Level Up!
5 free stat points gained. Total: 5
Level Up!
5 free stat points gained. Total: 10
Cassian sat cross legged on the ground looking over his stats. The fight against Carlo and Anders had netted them all two levels, but no new skills. Their working theory was that the skills obtained at second level were just to round out their tutorial abilities and that they would get more at some other interval. Kit had already thrown every point into Strength and Vitality and was currently catapulting water across the room with his new trident.
Vitality - 15
Endurance - 14
Toughness - 11
Strength - 12
Dexterity - 17
Perception - 13
Intelligence - 10
Cassian hummed to himself. Vitality was always going to be needed since it gave raw hit points, but toughness seemed to be one’s ability to literally ignore damage. In the short testing they’d done, it literally made one’s skin tougher. Cassian’s body was already tough, likely due to Hard Body, and he wondered if he got more out of toughness than the others. His raw stat value was lower than Kit’s, but they were functionally on par with one another. Endurance was also a must, since that increased his stamina pool. While Strength wasn’t necessary for his class, it certainly didn’t hurt.
Dexterity was his key stat as a Monk, so he definitely needed points in that, since it increased his damage. Perception was always going to be important, and Cassian had a feeling it would only become more useful as they leveled. The only one he didn’t really have a use for was Intelligence. He didn’t use mana at all. Keaton was going to be pouring stat points into it, so having one person in the group who’s really smart would probably be enough. With a thought, Cassian assigned four points to Toughness, one to Endurance, three to Dexterity, and two to Perception, bringing his stats to the following:
Vitality - 15
Endurance - 15
Toughness - 15
Strength - 12
Dexterity - 20
Perception - 15
Intelligence - 10
As the stat points were allocated, Cassian’s body felt like it trembled as the energy suffused into him. Flexing his fingers and standing, he called to the rest.
“Everyone ready?”
“All done!” Tara said.
“Same here,” said Keaton, “Kit? Ready?”
“Yeah!” Kit shouted across the cavern.
With that, the four of them made their way back to the bottom of the well and climbed the rope leading to fresh air once more. The sun was well past down as Cassian led them all back to The Battered Bale. Soaking wet, tired, and sore, the four of them stumbled into the tavern. Braun, still behind the counter, gave them a raised eyebrow in greeting.
“Rough night?” he asked.
Cassian fell into a chair at the bar.
“You have no idea,” he said.
“Drinks?” Braun offered.
“No, but we’d take three rooms if you have them.”
Braun nodded. “I do. Thirty shards for everything.”
Cassian handed the gold over as the others collected room keys. Making their way upstairs, they all said weak goodnights as they entered their rooms. Cassian sat on the bed, taking his wet clothes off and hanging them on the chair to dry. Tara did the same and the two of them collapsed onto the bed.
“Cass?” Tara asked.
“Yeah?”
“Is this stuff scary to you?”
Cassian put his hand on hers.
“Yeah,” he said, “really fucking scary. We’re gonna be okay, though.”
Tara rolled over to face him, their noses only inches apart.
“Promise?”
“I promise.”
She nodded, but the doubt didn’t leave her eyes.
----------------------------------------
“So Braun,” asked Keaton, “what’s your class?” Warm morning light filled the first floor of The Battered Bale, where a dozen customers were already getting their breakfast. The party sat at the bar devouring the fish, roasted potatoes, and eggs the barkeep had served them. Braun laughed in response to the question.
“I don’t have a class, I have Professions,” he said, “only really extraordinary people attain class levels.
“What’s the difference?” asked Kit through a mouthful of steaming potatoes.
“Professions are work skills,” Braun explained, “things like tailoring, blacksmithing, or alchemy. They’re more about day to day life, where classes are more geared toward adventuring. Take this, for example.” Braun picked up Cassian’s mug of coffee from the bar.
“I can smash this mug and expend a little bit of stamina to put it back together.” The barkeep let go of the mug and stepped away as the glass exploded across the floor. Extending his hand over the broken mug, shards of glass began to magnetize to his hand. In just a moment, the mug, along with the coffee within it, was back to normal in his palm.
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“Woah,” said Cassian, “how do you get a Profession?”
“Generally, you can buy a manual from someone to get started,” explained Braun, “Once someone reaches a high enough level in their Profession, they’ll get a skill allowing them to create a manual. For instance, I could create one for Bartending, but not for my other Professions.”
“Okay, so how many Professions can you have?” asked Tara.
“Three,” Braun answered, “the same as classes.”
The four friends shot glances at each other.
“Sorry, three classes?” asked Keaton.
“Yeah,” Braun knitted his eyebrows together in confusion, “you don’t know about multiclassing?”
Cassian shook his head. “No, we’re kind of… new. How does it work?”
Braun took a large sip of his own coffee. “Okay,” he started, “listen up. Your first class determines your growth path.” He looked at Keaton. “A cleric will always, at his core, be a cleric. No matter what classes he chooses later. Your second class augments your first choice, and your third augments your second. Following so far?”
Braun continued after getting nods from the party. “If a fighter multiclasses into wizard, the abilities he gains would be different from a monk who classed into wizard. Each new class turns you into something completely unique. You should be thinking about what classes you want to take later on and assign some points accordingly. You don’t want to class into warlock and have no mana, for instance.”
Cassian’s head spun with possibilities. “So at what level do we get new classes?” he asked.
“Level twenty-five will get you your first new class,” Braun answered. “After that, level seventy-five. Those levels come with very potent spikes in your class abilities, so be wary of enemies past those thresholds. Levels twenty-four and twenty-five can be worlds apart.”
Cassian nodded. “Okay,” he said, “how do you know so much about class levels if you don’t have any?”
The big man huffed. “Some people aren’t cut out for adventuring. Doesn’t stop us from trying.”
“Well,” said Tara, “we really appreciate the info. Speaking of Professions, where could we find someone to repair our gear?” She gestured to Cassian’s ripped clothing.
“Gunnar can help you with the cloth and leather stuff,” said Braun, “he’s over at the tailor a few buildings down. Metal, you should take to Erik. He’s around the corner at his forge about now.”
Cassian stood and finished his coffee. “Thanks a ton, Braun. We gotta run for now.”
The rest of the party said their goodbyes and stepped into the fresh sea air. Cassian took a deep breath, basking in the warm morning sun. He felt rejuvenated. Like he could do anything.
“So,” he said to the group, “Tara and I will run down to Gunnar’s, do you two want to stop by the smith to get your stuff taken care of?”
Kit nodded. “Yeah,” he said, “I was thinking about picking up a manual for blacksmithing. It’ll help keep our equipment in order.”
“That’s a good idea,” agreed Cassian, “one of us will do the same for leather or cloth.”
The group split as Cassian and Tara made their way down the street leisurely. Hand in hand, they approached the tailor, noted only by a simple wooden sign hanging from the front with a wood-burned image of a needle and thread. As they entered, the smell of rich, earthy leather filled the room. A few cloth and wire mannequins were scattered about the room in different poses, showing off various items for sale. The walls were lined with bolts of fabric and rolls of leather. A low counter held all of the tools for leatherworking and sewing. Behind the counter was a stout man with large, thick glasses and wild hair that stuck out in every direction. A massive beard, braided tight and well kept, hid the bottom half of the dwarf’s face. He wore a deep blue tunic stained with grease and discolored from working with dyes.
“Hullo!” shouted Gunnar.
Cassian started at the intense greeting but smiled back warmly. “Hello!”
Gunnar sized them both up. “Here for repairs, are we? See you got your pants ruined.”
“Yes,” Cassian said meekly. “Can you help?”
“Of course, of course.” The dwarf waved them forward and put a hand on his chin.
“Easy fix,” he said. “Ten shards and I’ll patch it right up.”
“Sure,” said Cassian, “could you maybe make me a manual for this?”
Gunnar nodded. “Certainly. It’ll run you 100 shards to get the manual and starting gear.”
“Damn,” Cassian muttered, turning to Tara. “Do we have that? I’ve got thirty after this.”
“I’ve got seventy,” Tara said. “It’ll be everything, but yeah.”
110 shards and fifteen minutes later, the pair walked out of the shop with a sleek blue leather book. They took their time meandering back toward The Battered Bale, occasionally stopping to look into other stores or talk to strangers. After a few minutes, they found themselves back in front of the tavern. Keaton and Kit sat on a bench in the plaza, waving the couple over to their position near the well.
“Hey,” said Cassian, gesturing to the dusty book in Kit’s hands, “is that the manual for armoring?”
Kit nodded. “Yeah, it covers medium and heavy armors. Erik said the one you get from Gunnar would be for cloth and light armor.”
“Have you used it yet?” asked Tara.
Keaton shook his head. “We were waiting for you guys.” He nudged Cassian with his elbow. “Go on, read it,” he said.
Cassian flipped open the book. As the pages spread, a flash of light erupted from the paper, blinding the four of them.
Profession Gained!
Light Armorer (Trainee)
This Profession allows you to craft, modify, and repair Cloth Armor and Light Armor. Increasing ranks allows for higher quality work. Trainees can only Repair gear. Crafting unlocked at Novice.
Skill Gained!
Repair
Repair allows the user to expend Stamina to undo damage to a valid object. Valid objects are determined by the user’s Professions. Efficiency increases based on Profession Rank. Certain objects will require raw materials to repair.
Huh, thought Cassian, I expected more. Didn’t Gunnar say it would include the materials? With a thought, Cassian opened his inventory. Inside were a few new objects, which he quickly Identified.
Trainee’s Needle and Thread
Trainee’s Leatherworking tools
Bolt of Fabric (Common) x20
Prey Hide (Common) x20
“Okay, that’s more like it,” he said. He turned to the others and brought out the items. “Looks like for now I can only repair, but it did give me some stuff to get started when I’m able to-” There was a flash of light as Kit opened his crafting book.
“Sorry,” he said sheepishly.
Cassian laughed. “That’s fine. What did you get?”
“Same thing as you, it looks like. The materials are different and I have something called a Pocket Forge. Let’s see.” Kit jumped backwards as a miniature forge materialized and smashed into the stone beneath him. “Oh shit! My bad,” he said, pulling it back into his inventory.
“Jesus, man, watch where you put that thing,” Cassian laughed. Gathering himself, he continued. “Okay, so we’ve got a couple of Professions to keep our gear up, where to next?”
Keaton shrugged. “We could just head north. Erik mentioned a bigger city about a week’s walk from here.”
“What’s it called?” Cassian asked.
“Sivis. Apparently a couple of guilds have stations there, so we might be able to pick up some quests.”
Tara looked to the sky. “It’s what, just before noon? We can get a move on now if we’re quick.”
Cassian nodded. “Okay,” he said, “Sivis it is.”