Walking into the inn, it was already full again. The tables were filled with rowdy adventurers, tired farmers, and some craftsmen wanting to unwind. He noticed the girl from before, when he walked in she threw him a glance before returning to the conversation with her companions. Around her were three other men and one girl, must be her adventuring Group. All of them were armed and armored up. Here again, he felt something off. The big bald man was clearly posturing confidently and was talking to others like to subordinates.
Clearly the leader of their party.
Yet somehow all of them looked slightly deferential to the red-haired girl. It was subtle but he could tell, the leader of this party was not who it seemed. Slightly interested in what they are talking about, he listened in while walking by, to his usual spot by the bar which was surprisingly free.
“Did you guys buy all the things? We don’t want to get fucked down there. They have already sent two different Groups down and so far no one has come back.”
Asked the two-meter-tall muscular baldy. On his belt, he had a big Warhammer with a nasty-looking spike at one end, and a shield strapped over his back.
“Yea, we have the lamps and enough oil for about seven days. This way if it is bigger, we have about three days on exploring it before we have to retreat. The rations are upstairs, we will divide them tomorrow before going out.”
Answered the only other woman besides the redhead. She was a little short, but very muscular, with no breasts to speak of which was a big advantage taking under the consideration the bow strapped to her back. She seemed to be the Group’s Scout.
“The local Potioneer fortunately still had a couple of Healing Pills in stock, so should something happen we are ready” Threw in a well-built man with short black hair and black eyes. He was wearing leather armor with lots of pockets and straps, and though admittedly well hidden, a dozen blades deployed on his body couldn’t escape Mark's notice.
The young man sat by the bar and due to the rising ruckus of people he couldn’t hear the rest of the conversation. He realized that they must be doing a mission to investigate the newly found cave in the forest near the town. He skipped the mission as the reward was dependent on the reported findings and the warning was pretty extreme with the two previous Groups sent never returning.
At seeing him sit down Joe slid a mug of ale over. Taking the offered ale Mark sat down and started pondering. Earlier in the day he got to know that the town of Pharia is located on the border of the Tuerrthia Kingdom – the kingdom he was currently in, with the Magic Confederation of Arencia.
The Megalo Forest is dividing the two countries and due to the innate dangers of the Forest and the number of monsters inside is treated as a no man’s ground. Due to that the trade between the two kingdoms is very restricted. Very heavily defended caravans take the journey only once a month from the Capital Cities of the countries and travel to the Capitals of the other kingdom.
With that he got to know that a caravan traveling to the Capital of Tuerrthia – Tirdram would be coming through Pharia in a week and a half. If he intended to go to a bigger town, that would be his opportunity. The caravans were always looking for more hands on deck. Though he would have to do a fair bit more missions for the Association and gain some renown. The caravan wouldn’t be hiring random nobodies with no track record.
So in the coming week, he would have to finish as many missions as possible and possibly increase his level to be attractive enough for them to take him with them to Tirdram. If he got to a capital city of a kingdom he would have access to much more information about the world around him. He could also blend in much more easily, people wouldn’t think too much if he asked ignorant questions. And he could disappear in the crowd if anyone did.
After eating a meal and finishing his ale, he went up to his room and went to sleep. The next morning he looked at his wrist for any changes after his hunt on the Shatanks. And he realized that something changed. Where next to his Class a window always said none, now the text changed to CHOOSE.
Name: Mark
Class: CHOOSE
Level: 9
Experience: 5210/5120
MP: 20->24 SP: 45->48
Strength: 18->19
Agility: 25->28
Constitution: 15->16
Intelligence: 10->12
He realized that his level has hit 10, and looking at his experience bar it seems that he even got a little bit more, though he didn’t understand, why it didn’t go over as always. Considering that maybe it was waiting for him to choose a class he concentrated on the word and suddenly the markings on his skin disappeared, replaced by other words.
Class
Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.
Talent
Description
Rogue
Stealth
Silent combatant, never seen, never heard, leaving only weeping and sorrow of the unaware victim's companions. Those who chose this path are often walking alone through the darkness, with shadow as their companion.
Warrior
Weapon Mastery
An impressive combatant, always capable of taking on any challenge head-on, unafraid of leaping into the heat of battle. Those choosing this path are ready to place their life on the line in the name of what they believe in.
Ranger
Beast Affinity
The walker of the forest, living with it as one, in harmony. Always seeks the balance and health of the forest. A master of the bow, friend to animals, and keeper of life. Unfaltering in the defense of their home.
There were three options for him to choose from, but honestly, for him, there was only one, Rogue. That is what he was doing most of his life already, what he is best at. If he wants to make a life for himself in this world and grow as strong as possible he must choose an option that would allow him to further his talents and allow him to do what he does best even better. Without hesitation, Mark willed his consciousness to 'mark' his choice as Rogue.
He felt his vision darken, landing in a dark world it seemed as if he was still in his room, but everything was made of shadows and darkness, even then he could somehow perfectly see everything around him. The experience was truly bizarre and slightly disconcerting, and yet so familiar as if he was home as if he finally had a place for himself in this weird world. The wood looked like the darkest ebony, the sheets, weaved with shadow. The sun outside the window was blacker than the Black Hole.
Then as suddenly as he appeared in this strange plane of shadows, his vision came back leaving him seating in his room that looked perfectly ordinary. A sense of loss within his heart, as if he lost a connection to someone very close to him. He looked at his wrist to see if there were any changes in his status:
Name:
Mark
Class:
Rogue
Level:
9->10
Experience:
90/10240
MP:
20->24
SP:
45->48
Strength
18->20
Agility
25->30
Constitution
15->17
Intelligence
10->13
Skill:
Description
LVL
Novice Bow Mastery
Better handling of weapon: Bow
LVL 7 EXP 13/640
Precise Shot
Slight correction of a fired arrow.
LVL 6 EXP 74/320
Double Tap
Shoot two arrows at the same time, arrows will land very closely together.
LVL 6 EXP 53/320
Novice Dagger Mastery
Better handling of weapon: Dagger
LVL 7 EXP 3/640
Stab
Executes a powerful stab dealing much more damage.
LVL 6 EXP 81/320
Stealth
You are thinning your presence, avoiding the awareness of other living beings.
LVL 6 EXP 1279/1280
Sprint
Run much faster.
LVL 5 EXP 53/160
Quick Step
Make an instantaneous step in any direction.
LVL 5 EXP 39/320
*Lie*
Your ability to lie has become much better, unaware folks would almost always believe you.
LVL 1 EXP 0/10
Premonition
^UNIQUE^
You can sense incoming danger.
N/A
From what he could see, he got 5 points from leveling and another 5 from choosing a class, there were a couple more he must have gotten from his regular training, as well as some improvement to his Stealth skill, it jumped one level and enough EXP to almost get it up another one, the same happened with Quick Step.
Besides that, he got another ability [Lie], but he doesn’t know the purpose of an ability like that. Anyone can lie. Though maybe it could be slightly magical, he remembered his first day in Pharia, Ralph had brought a device that apparently could detect lies. Maybe if he had that ability he could avoid it detecting if what he said was a lie.