The system seemed to give rewards for achievements that matched the theme of the achievement and as good as being able to fall or tumble was, he didn’t want to be the acrobat king… or whatever… he should seek out achievements that would lead him towards some large goal …. What goal did he really want?
Most of all, he didn’t want to ever feel like a decaying mind trapped in a rotting shell ever again… and after that...
Andrew reflected back on how alive he felt when he was running but more than that, he loved how just being “baseline human” made him feel more than human. He wanted to push that feeling, He yearned for the visceral feeling being a wolf or a tiger or a falcon, a whirlwind of claws and fangs tearing into his prey. He didn’t want to have a sword or spear, he wanted to tear his prey apart with his bare hands. He wanted teeth like a feral cat, the speed of a deer and the strength of a bear.
There are so many amazing adaptations in nature and he wanted to steal them all for himself. Better, monsters… they might be able to breath fire and a thousand other things…
But Andrew knew he would have to start somewhere. He could easily imagine a dozen ways to earn achievements for falling but had not a single idea on how to get an achievement that would turn his hands into claws or that would allow him to steal or mimic a monster’s adaptations.
It was time for him to use the adaptation that made humanity so successful in the first place… language.
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Andrew had walked through town and found the natives to be… well… not very helpful. He had tried talking with them and other than discovering that he could get a free weapon, meal and night in the inn he hadn’t learned much. Observing the earth natives running around he figured that they probably had gathered the information he needed. That is how he found himself sitting in a sad bar eavesdropping on other people’s conversations, he would like to think that he was just trying to find the right conversation to ask to be invited into… but the system obviously through he was eavesdropping...
Achievement get: Eavesdropper
Description: Listing in on conversations not meant for you.
Stat: +1 Hearing in noisy situations
Stat: +1 to Mental Processing in noisy situations
The bar was full of people like him who sat around in tight little clusters talking excitedly. Most were talking about random perks, skills or achievements they had found. Most didn’t seem to have much direction or had thought through why they were trying to get the achievements they were getting and where it may lead them. Most were dead focused on discussing how to get ANY achievement rather than following some path towards a goal.
The voices at one table stood out to Andrew, the two young women at the table weren’t comparing achievements they had obtained or prattling on about their situation, they were excitedly discussing how they might go about getting specific abilities, specifically those associated with boomerangs and… song fighting?
The thicker young lady with the long black hair had a sword slung over her shoulder and the tall redhead with the short hair had... a bent sword… maybe it was a boomerang? Andrew hadn’t seen a metal boomerang before… except… wasn’t there one in that one postie movie? Based on how they were brainstorming different boomerang related achievements it was defiantly a boomerang.
Andrew approached the two ladies and smiled politely as he waved to get their attention “Hello, I couldn’t help but overhear you talk about brainstorming how to get achievements? Would you mind if I joined in?”
Bethany: “Hey, I’m Bethany the Boomerang Babe, or Bee to my friends and this is Naomi the sword singer” She tilted her head towards her friend and shrugged.” “The titles are a work in progress and in no way a reflection of our actual outlook, abilities or talent…. I’m the beauty and Naomi is the personality.” The tall women energetically said as she gestured to her obviously far more shy friend.
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Bethany: “Lay it on us, list three ways you would get amazing boomerang achievements… other than throwing it at things further and further away… GO!”
Andrew: “Have you tried throwing two at once?”
Bethany: “Very Naruto, its probably called Boomerang Shadow or mirror or something… I’ll allow it… number two GO!”
Andrew: “Why don’t you try throwing your boomerang and catching it in mid air without touching the ground? Or with your eyes closed?”
Bethany froze as she processed his words and then grinned “Or all three at once! That would be amazing! Ok… fine… you can sit at the cool kids table… for now…” she said with an overly exaggerated wink.
Naomi spoke gently as he sat down “What kind of achievements are you looking for?”
Andrew: “I’m trying to steal monster adaptations”
“That’s cool” Bethany gestured at Naomi “Naomi here is big into table top games, board games, dungeons and dragons… that kinda stuff… I’m in love with anime and vidjia games… So like… you want to sew monster bits onto yourself or…” She could tell the answer from the immediate scowl that must of bloomed on my face.
“So…” Naoimi started timidly “more like a blue mage… like Gau or Strago Magus or an E. kills materia?”
The unfamiliar terms took Andrew a step back and obvious confusion clouded his features. “What is a Gau?”
Naomi smiled like she was talking to a young child. Andrew suppressed a shudder, it was too close the nurses had given him when he realized he couldn’t… well anything. She went on unaware of the effect her look had had “He was a character in Final Fantasy Six! He was a child raised by monsters that could copy their behaviors. Strago was kind of the same, he could use powers that were used on him. Blue mages are people who learn a huge list of spells from monsters.” Her eyes started to shine with fervent interest in the topic and her voice become less timid and quicker and more animated as she went along.
Andrew: “I’m not sure I need an exhaustive collection of spells. I would rather have a small list of useful abilities. How should I go about getting achievements that rewarded those kind of rewards?””
Bethany: “The type of weapon you use when you slay your first monster seems to determine the ability you gain… at least for killing the first few monsters. It seems to get harder to earn abilities over time.
Andrew: “I’ll need to put some thought into that.”
Naomi: “Sometimes in cultivation stories you can sometimes get a monster’s essence to learn its powers? I don’t know how you would go about stealing it but maybe the quest system can help you out.” She quickly went over the quest interface, how it worked and the fact it could only be used once a week.
Andrew: "Essence what is that?”
Naimi: “Oh, its the fundamental essence of what makes up a thing. Like atoms, if scorpion or wolf were elements. I don’t know if essence is a thing here or not.”
Well that gave him something to think over. “What are you reaching for Naomi?”
Naomi: “I want to be able to transmit a sword slash through the medium of my voice.”
Andrew: “Are you equally good at swordsmanship and singing?”
Bethany tried and failed to suppress a snort at Andrew’s question and Naomi’s shoulders slumped and she hid her face in her hands.
Bethany: “She is a wonderful singer! She even gained an ability for singing while trying to sing and slay a monster with that over-sized steel toothpick of hers, but she trips over her feet before she gets to the monster.”
Naomi: “It’s hard to focus on multiple things at once, alright?” long suffering look.
Andrew reflected on his old classes and half remembered instructions. “So you need to work on your footwork and distance from your opponent?”
Naomi brightened “is that what it’s called? How should I go about getting a footwork achievement?”
Andrew couldn’t believe she had never heard of footwork. “Yeah… perhaps try doing 100 practice thrusts where you lunge forward and then return to your starting position?”
A determined look lit up in Naomi’s eyes.
Andrew: “Thank you for the chat… I’ve got some work to do… thanks.”
Bethany: “Any time, don’t be a stranger.” said with her characteristic energy and Naimi gave him a little wave goodbye.
Achievement get: The power of planning and friendship
Description: Strategize your build with a friend.
Stat: Mental Processing +1
Achievement get: Circle of planning and friendship
Description: Strategize your build with a group of friends.
Stat: Mental Processing +1
Bethany: Well if the system thinks we're friends I guess you can call me Bee then."
Andrew, Bethany and Naomi all looked at each-other and laughed before the one group became two once again.