After giving it some thought, I soon came to the conclusion that I have no real reason not to go ahead and upgrade my two maxed out General Skills to the second Tier. While I am still unsure just how rare the Tier 2 General Points are to come by, even if I only ever get these six, which I think is highly unlikely to be true anyways, I still think that [Light Of Justice] and [Brawling] are worth the investment. [Light Of Justice] has saved my life many times, both in terms of defeating my enemies and closing wounds that would've probably caused me to bleed out and die, even if that secondary effect is just a byproduct of the (Holy) aspect of the Skill injuring me. As for [Brawling], my Skills so far have mainly had restrictions based on touch or only being applicable to my body and not items, and other than [Axe Handling], pretty much all of my other combat Skills work well with unarmed combat. While it is hard to tell what exactly [Brawling] has done for me specifically in regards to helping me win fights, I have a theory that it has been helping me gain some combat instincts that I shouldn't really have with only a couple of days of fighting experience. I mean, I've gone from the gal who rushed headlong towards her opponent whilst being pelted to rocks to someone who can dodge sweeping attacks from tree monsters and use that opportunity to sever the limb in a short period of time. Granted, I'm no warrior savant, I just think it neat that I can even think of making such a counterattack in the heat of the moment like that, as I'm sure I would probably just freeze in place if I got into a sudden life or death struggle like that back on Earth. If I am being completely honest though, the main reason I came to the decision to use one of my Tier 2 General Points on [Brawling] is because I find the idea of being able to protect myself no matter what my situation is, as I should at least have my arms, legs, and tails on me at all times unlike a weapon. At least, hopefully I do; but with my track record, I'm not betting against me losing another limb sometime soon.
With that settled, I first bring up the description for [Light Of Justice], and at its prompting, I use one of my six Tier 2 General Points to bring it up to Level 21, and more importantly, the second tier.
[Light Of Justice]:
Allows the user to imbue themselves with (Holy) (Light) to strike down those who would bring about injustice under the name of the goddess Iusti. This is a Skill under the (Holy) and (Light) Categories.
2nd Tier Effect:
The user can now condense the light down into a solid form, allowing for the creation of simple magical constructs bound to the user that can interact physically with the world, such as pieces of armor to defend against attacks or makeshift weapons that can be made in moments.
Not content with just reading about the Skill, I immediately begin concentrating on activating it, wanting to know its capabilities right away. At first, the usual golden light begins to cover my left fist as the Skill activates, but as I picture what I want to happen, the glowing ball of light begins to stretch across my hand. In a few seconds, the amorphous orb transforms into a coating of a glowing, translucent gold material that looks similar to glass in texture in the shape of a simplistic gauntlet. Other than the change in shape, I notice three things of import as I move my arm around, inspecting the piece of magic apparel. First, and most apparent, is that the burning pain that has been lessening recently due to increases in [Holy Affinity] returns in force, and even more so, as the solid light forms around my upper forearm. Since the 2nd Tier effect condenses the Skill down into a more focused form, that means that the golden gauntlet is also imbued with much more of the (Holy) Category in one area than the usually dispersed form of the glowing ball of light. The direct skin contact doesn't seem to help either, but that might be able to be resolved eventually due to my second observation.
While I was constructing the makeshift gauntlet, I tried to cover as much of my arm as possible with the solid light, but I only managed to cover up to my elbow in the armor, and trying to focus on expanding further yields no changes. It was as I messed around with attempting to alter the shape that I discovered that I could manipulate the solid light up to a couple inches from my skin without any physical contact. This, in turn, allows me to make it so that the gauntlet stays over my arm, but I keep direct contact with my skin away by having the construct of light stay just over the skin, hovering in the air slightly. The pain lessens immediately once I do this, but unfortunately isn't removed completely. This has to do with my last observation, the amount of illumination coming from the glass-like solid light. When I first activated [Light Of Justice], the orb of light was as bright as an uncovered lamp, giving slightly more illumination in the already lit room. But now, the panes of magic light emit a glow almost as bright as a dim flashlight, barely noticeable in the illuminated room, although still enough there for the rays to singe away at my flesh anyways.
As I deactivate the Skill to inspect the damage done to my left arm, one particular area stands out compared to the dark patch brought about by the Holy light all around it. At my wrist, a band of grass lies undamaged, and as it shifts slightly from moving my arm, a line of crimson skin can be seen from beneath. I quickly move the Vigorous Grass Bracelet to my other arm and see that the skin under the object has only been slightly burned by the half a minute I kept [Light Of Justice] active. This gives me an idea, and so I take the rest of the salvageable scraps from what used to be my clothes and wind them around my hands to make simple handwraps. Next, I activate [Light Of Justice] once more, this time on my uninjured right arm, but this time I create a sort of fingerless glove right over the area covered in cloth. Seconds tick by, with only an uncomfortable warmth on my hand to show for, and soon a grin comes to me unbidden.
Turning the Skill off once more, I unwrap the hand to see skin with hardly any sign of burn on it. If I wasn't specifically looking for any blemishes, I wouldn't have even noticed the miniscule darkening in the shade. At this discovery, I thrust my arms up into the air in triumph, as I had now overcome one of my shortcomings at last. Yes, I still took some damage through the cloth, but the amount is so tiny that it basically doesn't even matter. The only problem with my discovery that I can reduce the amount of self-inflicted pain by generating planes of solidified [Light Of Justice] over clothing is that… I am now severely lacking in the clothing department.
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With a sigh, I try not to think of that by moving on to the last part of the Skill’s description that might also be extremely useful. Focusing on [Light Of Justice] for the third time, instead of a ball of light or piece of armor, I focus on creating an object in the palm of my hand. At first I try to use the hovering glass-light trick to limit physical contact, but that proves to be too difficult, or just outright impossible at the moment, as right when I finish shaping a handle, the solidified light becomes unstable and the Skill disperses. It seems that for this task, I need to maintain physical contact the whole time.
Trying once again, I focus on the object I am trying to mimic one step at a time. First comes the handle, slightly longer than the original due to the increase in size my hands have gotten. Then, I focus on the head of the weapon, and soon enough, a simple handaxe, identical to the one currently lying in the room where the pixie resided in all ways but size, materializes in my grip with a burning sensation around my fingertips currently uncovered due to lack of cloth. Swinging the axe around, I find that it fits my grip perfectly, and has a complete lack of weight to me. I practice attacking imaginary enemies around me, slashing and cutting with the summoned weapon, before ending the string of attacks by throwing the weapon at a wall on the other end of the room. As it spins across the room, cracks start to appear along its surface the further away from me it reaches, before finally shattering into shards of light that disperse into the air as soon as it strikes the stone wall of the Dungeon a couple dozen feet or so away from me. Not discouraged by the sight in the least, I just reform the weapon in just a couple seconds, swinging one last time whilst attempting to activate a Skill at the same time. [Power Slash] sends out a small gust of air in front of where I make the faux attack, and with that, I end my impromptu practice session.
Letting [Light Of Justice] deactivate again, the constructed handaxe disperses in motes of light in moments, and I am left there breathing heavily from the exertion. Usually swinging around an axe for a couple minutes shouldn't leave me this winded, as my high Recovery has kept me going strong in all but a couple of my fights so far, but it seems that the weapon construction aspect of my Skill takes a heavy toll from me, more specifically my Mana reserves. The whole time I was swinging the golden axe, I felt the tingling sensation I correlate to Mana moving through my body flowing at a rate I haven't managed to accomplish with any of my other Skills so far, and by a long shot. If I had to represent the feeling, activating the base state of [Light Of Justice] in the form of the glowing ball of light feels like the Mana is slowly pouring out like a glass of water, whilst maintaining the gauntlet feels like letting a faucet flow freely. With maintaining the axe however, it feels as though my Mana flows out of me in a deluge similar to a small creek meandering along a riverbank. I don't know why there is such an exponential growth in the rate my Mana is consumed by the Skill, but I can figure that out later. For now, I can bring out weapons when needed, while sticking with the barehanded combat I have been planning to do anyways.
Having fully spent my intrigue for [Light Of Justice]’s changes now, I finally move to the second General Skill I plan to improve, though I doubt the change will be nearly as drastic as the change to my Goddess-given Skill.
[Brawling]:
Gives the user slightly improved combat ability while unarmed.
Tier 2:
Further improves the combat enhancement in unarmed combat, whilst also giving the user better instincts to avoid incoming sucker punches and sneak attacks.
While I guessed correctly, I still hoped that I would be surprised by a grandiose improvement, but the only surprise coming to me is that I will now be less susceptible to surprises themself. With a sigh of slight disappointment, I move on to the last order of business before I head further into the Dungeon. Yes, I originally intended to retreat, but now that my arm is back and I'm feeling better than ever, there is no reason to delay than the 18 sitting in my Status, waiting to be used. Bringing up my Stats, I see that the only glaring weakness that needs to be addressed is the lack of Strength. Now that I will be getting at least some points in all my Stats with Levels, I don't need to worry about putting my free points into those dragging too far behind as much. In fact, with how much Endurance I get now, I am extremely tempted to dump all 18 of the points right into Strength. With how my Skill set has been developing, Strength has swiftly become more and more important as time has passed. If I had more in my fight with the Alpha, I might've been able to cut through his fur like the rest of his brethren, which would've certainly saved me a lot of grief. On the other hand, Magic Power is also important to improve due to the several Skills I use that are improved by it.
To help make up my mind, I pull up the descriptions on both Strength and Magic Power to refresh myself on what exactly they improve when increased.
(Strength):
The stat that determines how much power the user’s body can muster.
(Magic Power):
The stat that determines the rate at which the user can output mana as well as its quality.
Strength proves to be as self-explanatory as I remember, but reviewing the description for Magic Power increases my desire to improve it further. While it doesn't outright state that my Skills like [Light Of Justice] will do more damage outright, the implication behind an increase in “quality” means that having higher Magic Power might also improve my Skills in ways I don't immediately notice. At this realization, I go ahead and just evenly divide my 18 Stat Points into both Strength and Magic Power, raising them up to 45 and 56 respectively. With that done, I am now completely finished Evolving myself to the Second Tier, and am ready to venture further in to complete the Nature’s Reclaimed Mineshaft Dungeon.
I check my wraps and makeshift clothing, making sure they are secure and won't come loose by stretching my limbs. Making some adjustments, I shift my apparel in places to be snug, and make sure my cloth pouch is firmly secured on my leather belt. Glancing around the Safe Room, I make sure I am not forgetting anything I might need, and that last need makes itself known in the form of a grumbling sound originating from my stomach. I hadn't noticed until now, but I am quite hungry, either from exertion or due to the Evolution process. Either way, I need food. Luckily, there is plenty of meat waiting for me on the other side of a door, and Moss Wolves are very much a pleasing food to my new palette if my last meal is anything to go by. Walking over to the door leading to the shaded, underground forest, I open it cautiously and step into the darkness once more.