With time to spare Adam walked rather than ran back to camp. It took no more energy to go faster anymore but walking gave him more time to think. There had been so many things going on that he hadn't really done this except when exhausted in the last few days. Some inner compulsion was driving him to keep exploring the system and better himself and he had never really questioned why this was before. It was obvious this was what the greater power that put him here wanted but not clear why.
Ruminating for the entire journey did little to help Adam work out what was really going on. He reflected that he was more likely to find out sooner by developing quicker. Also any skills he developed along the way would surely help him survive.
Thinking back to his business and project management training he had as part of a telecoms job he realised what was missing. His long term goal of: getting home; finding out what was going on or getting off this planet was so far away and his short term goals of exploring the next area or completing the next quest were so close that the two could never link up. He needed something in the middle; something to work towards. More than just gaining the next level and getting distracted by the next skill that opened up.
All his survival instincts had been working in overdrive. Meaning he was jumping from one thing to the next. This had improved when he felt secure at night but his meagre camp still wasn't good enough. Goal one: make base more secure. He had also felt better with company, no offense to Person but the vermite were more interesting and no offence to the vermite but they weren't humans. He was pretty sure there were other humans somewhere because of the shipwrecks. Goal two: find civilisation.
Adam felt more settled having lined his thoughts up in this way. Back at camp he examined the new hut properly for the first time. It had a single room entered by a simple door. The woven wooden walls kept out most of the light and the peaked thatch roof was high enough that he could stand fully at the edges of the room. The walls themselves had sturdier poles spaced out evenly at the same intervals as the beams across the roof space. He imagined a table and chairs along one wall with a simple cot bed along the other.
For the first time, Adam set about a task with the ultimate aim of unlocking something he didn't know was there. He didn't need to know there was a furniture maker profession of some sort to pressure the system into revealing it; he just felt it would work. Loathe to waste mana without need, he avoided using Creation for a supply of wood and instead started dismantling the inner fence. The panel door made a good start for the base of a cot and with his hatchet it was so much easier to cut down the stakes to size to support the frame off the ground.
As evening drew in Adam had used torch to light the area and was just finishing his design as the vermite woke and emerged from their burrow. Rai went straight the one of the torches and was excitedly chattering to Ti about how it would help them explore better. Ti and Rai then broke into a friendly argument about whether it would be better to be hidden while exploring or have the torch and let Rai fight any foxes they came across. Ma distributed out food to the whole group; ignoring the bickering as she did so.
Once they had eaten Pa and one of the unnamed, so far, vermite came to watch Adam finish his work. Pa simply watched but the other vermite came cautiously closer and started examining the cot before moving round tightening certain hazel ties with his smaller and more nimble fingers. Once the cot was completed notifications appeared:
Profession Unlocked: Carpenter
Cot [bed] completed. You gain 5 exp.
Profession: Carpenter
Profession Unlock Criteria Description Skills Items Unlocked Carpenter Create two items from wood Can design and create wooden items Able to make more complex structures with experience [door]; [bed] Create two more items to unlock: [chair]
The vermite jumped at Adam's initial shout of joy. Then joined in when he realised they were celebrating, not seeming to mind the fact that he didn't fully understand what for. Pa excitedly joined in the chatter, proudly showing Adam the features of the hut as they moved his new bed into position. The solution to understanding the vermite who was now chattering and pointing at the bed then the roof suddenly clicked as Adam's excitement faded.
He used Transfer and was introduced to Fa and could understand the chattering as the vermite was added as a follower.
"Bed hard; roof soft." Said Fa once more, pointing as he spoke.
"Ah," said Adam. "You think we should line the bed with straw as a kind of mattress?" Fa looked a little bamboozled by the sentence before finally nodding eagerly. Adam checked his mana that was almost full again and hesitated briefly before the look of expectation on Fa's face tilted the balance. A small pile of straw formed as he concentrated on Creation the delighted squeak from Fa well worth the mana. It was an obvious choice to allocate the new Profession to Fa straight away.
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Adam felt guilty about wanting to hoard his mana for personal gain. He looked around at the vermite who were now scattered around the camp and remembered it had been his choice to bring them here and make them followers. At least they seemed to generally enjoy the tasks he gave them. Which reminded him; Sharky should have finished his tasks.
Adam formed the link with report and spent a few moments absorbing information and responding to the affection that Sharky sent. He was sure that Sharks couldn't purr but a rumbling repetitive noise he swore was a purr came from Sharky as he gave praise for the day's acheivements. A mix of octopus, sharks and crabs had been defeated netting Adam fifty-six exp and Sharky a whopping 280. Sharky had levelled once more; explored deeper in the ship and found a level ten octopus when he tried to enter the cargo hold. Not wanting to risk a confrontation Sharky had then returned to his shipwreck to fully heal before trying again tomorrow.
Adam marvelled at Sharky. There was a bit of a difference in your approach when you were a natural born killer in your own environment but Sharky kept going with his task against the odds while Adam backed away from the boar, avoiding confrontation. It shouldn't bother him but look at the rewards. Sharky was level seven and Adam only level three. He paused at this thought; checked his exp and completely ignored Person rolling their eyes in the background at his sudden realisation. Eighty-four exp meant enough to finally reach level four. He levelled Discern.
God Class has reached Level 4
With too many things to update he focused on finishing his follower interactions first. Level four meant another GP; which meant another follower. He used Transfer on the remaining vermite who was stood by Ma. Soh joined the gang as an official follower. Adam considered his options as he learnt more about her through the link was surprised to find the Woodcutter profession suited her best. She had been helping Pa and Fa with the building though.
Profession: Woodcutter
Profession Benefit Skills Woodcutter Ability to chop wood; increased strength Please select initial skill. [summon axe]; [plank]; [fell]; [firewood]
All the skills revolved around different ways the user could cut down or cut up wood. Adam chose [summon axe] as the most versatile. Soh looked happy and the cost of 1sp per hour meant she could use the skill which was better than Ti and stealth. The main problem would be how she could go and cut the wood safely. Thinking about his plan for the piglet tomorrow he already had an idea to keep Pa busy. Adam looked at the group of vermite and set some side quests.
Side Quests:
Quests Complete? Exp Escort and protect Woodcutter to Forest, edge 0% 10 Fully explore Forest, edge 0% 15 Collect ten hazelnuts 0% 10 Take down the fence around the tent 30% 10 Build an enclosure against the outer fence 0% 15 Collect exp Y/N
Soh went to join Ti and Rai who all seemed to enjoy the idea of exploring together. Pa grabbed Fa and pulled him over to the inner fence and Ma glared at Adam. He walked over to her to find out why.
"Forest. Danger." Said Ma as the small group of vermite left the camp.
"I know Ma, but if they want to go and are there to look after each other it's no more dangerous than the Orchard was." Replied Adam. Her glare softened and through the link he could tell she believed him but it wasn't going to stop her worrying about them.
Turning to another subject Adam asked "Do you not want a Profession or Class yet? I have unlocked a couple more now."
Ma checked the options available and shook her head. "Me Ma." She said, declining the offer. She gave him a pat on the hand as she wandered off to supervise Pa and Fa. He shrugged. Something would come up to suit her eventually. After she had left he remembered the blessing he had available. He didn't have to ask to use that, did he? Person shrugged and indicated that a blessing was different than allocating a profession or class. Adam couldn't tell all the statistics about the vermite but knew they varied slightly due to differing HP/stamina. Ma seemed quite intelligent already and he wasn't using the blessing elsewhere.
A yellow band rushed outwards Ma from Adam as he used his blessing Brighten. None of the vermite seemed to notice as they were caught up in a squeaking match about who had the best way to dismantle the fence. Rather than check the effect straight away Adam walked to his hut and closed the door. It was dark outside but Person had produced a small lantern to light the inside of the hut. With no other furniture Adam sat on the bed as he finally got round to allocating the attribute points from his level up.
Adam:
Adam God Class (Hidden) - Level 4 (Secondary Classes not shown) Attribute Value Characteristic Value Health 100/100 Vitality 10 Health Regen 5/hour Recovery 10 Stamina 150/150* Vigor 15* Stamina Regen 15/hour* Fortitude 15* Mana 27/27* Intellect 27* Mana Regen 3.6/hour* Clarity 23* Skill Points (SP) 10/10 Perseverence 10 Skill Point Regen 1/hour Willpower 10 God Power (GP) 4/4 God Power Regen 4(7)/day** Unallocated Points 0* **max GP Regen cannot exceed GP *once accepted
He accepted the changes. Stamina had become less useful but now he was safe at night he wondered if he could put it to his advantage again. At max stamina he could stay awake an extra two and a half hours despite the massive drain that built up overnight. With his new mana regen that gave an extra 7.2 mana before sleep. Which was fourteen times to practice his magic. If his mana was like his stamina he would then wake with it full giving him a ten percent increase in practice per day.
Maybe he should throw it all into the Intellect and Clarity; but this mix had helped him so far. Adam closed his eyes and started pushing the fire mana around wondering whether he would get to the metal mana before he fell asleep.