I felt like I was a new Leonid. Everything was better. I had bronze-rank senses for a while, but now my body was also bronze-rank and it was like fog had cleared. My movements were smoother and sharper. Everything was better. I also felt like I had finally cleared out the drug residue they had used.
I updated my Skill list.
Racial Evolutions
Speed - Use Skill Books.
Recovery - Hunters Pack Spatial Storage
Power - Bonus to the Spirit Attribute
Sharpen [Speed attribute] Bronze 1
* Razor Sharp. Bronze 1
* Iron rank: Sharpens any cutting or piercing object to a razor edge. Bonus penetration and cutting through material up to Iron Rank. Cost mana, Varies.
* Bronze Rank: Bonus cutting or penetrating up to Bronze rank. Reduced mana cost for items below the current rank. Gain Instances of Durable Edge.
Durable Edge: one Instance gained for one bronze level, ten iron level or a hundred normal ranked items. Instances may accumulate up to a limit determined by the Spirit Attribute. Instances applied to an item increase the durability of the edge depending on the object and the number of instances applied.
* Resistant Fur {Hair Stone} Bronze 1
* Iron Rank: Fur becomes resistant to cutting and piercing.
* Bronze Rank: Actively reinforce parts of my fur against cutting and piercing for a Mana/sec/cm² cost. Resistances to other effects can be gained and increased with exposure.
Resistances: Mana Drain - Slight
* Pierce {Hand stone} Special Attack Bronze 1
* Iron Rank: Use melee weapons in a piercing strike to penetrate, especially through armour.
* Bronze Rank: can be used in ranged attacks.
* Quick Sharp {Flick Stone} Bronze 1
* Iron Rank: Boost movement speed for high mana/sec cost.
* Bronze Rank: Increased Boost bonus. Sharp items move even faster.
* Cutting Web {Web stone} Bronze 1
* Iron Rank: Produce strands of thin, sharp web. This is hard to see, but it has iron-rank strength. Designed for cutting. Low Mana
* Bronze Rank: Produce strands in medium-sized web patterns and braids. Webs can be produced over conjured items.
Hunt [Spirit attribute] Bronze 1
* Senses of the Hunter [Perception]. Bronze 1
* Iron Rank: Improves Sight, Smell and Hearing senses.
* Bronze Rank: Boosts all three senses and can sniff out magic
* Hunter’s Step {Foot stone} Bronze 1
* Iron Rank: Move swiftly, lightly and quietly through the terrain. Muffles movement noise. Cost low mana/sec.
* Bronze Rank: Reduces mana cost, increases dimension steps and increases muffling. Enables moving across the water and unstable areas without disturbing the terrain at a mana/sec cost. Vertical surfaces may be used as steps for mana/sec cost.
* Hunters Feast {Feast Stone} Bronze 1
* Iron Rank: Consume what you kill or harvest to replenish health, mana and Stamina.
* Bronze Rank: Feast may add other short-term benefits depending on what was consumed. Duration depends on the amount consumed.
* Blend {Chameleon Stone} Bronze 1
* Iron Rank: Changes skin and fur to blend in with surroundings. Changes are slow, restricting movement. Low mana/sec
* Bronze Rank: Changes smell and body heat and other clues to blend into surroundings. Fast walking speed movement. Mana cost rises as more changes are needed.
* Hunters Tether {Trap Stone} Bronze 1
* Iron Rank: Create a rod that sends out tethers, restricting movement and stopping stealth. The tether rod binds enemies, dragging them to the centre, and explodes if destroyed.
* Bronze Rank: It inflicts the Inescapable effect, stopping teleportation and escape skills.
Plant [Recovery] Bronze 1
* Blood Root Vine Summons - Ardisia Bronze 1
* Iron Rank: Summon a Blood Root vine. Resides in the skin may produce thorns from the skin. When it manifests, it entraps with piercing and bleeding effects. Feeds on blood to heal. It can move through the ground as roots emerge and entrap. It can’t move through non-earth or non-plant material.
* Bronze Rank: Larger and moves at a faster pace, can float on water. Add grapple attack from skin or manifest. Adds Neurotoxin attack to subdue and slow and attack the respiratory system.
* Tranquil Garden {Divine Stone of Peace} Bronze 1
* Iron Rank: A small garden in a dimensional pocket. Increased growth rate. Summons can enter and heal.
* Bronze Rank: Larger garden with faster growth, pond for water plants, and a cave for subterranean plants. Day-night cycle.
* Shield {wood stone} Bronze 1
* Iron Rank: Create solid wooden shields of various sizes at the current Rank.
* Bronze Rank: Shields can be manipulated to create different shapes, including spikes and cutting edges. Creates a Shield wall. Size depends on the mana used.
* Resin {Pine Sap Stone} Bronze 1
* Iron Rank: Create and manipulate a sticky resin that hardens over time. Hardening can be sped up or slowed to a small degree. Hardening control improves with level, as does volume and manipulation. Manipulation is more difficult the harder it is. Resistant to impact, water and corrosion, weak to heat and light.
* Bronze Rank: Resin can be formed directly into shapes. Temperature and hardness are vastly sped up. Resin can be produced over conjured material.
* Mighty Oak {Mighty Stone} Bronze 1
* Iron Rank: The power of the oak increases Strength - High Mana/sec
* Bronze Rank: The heart of the oak. Increase the hardness of your body. High Mana/sec.
Reaper [Power] Bronze 1
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* Reapers Aura Bronze 2
* Iron Rank: Increases allies' Spirit attribute in aura range, Increasing perception and judgment. Helps keep a calm mind.
* Bronze Rank: Reduces the Spirit attribute of enemies in aura range, reducing perception and judgment of enemies.
* Devourer Rat Summons (Kai) {feast stone} Bronze 1
* Iron Rank: Summon four devourer rats. Chew and claw through any material of the same rank or less given time. Absorbed in summoners' claws and teeth, strengthening them. And enabling them to boost them up a level. They can breed to replenish numbers over time.
* Bronze Rank: Nine rats - They can attack the incorporeal. They have a chance to get small permanent boosts from what they eat. Each rat can only have one boost. They lose the effect on death.
* Rend {Claw Stone} Special Attack Bronze 1
* Iron Rank: Use claws to rip open things. Claws reach beyond the physical to rend the incorporeal.
* Bronze Rank: Use claws to rip open things of equal rank or lower. Adds Bleeding effect. Rend extends beyond the physical claws an increasing amount, causing greater damage. Extended range costs mana.
* Reaping Magic {Reaping Stone} Bronze 1
* Iron Rank: Collect the magic from recently killed monsters to form relevant natural objects. Magic will dissipate quickly. The amount collected depends on the Level and Spirit Attribute.
* Bronze Rank: You can form a wider range of objects. You may also create crafted objects if you have knowledge of the craft; they must relate to the monster. Magic dissipates slower.
* Reaping Power {Preparation Stone} Bronze 1
* Iron Rank: Damage caused by using weapons created or enhanced by a Skill creates the Blessing of the Reaper - Boon, Stacking up to a limit defined by Spirit attribute.
* Bronze Rank: Increased Blessings. Blessings may be transferred to another to increase their next skill
Blessing of the Reaper -
* Syphons a small amount of health from the one damaged to create instances of the blessing. Bestow the blessings on a skill to increase its power, proportional to the instances used.
When I checked each skill to update the list, the first thing I felt was that my Aura was already bronze 2.
Today, I was going out to explore the area. I will revisit the Smelly A’s tomorrow. Today, I need to get outside and test what I can do. I am going to need bronze-rank weapons soon as well. I had a craftsman lined up in Vitesse to make some, but that isn’t going to happen now.
I searched through my pack, and I found two bronze knives: a Troll Bone Knife and a Poison Fang knife. Maybe I should have got the spearhead from the bird boar. Never mind, it is too late now.
I checked how much of my armour had been finished, and I only had some bracers and greaves in bronze resin with the sand alchemical mixture. I will see what I can make later to tie me over, but one thing I do not want to do is hinder Ardisia. Her vines are amazing.
I climbed out of the hole. I always took my arch everywhere because I never knew if I might be unexpectedly abducted.
Everything looked peaceful and unchanged. It also looked, smelled, and sounded new, like it was the first time I had seen it. The physical body moving to bronze makes a big difference.
It makes a difference in moving, too, and Blend is amazing. Yes, it will hide farts, but it does cost extra mana.
Moving with Savage Stalker was a new experience with a bronze body. It was easier, and I could keep track of the multiple things necessary and keep my new aura technique up at the same time. The extra brain capacity was the best thing. Multi-tasking was much, much easier. I was like a renewed Leonid.
The day was clear, with just a few clouds high in the sky. From the top of the hill, my eyes could see clearly forever, or so it seemed. I did see a town or village in one direction. There was a wisp of smoke and regular lines, which were probably fields. There was a speck of something in the sky. It could have been a bird. It could have been Moon Girl. I couldn’t tell.
I looked carefully in other directions and didn’t see any other sign of civilisation. I took note of key landmarks. The town was to the north. There were some mountains to the west and a large body of water to the northwest. I couldn’t tell if it was a large lake or the sea. To the east were rolling hills in scattered forests.
It was hot, and I assume we are near the equator. I didn’t know which part of the world I was in until I talked to someone. It looked like a tropical forest, as I had in my Wilderness Awareness Course, but it was not a dense forest, or at least not here.
I set off to explore my nearby area. The river I found flowed in the direction of the large body of water, indicating it might be the ocean.
There was plenty of normal wildlife around. With my new senses, I could even spot the hiding predators. I didn’t find any monsters, but that was fine.
There were not many signs of the route we were travelling on in the hover vehicle. I found a few scraps of rubbish to indicate where they camped while they were looking for me. I worked out that we were travelling south, away from the body of water. It seems like they turned around and went back north after. Are they now based in the town I can see? If I head south, will I walk into their home territory? Maybe I will head west to the mountains. That is a good landmark. Or east, away from the mountains?
I don’t have to decide yet. I have food and shelter, and the longer I leave it, the more frustrated they will get. Hopefully, they will write me off as dead. That might be wishful thinking. If they employ a dedicated tracker or someone with treasure-hunting / finder skills, they will find me. The key is to be on the move to avoid them.
I will get on the move in a few days. First, I want to test my new Aura skills on the Smelly A’s.
I had a really enjoyable day, and I think Kai and Ardisia did as well. I levelled up. I still couldn't take on a silver-ranked person, let alone three, but I was closer.
I didn’t know where I was, but it was a beautiful part of the world.
I spent some time taking stock of what I had. I was pretty annoyed I didn’t have any bronze-ranked spears or axes. I did have two knives, a spade and a pickaxe. I sat in the sun, pulled out the troll leather, and quickly made two proper bronze-ranked whips, one longer bullwhip and a shorter multi-pronged whip. The new Cutting Web was fantastic. A fully bronze-ranked net didn’t take long, and it was larger than any other I had.
I made a number of small shields that I sharpened and coated in Resin to make a flying disc. I remember the first fight I had in Vitesse against the muggers, and throwing sharpened discs was a good move. I made a good number and stored them away.
I no longer had my belts with the hooks and wooded access to my Hunters pack, and I would need something. I had the troll leather, made a basic belt, and tied a small wooden shield to it that I could use to access my Pack quickly. It was larger than the previous one, as I needed to get the discs out. It would make do for now. I made some simple sheaths for the knives and added them to the belt as well.
I had some iron-rank javelins and my iron-rank weapons, which I could use, and sharpen to bronze. They were just weaker and liable to break.
I had my alchemy set and a supply of sand and various ingredients, but that would have to wait.
Ardisia, Kai and I sat on the side of the hill and watched the sunset over the mountains.
Today was a good day.