You have gained a tiny amount of experience.
Experience modifier detected.
Calculating…
You have gained a small amount of experience.
You have gained a tiny amount of experience.
Experience modifier detected.
Calculating…
You have gained a small amount of experience.
Jake sighed as he scrolled through the notifications, hundreds of them having piled up through the night. With a slight effort of will, he dismissed all the ones about experience, just as Andy had taught him to do, and looked at the meagre few that remained.
Skill [Hunting Bows] has levelled up.
Skill [Aim] has levelled up.
Skill [Hunting Bows] has levelled up.
Skill [Short Swords] has levelled up.
Achievement: Executioner I
Kill 100 enemies by beheading them.
Rewards:
Title: [Executioner I]
1 Fate Point
He and Eta had spent the entire night fighting, Jake starting out using his bow, but quickly running out of arrows, forcing him to salvage what he could from the corpses of the beasts. Once that had proven too difficult, he had switched to his blades, and looked like it. Covered in blood and gore, Jake desperately wanted to take a bath or shower. Hells, he’d even take the automatic washing system from their old apartment. All he wanted was to be clean.
“Well, I’d say that was productive,” Andy laughed as he jogged up towards Jake, panting heavily as he went, “I levelled [Sprint] three times and gained a whole two levels just because I was close enough to you throughout the fights. How about you?”
“I got a few levels in my Skills and a Title,” Jake replied, looking at the numerous piles of corpses around them, “What do we do about all this?”
“Loot ‘em,” Andy hummed, already touching one of the corpses, “Might as well, the returns aren’t as great as harvesting them, but it’s better than nothing.”
“Leave the Alphas,” Jake said as he watched his friend move from one body of a Starved Wolf to the next, “I want to at least get their hides and meat.”
“Good idea, there should only be about ten or fifteen of those,” Andy nodded, looking out over the massacre, “Damn, but you killed a lot of them.”
“You brought a lot of them,” Jake shot back jokingly, “That was no joke. I thought I was actually going to die a couple of times when you brought another pack before I’d finished the last.”
“Sorry, so how much experience did you get?” Andy chuckled, touching another corpse, making it burst into light and rush into his pack.
“I don’t know,” Jake shook his head as he found an Alpha, kneeling down beside it to start taking it apart, “Is there a way to check?”
“Sort of,” Andy hummed, “Just focus on your level on your Character Screen and it should give you a percentage.”
“Hmmm,” Jake nodded as he did so, scowling at the number that appeared, “Forty-two percent.”
“What? All that and you didn’t even break fifty percent?” Andy gasped, “Damn, the climb to level fifteen is gonna be a long one.”
“Only if I keep fighting weak enemies,” Jake muttered, finishing with the first Alpha, and moving to the next.
The pair worked in silence for a while, until Jake finished with the thirteenth Alpha, getting a welcome set of notifications as he did.
Skill [Skinning] has levelled up.
Skill [Butcher] has levelled up.
Skills at level 10 detected.
Ascend?
Y/N?
He quickly selected ‘yes’, reading over the next screen that appeared.
Skills [Skinning] and [Butcher] can be Dual Ascended.
Dual Ascend Skills into [Dissection]?
Cost: 2 Fate Points
Y/N?
“Yes,” Jake agreed, feeling the slight tingle of his Skills Ascending run up his spine. Once it vanished, he opened his Character Screen again, checking the description of his new Skill.
Dissection
Allows for the harvesting of beasts, monsters, and humanoids.
“Huh,” Jake said as he stood up, brushing some grass off his knees, “That’s…weird.”
“What is?” Andy called, almost having finished gathering the rest of his kills.
“My newly Ascended Skill says I can now harvest humanoids,” Jake explained, showing the screen to Andy, “Could I not do that before?”
“Dunno,” Andy shrugged, “Maybe check it out in the library, or something?”
“There’s a library?”
“Yeah?” Andy chuckled, “Why? You want to go do some light reading after your wholesale slaughter of over a hundred wolves?”
“I think it was closer to a few hundred,” Jake sighed, looking out over the numerous piles of corpses, “But yes, I think I do.”
“Right, give me a minute to finish with all this, then we can get cleaned up and go for a look,” Andy grinned from under his helmet as he touched another corpse.
------
Queen Bee
Insect World Boss
Level: 10
Amelia smiled to herself as the large hive hanging from the tree cracked open, revealing its primary occupant. The Queen Bee was six feet long and buzzed furiously at her, Amelia feeling the Air Magic gathering in its wings. She leapt to the side as the near invisible wind blades cut into the ground where she’d been standing, churning up the earth and throwing clods of dirt around.
Of course, Amelia had little to no chance of defeating this World Boss, especially not alone and injured, her body covered in small wounds from the stronger Bee monsters around the hive, and her equipment badly damaged, despite having been upgraded to Iron. To put it lightly, she was in no shape to take on the Queen.
But that didn’t mean she wouldn’t try.
Amelia kept dodging the various attacks of the giant insect, wind blades slicing deep into the ground, poison needles shot from its stinger leaving patches of smoking purple goo. Amelia just kept dodging, memorising all of it, occasionally throwing out a small Air Bolt to keep the Queen’s attention, or Wind Stride to help her stay ahead of the attacks.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
It couldn’t last, however.
Amelia noticed the familiar buzzing behind her too late, the needle-sharp stinger of the Soldier Bee stabbing into her thigh as the foot long insect darted at her. The symbol for the [Poisoned] status appeared in the corner of her vision, sending pain through her body as her health began to tick down. Not that it mattered, the moment of distraction being more than enough time for the Queen to launch a bevy of wind blades, striking Amelia all over her body, the world quickly going dark as her Health Points dropped to zero.
Sighing, she looked at the screen in front of her telling her she’d died, the familiar sight of the Temple appearing around her in bright blues. It was only a short walk to the altar, Amelia touching it and returning to the land of the living, staggering over to a nearby pew to sit down and wait out the two debuffs that had appeared. Leaning back against the hard wooden seat, Amelia smiled.
She had found her new training partner.
------
The library was a large building standing in the middle of a small, but lush, garden, a small pond inhabited by strange fish in one corner, and a pavilion in the other. A large tower jutted from the back of the library, looming over it, casting a long shadow in the morning light. A few players were hanging around, none of them looking up from the books they were reading as Jake and Andy walked to the front door.
“So, this is the library?” Jake hummed as they entered the building, looking around at the numerous shelves lining the ground floor.
“Yep,” Andy nodded, “Bottom floor is available to everyone and has a bunch of books about basic knowledge and stuff. Second floor and up are restricted to people with the Mage Class, or with high enough reputation.”
“Reputation?” Jake muttered, opening his Character Screen, and looking at the small window. His Reputation had only recently changed from ‘Unknown’ to ‘Known’, and he still didn’t quite know what that meant, “What is Reputation, anyway?”
“How famous you are,” Andy explained simply, “The better it is, the better the NPCs will treat you.”
“You mean the natives?” Jake asked as they approached the large circular desk in the centre of the library, a human man sitting behind it reading from a large book.
“Yeah, sure,” Andy nodded, “Anyway, that’s the Librarian, talk to him about anything you’d like to learn, and he can point you to the books about it.”
“Okay,” Jake nodded, walking up to the desk, and clearing his throat quietly.
“One moment,” the librarian said, running his finger over the page, “I’ll be with you now, just finishing this paragraph.”
“Take your time,” Jake shrugged, watching the man read for a moment longer, before he apparently reached his goal and looked up at him.
“Ah!” the man gasped as he saw Jake, immediately standing and bowing to him, “I deeply apologise, your lordship, I had not realised that you were a noble.”
“It’s alright,” Jake sighed, “I was just wondering if you had any books on Magic.”
“Oh, plenty,” the man nodded enthusiastically, “What kind?”
“Primal Magic,” Jake said, the librarian cringing slightly.
“Ah, I see. Well, I apologise again, but those kinds of books are only available to second tier Mages or Wizards,” he explained, “If you really wish to read them, you will need to seek permission from the resident Mage Class Trainer.”
“I see,” Jake nodded, “And where are they?”
“In the Mage Tower,” the librarian answered, pointing to a large door at the back of the building, “Just through that door. However, you will need to show some sort of Magic Skill in order to open them.”
“That’s not a problem,” Jake nodded, walking past the desk and towards the door.
As he approached, the doors shuddered, a film of glowing white energy forming over the top of them. Curious, Jake reached out and touched it, feeling like he was pressing against a wall of solid stone. A moment later, a face appeared beside his hand, blinking a few times before looking at him, a deep scowl on it.
“Yes?” the reedy voice asked, “Are you a new initiate come to try acquire your Class?”
“Uhm…no,” Jake replied in surprise, “I’m here to ask about checking some books.”
“Can you cast magic?” the face asked, zipping up to above Jake’s hand, inspecting him critically, “I have no time for the magically inept.”
“I can,” Jake nodded, “Two types. That’s actually why I wanted to look at the books, I want to learn more about them.”
“Then cast a Spell,” the face sighed, rolling its eyes, “Let me see what you have. No attack Spells, mind you, have had enough whining from the librarian about that.”
Jake just nodded as he cleared his mind, calling forth the power of his Mana, willing it to take form in his palm. The soft green light of Nature’s Boon enveloped the door, sinking into the white film as the face closed its eyes for a moment. Jake stared as the face went through a number of expressions, first surprise, then disbelief, then excitement, before it opened its eyes again and stared at him in apparent awe.
“That magic,” it whispered, “Where and how did you get it? Actually, no, don’t say it yet. Come in first!”
The white film vanished as the doors creaked open, swinging wide as Jake glanced behind him, spotting Andy chatting to the librarian. The man looked up at him for a moment, grinning and waving him away, going back to his conversation quickly. Jake shrugged, walking through the doors into the large room beyond.
It was richly appointed, Jake looking around as a few players glanced over at him, a couple of them blinked in surprise as Jake felt his Ring of Obfuscation pulse. The room itself was as large as the ground floor of the library and split into several sections. The largest, taking up almost half the space, appeared to be a training area, various dummies set up against the far wall as a Mage fired balls of water at them. One quarter was lined with bookshelves, several plush chairs set out for those reading them. The last quarter held a large set of spiralling stairs, down which came a familiar face.
“Ah!” the robed man said as he hurriedly approached Jake, “I see. Well, I apologise for my earlier rudeness, your lordship, can’t see Titles through the Veil. But enough about that! Come, follow me!”
Jake just nodded as he followed the man up the stairs, feeling his ring pulse a few more times as the other Mages all stared at him now, the jealousy clear on their faces. The man led Jake up several flights of stairs, eventually getting to what Jake supposed was the top floor, ending in a large room that was obviously an office. Hurrying through it, the robed man quickly began moving various items and stacks of books, clearing a space around a large floating crystal.
“Uhm…” Jake said slowly as the man worked, “Do you need help?”
“What? Oh, no, thank you for the offer, your lordship, but I’ll be done clearing the Analysis Crystal in a moment,” the man said, moving a final stack of books out of the way, turning back to Jake, “Now, if you would, please cast the Spell you used on the door on the Analysis Crystal.”
Jake blinked at the strange request, looking at the large floating object with [Inspect].
Magic Analysis Crystal
A magical device used to analyse Spells
Quality: Rare
“So, this crystal will analyse my Spell?” he asked, the Mage nodding excitedly, “Okay?”
Jake cast Nature’s Boon again, making the crystal glow green, before the spell seemed to be sucked into it, the verdant light forming a floating ball inside. The Mage made a strange sound, sort of like a gleeful giggle as he hurried to the crystal’s side, looking at it closely.
“Incredible!” he said happily, “Such a powerful Spell! And potent as well! What did you use to awaken your magic? It must have been a strong pill.”
“Oh, one of these,” Jake said as he pulled out a Manawort Mushroom, holding it out to the man, who stared at it for a moment, before snatching it from Jake’s hand.
“You…you what? Ate one of these and it awakened your magic?” the Mage asked, Jake nodding, “Unprocessed? By Arcanus’ beard, how did you not explode? There is so much Mana in this thing it would cause anyone under level ten to pop like a balloon!”
“I was level eleven when I ate it,” Jake shrugged, the Mage looking at him in shock, “So I guess that helped?”
“Do you have more?” the man asked, Jake nodding, taking nine more of the mushrooms from his inventory and handing them to the man, “Incredible!”
“I also have ones for Health, Stamina, Purification and Poison,” Jake said, the Mage staring at him like he was a goldmine, “I have plenty of each, if you want some?”
“YES!” the man shouted, before clearing his throat and straightening his robe, “I apologise for that, your lordship. But yes, I would love to have the opportunity to study these specimens you speak of.”
Jake quickly handed over ten of each of the mushrooms he had in his inventory, the Mage placing each in a collection of jars he pulled from somewhere. He marvelled over them for a moment, before shaking his head, looking back at Jake in reverence.
“Not only do you possess a lost Magic, but such powerful items! Oh, with these perhaps I shall finally be able to get out of this little town and back to the College!” the man said happily, “You have no idea what you have done for me, your lordship! Salazar Oftburn shall not forget this favour!”
The man, Salazar, shook Jake’s hand gleefully as he continued to talk, going on about how studying the mushrooms would advance his Skills and knowledge by leaps and bounds. Suddenly, he stopped, looking Jake over again, before nodding.
“Right, well, first things first, we should fix your Mana channels,” Salazar said, “They are especially chaotic, probably because you ate an unprocessed item of extremely powerful Mana. That will be relatively easy to do, you only needing to consume a more powerful pill.”
“Pill?” Jake asked, the Mage nodding.
“Yes, and I would be honoured if you were to allow me to use some of these mushrooms to make you one,” Salazar said excitedly, “I do believe that I will only need five or so to make a powerful enough pill to work.”
“Oh, then can you make me two?” Jake asked, the man staring at him in confusion, then glee as Jake took out ten more Manawort mushrooms, “My friend has a Mage in their party, and I’d like to give one of these pills to them as well.”
“Of course!” Salazar said happily, “And who might this Mage be? I know all the aspiring casters of Dusk Keep, I am the sole Mage Class Trainer in this little town, after all.”
“I think he said her name was Sophie?” Jake hummed, the Mage nodding.
“Ah, yes, young miss Sticated,” Salazar hummed, “Quite the prodigy with the [Fire Magic] Skill, a good choice. She will most probably need to have reached at least level ten before she can use the pill though.”
“That makes sense,” Jake nodded, “Is there anything else? I would like to know if I can read the books on Primal Magic in the library before I go?”
“What? Of course!” Salazar huffed, “With your gifts, Title, and Magic? I would be a fool to keep you from them! Be my guest!”
“Great, thank you,” Jake nodded, “Uhm…just one more thing.”
“Yes?” Salazar hummed, already arranging the Manawort mushrooms on a desk inside a strange looking circle.
“What can you tell me about Primals?”