Tav looked around the Exit Glade. It didn't look like anyone had been here in a long time—no roads, no footpaths, no city noise. He considered the build strategy he'd planned before graduation, and wondered how long it took to starve to death.
Many people tried to include little bit of leeway when planning their builds: most class evolutions weren't particularly demanding with their requirements, and unless someone had spent ranks on a special unlock or earned some miracle achievement—Tav wasn't lucky enough for either—then most builds could spare a skill slot here and there. Furthermore, it was good to be able to adapt to the demands of one's party and the circumstances of one's life. To this end, the Academy offered classes to sub-rank their students in as many skills as possible. A little bit of training provided a "hook" for the System to latch on to, letting a student spend the points later to earn an actual, System-empowered rank. Many of the Academy's detractors, and even some who attended, argued that sub-ranking courses were an expensive waste of time. Tav had taken them anyway. He wasn't going to win any merits for power, so he'd decided to take the advantage in flexibility.
Whatever had happened to Tav's system had sped him up, improving his skills above and beyond what he'd planned for. His next class evolution would be [Blade Flurry], and he only needed another rank in [Edged Weapons] to qualify—he could take that rank at level 19. In the meantime, he was stuck in the middle of a foreign wilderness. And since he couldn't gain any more levels until he'd assigned all his points, Tav needed to use his free skill rank on something as soon as he could.
He scrolled through the list, knowing what he wanted: Wilderness Survival. It wasn't a high-priority skill for most, although a few endurance delvers swore by its benefits on floors like the Third and Eighth. Tav had never thought he'd be this far away from home, from a paved road and a hot meal.
No telling when he would find a hot meal. No telling if a barbaric kingdom like Karmere even had paved roads. He selected the skill.
Skill rank applied: Wilderness Survival! This Utility skill allows you to gather food, find potable water, and navigate in the wilderness! New Skill Rank: Iron!
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There. That should keep him from a drawn-out, humiliating death. However, there was one more thing: Tav was unarmed. He'd left his weapons behind for graduation, thinking they'd be unnecessary and not wanting to embarass himself with hand-me-downs in front of people like the Aureates. Tav's new Wilderness Survival skill wasn't enough to let him do much—if he wanted to knap a stone knife, he'd need it much higher. Luckily, Tav had focused his early skill ranks on the "Flurry" rather than the "Blade" part of [Blade Flurry], and whatever weird upgrade the system had given him had bumped his [Dual Wielding] skill up to Gold, even past his cap.
Dual Wielding (Gold)
Fighting Style
Combat parameters are greatly increased while wielding two similar weapons!
Tav let Wilderness Survival guide him to a pair of fallen branches, straight and sturdy-looking. He would be better with a sharp edge than a blunt weapon, but he'd do all right with anything as long as he had two of them. "All right" would have to be enough, too. Wilderness Survival might be useful, but there was no way Tav would suffer the indignity of spending a rank on the Improvised Weapons skill. He picked up the branches, testing their weight and balance, and let his skills pull him along in the practiced forms, waiting for his new Gold upgrade to kick in and show him whatever new tricks he'd learned.
The branches writhed in his hands, twitching like two long and grasping fingers.
Tav paused mid-motion and the branches went still.
Part of him wanted to panic at the unnatural movement, but it was like a weight pressed down to smother his emotions. The System, keeping him calm, dulling his instinctual reaction. He swung again, slowly, and saw that his grip was as firm as ever—it was the rest of the weapon that wriggled so hideously.
Skill rectified, Tav thought. Extensible Weapon Reach. He took a third swing and watched the branch bend and stretch like it had briefly grown joints, and saw how the twisting branch would reach a little farther, a little less predictably, than it could have on its own. "Slightly improved reach," the skill had said. Hardly a comprehensive description.
Tav shook himself. It was a benefit. It might look unsettling, but it was a gift to thank the system for. Right now he had other things to worry about. "I want to find civilization," Tav said aloud, focusing on his Wilderness Survival skill and feeling the burn of System inspiration in him. He let it tug him onward into the forest, hoping it would lead him back home.