danger. Good. I felt better after my sleep, although I had no idea how long I slept.

I went out. Ah, the safe zone is breaking down. I estimate it will only last another half hour and it will be gone.

I went to the gate to see what might be waiting for me.

Well, shit. The Trial is out to kill me.

Outside the gate were ten skeletal Mounted Archers and eight undead hounds. They found a way up the cliff. They were arrayed in an arc well within sight and bow range of each other, and the hounds were interspersed. They could see the front half of the village and well around the edge.

Fuck. All the loot I found is good against Infernal, not undead. They are ranged attackers, and with all the loot I found, did I find a single shield? I did not.

Fuck this bloody trial. We are back to undead. My light and illusions are useless again. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Trials are out to kill you, and don’t let anyone tell you differently.

My knives are back to being next to useless. They won’t cut bone. I learned a fancy knife technique, and now that is useless, too. I need heavier weapons like the axe for this. I could try an axe in each hand. My Ambidextrous would let me do that.

That is not going to help me defend against ranged attacks. Their arrows will have a greater range than my Darts, and I doubt the thrown darts or even the knives will do much against skeletons.

Fuck.

What are my options? I have three Skill Points I can use. Can I buy something to help? Skill points, buy skills, not equipment, and I could really do with a shield.

I can Level a class as well. I was going to level the Illusionist Class because of the bonuses for my Mana. I still might, as Holy Strike is effective against Undead as well as Infernal, and I am going to need a lot of Regeneration to get within striking range of that lot.

Let’s level and then see if I can buy a movement skill.

I funnel the XP into Illusionist to get it to 10, and something weird happens. The XP doesn’t stop flowing. It is like I am being sucked dry of all my XP. Fuck, fuck, fuck, now what?

I know I have a lot of new skills, so maybe I have new class options, but that shouldn’t suck all my XP. When you get the new class options, you get to choose your class from those options. What is this? I have no options. I have one choice available to me. One! And I can’t go back to Illusionist either. What happened to my options? Is this Trial fucking up my classes too?

The only option for me to choose is something I have never heard of. What is a Spectral Slayer? I have heard of a Spectral Knight. It is a specialisation of the Knight Class that uses light, but what in the name of all the gods is a Slayer Class?

At least it still uses light, so I might not lose all my light spells. One thing is certain: Spectral Slayer is a warrior-orientated class, not a mage class. Illusionist came from the Mage class, so how did I get into a fighting-oriented class?

OK, that’s obvious dumb ass. All my new skills are weapon and fighting skills. All of them. Well, all of them except for Free Runner, which was so I could run away from fighting. Yeah, that worked well, didn’t it?

I don’t have a choice. You are supposed to get options, but I don’t even have the option to go back to Illusionist.

I also don’t have time. The safe zone is breaking down, and unless this turns into something amazing, I am dead. I don’t think even three Skill Points will buy me a way out of this one.

I select Spectral Slayer. Three skills populate my status, but I am not looking at them yet.

Basic classes get three attribute points per level, and Specialised classes get four. Why am I looking at five attribute points? That would mean Spectral Slayer is an advanced class. Nobody gets advanced classes. At least nobody I know. They are almost a myth.

I have an Advanced Class. Spectral Slayer is an Advanced Class!

I look at my classes. My level has dropped. My Level 9 Illusionist is now a Level 1 Spectral Slayer. I am still a Level 14 Thief, but my total level is now 15. That worried me for a minute until I realised I had not lost any of the attribute points of the previous levels, and I still had all my skills. I also had five attribute points to use.

Classes give bonuses to attributes. The Illusionist gave bonuses to Intelligence and Wisdom. The Spectral Slayer doesn’t. It seems to give bonuses to Constitution, Agility, and Intelligence.

I also have three new skills, no, that is not quite right. I have two skills and one spell. I had better look at those before assigning my points, as it might affect where I put them.