I pull up my status screen as soon as the coin melts away.
Name: Kira Uhrmacher
Level: 5
Race: Human
Affinity: Time
HP: 24/24
Mana: 9/54
Time: 0/51
Stats:
Unassigned Points: 2
[Rare] [Obol] Points: 2
STR 10
END 11
PER 14
INT 20
VIT 12
WIL 6
AGI 13
WIS 22
Titles: [N/A]
Traits: [Passed Down Through the Centuries], [Nothing But Time], [In a Split Second], [Badge of Participation]
Abilities:
Passive: [Weight of Time], [Split Second], [Horologist’s Hands]
Active: [Unbound Eyes of Time], [Extended Moment of Clarity], [Improved Mana Manipulation]
Skills: [Restorative Meditation], [Analysis],
[Novice Archery] (New)
The System keeps track of where my points came from. Presumably because there is a cap to how high I can raise my stats with Obols. Or is it certain types of Obols? I narrow my eyes at the [Rare] designation. If the System bothers to record that information, then different rarities of Obols most likely have different caps. My stats are all over the place, but doesn’t that mean it would be a waste to use the [Rare] points on raising my willpower when [Common] points would do the trick?
Assuming I had a [Common] Obol. And that the cap for [Common] points isn’t below 6. Which, considering what I’ve had to deal with from the System so far, isn’t a sure thing.
Do I even want to raise my willpower? Eventually, of course, but having four points to spend doesn’t really lend itself to long term planning.
Lean into my strengths, or try and dump another shovel of dirt into a rapidly widening sinkhole?
I’ve tried being defensive. Actually, now that I think about it, in every fight I’ve had since this whole fucking thing started, I was always reacting. First turning away from the squirrel, then trying to calm down the fox, then running away from the waterbender, then running away again from the flower when I got my bearings the first time. If I had shot the flower the first time I woke up, Triss wouldn’t have had to stab herself, and I would have an extra healing potion right now. Hell, I might have even been able to avoid using up my [Split Second] ability if I had attacked the waterbender as soon as I realized something was up, when I was close to her, before she had a handle on me.
Playing passive clearly doesn’t work.
So, fuck that.
We’re going full glass cannon. For now, I have Triss to patch over my gaping willpower vulnerability. That might not be the case in an hour, but now that I know support classes - or support affinities? - exist, I don’t have to focus on being completely well-rounded.
Really? That’s your grand plan? Do you know how often the squishies die in video games?
Okay, yes, it might be a stupid plan, but… even if I had dumped every single stat point I’ve gotten so far into willpower, I would only have gotten it to 14. That seems to be slightly above average when compared to the values of my other stats. The rest of Triss’s party died, so I doubt that would have been enough to survive the flower, and I might not have even made it to this point without the increased mana and time I gained - which I’ve also been scraping the bottom of the barrel for in every fight.
It’s a losing battle, which might be the point. I glare at the blue box of my status screen but it doesn’t react to my frustration, if anything becoming a little brighter under the weight of my attention.
My abilities aren’t made for dumping all my points into willpower, either. My reaction speed under [Extended Moment of Clarity] is my strongest forte right now. I just need to work on making using it my first thought, instead of escaping.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
My two Obol points to my highest stat, then. I get more bang for my buck with intelligence, due to [Horologist’s Hands] increasing my agility by a percentage of intelligence - which is actually an insanely good benefit now that it looks like stat points will be harder to come by. That’s where my other two points will go.
The conversion percentage for [Horologist’s Hands] seemed to be, what, 5%? Since it gave me 1 agility for my 20 intelligence… so maybe not insanely good, but better than nothing.
You have asked to assign [2] of your [Rare] [Obol] points to [WIS]. Confirm selection? [Y/N]?
You have asked to assign [2] of your unassigned stat points to [INT]. Confirm selection? [Y/N]?
‘Yes.’
I look over my status again.
Name: Kira Uhrmacher
Level: 5
Race: Human
Affinity: Time
HP: 24/24
Mana: 10/59
Time: 0/56
Stats:
STR 10
END 11
PER 14
INT 22
VIT 12
WIL 6
AGI 13
WIS 24
Titles: [N/A]
Traits: [Passed Down Through the Centuries], [Nothing But Time], [In a Split Second], [Badge of Participation]
Abilities:
Passive: [Weight of Time], [Split Second], [Horologist’s Hands]
Active: [Unbound Eyes of Time], [Extended Moment of Clarity], [Improved Mana Manipulation]
Skills: [Restorative Meditation], [Analysis],
[Novice Archery] (New)
Almost 60 mana now, a decent improvement from where I started. Also, I need to take a look at my archery skill. ‘Novice Archery.’
[Novice Archery] [Common] [Tier 1]: You have, somehow, successfully used a bow to wound what you were aiming at. You can only go upwards from here.
* This skill provides a slight bonus to aiming when using a bow and arrow.
That seems a touch snarky, but in this case it’s probably well deserved.
I have enough mana regenerated by now to store a little Time, so I quickly push out a pane of mana and collect some sand. I reabsorb it, by now more used to the feeling of cold moving underneath my skin, leaving me with enough to use [Extended Moment of Clarity] if I need to.
Putting away the mana potion into one of my pockets, my fingers brush against the waxy flesh of the throat-thing I collected from the waterbender. I instinctively shudder, then pause, considering. I pull it out and hold it up in the moonlight, trying to focus less on where it came from and more on what its purpose could be.
[Water-Attuned Aqua Lung] [Common]: A body part developed to use water mana to extract oxygen from water at high efficiencies.
* This particular specimen is from a [Human]
Huh. It makes sense, in a way. Wouldn’t want to be a water mage afraid of drowning. The description has no helpful hints about what it can be used for, however, so I return it to my pocket and pull out the core. It’s still slightly warm to the touch, and I roll it between my fingers as I analyze it.
[Water-Affinitied Mana Core] [Common]: A body part for tainting unaffiliated mana to be water-affinitied and storing water mana inside an organism.
I read through the short description a few times, trying to parse it out. The System calls it a core, too, but also a body part. I look back at the small blue marble in my hands. It doesn’t look organic, in the way the [Aqua Lung] does. The description also answers some of my curiosity about mana. The ‘core’ acts like an organ, continuously ‘tainting’ mana, aka mana regen.
Where it gets the unaffiliated mana to taint… that I’m not sure about. The first message I ever saw about the System mentioned ambient mana, so it could very well be in the air and I just can’t see it.
I end up slipping the core back into my pocket. Like the [Aqua Lung], it doesn’t mention if it can be used. The System might just be encouraging us all to start our own serial killer trophy collections, but I’ve always been a hoarder when I play games. Why throw something away when there’s a chance it can be used later?
I run a finger along the edge of my trusty old fox claw.
[Sharpened Fox’s Claw] [Common]: A body part evolved through mana to be sharper, longer, and more durable than it once was.
Doesn’t mention a specific type of mana, unfortunately. I want to fill in as many gaps in the magic tree of the new world as I can. So far, I’m aware of time, and I can fill in the standard four elements, with light and dark tacked on top. Plus whatever Triss’s thing is, and the companion she mentioned who could see through illusions.
Unless he really had some sort of dirt sense, which would fall under earth.
I glance towards the moat again. It’s been about twenty minutes, which should have been long enough for her to get what she needed.
Maybe she’s just avoiding me while I comb through my loot?
Oh, fuck, she’s kind of young and she’s digging around the dead bodies of her group, maybe she’s in there crying?
I scramble to my feet and start heading to the moat. Not because I want to, but because there is a vague sense somewhere inside me that as the older one of the two of us, I should help.
As I get closer, I don’t hear any sobbing, which is an encouraging sign. Wait, does that mean she’s been avoiding me?
“Hey, Triss?” I call out as I peer downwards.
The first thing I notice is the blood.