Occupation: Savage unlocked. You have already discarded the trappings of civilization. You disregard tools, shelter, and even clothing from the old world. You embrace the work of your hands, sleeping in shelter you’ve built with your hands, under pelts you cured, next to fire you painstakingly created. You are a Savage, a primitive who eschews the easy for the trustworthy. Occupation Skill Primitive Craftsmanship offered. Occupation Skill grants a static 30% bonus to all crafting abilities and Skills when crafting without pre-Integration technology. Per level attributes gained: Strength +1, Agility +1, Endurance +2, Vitality +1, Toughness +2, Wisdom +1, Intelligence +1, Perception +2, Willpower +2, Fixation +1, Free Points +1. Would you like to accept the Savage Occupation?

“I… I’m getting this Occupation because I’m doing my best to live?”

You qualified for the Savage Occupation because you completed the necessary requirements to acquire the Occupation. The requirements completed were:

1. Create fire without using any pre-Integration tools.

2. Create any equipment without any pre-Integration tools.

3. Create a shelter without any pre-Integration tools.

4. Defeat a creature without any pre-Integration tools.

5. Prepare food without any pre-Integration tools or ingredients from the pre-Integration world.

6. Make a deliberate choice to step away from a significant comfort of that from the pre-Integration to return to a more “savage” environment.

Note: If any Participant wishes to acquire the Savage Occupation, they cannot have completed any of the requisite steps with pre-Integration tools at any time.

“But I ate the food I had with me, that didn’t keep me from qualifying for this Occupation.”

The mere consumption of pre-Integration food does not disqualify any hopefuls from completing requirement 5.

“Wait, so if I’d like… sprinkled the salt from my goldfish onto the coyote meat, then would I have lost this?”

If you had seasoned your food with pre-Integration ingredients, then you would have disqualified yourself from the acquisition of this Occupation.

TJ thanked Kukulkan that he hadn’t thought to do that. If he’d screwed himself over like that…

Would you like to accept the Savage Occupation? Please say “Decline” if you would like to not be offered the Savage Occupation again.

The System, with its basso, comforting yet commanding voice, asked again. The blinking notification flashed in TJ’s eyes, and he stuttered, “No, I, yes, accept Savage as my Occupation!”

Occupation: Savage acquired. Occupation Skill: Primitive Craftsmanship acquired.

Occupation: Savage has advanced to level 1.

Attribute points allocated: Strength +1, Agility +1, Endurance +2, Vitality +1, Toughness +2, Wisdom +1, Intelligence +1, Perception +2, Willpower +2, Fixation +1, Free Points +1. Additional Free Point available.

Occupation: Savage has advanced to level 2.

Attribute points allocated: Strength +1, Agility +1, Endurance +2, Vitality +1, Toughness +2, Wisdom +1, Intelligence +1, Perception +2, Willpower +2, Fixation +1, Free Points +1. Additional Free Point available.

Race: Human has advanced to level 1.

Attribute points allocated: Strength +1, Agility +1, Endurance +1, Vitality +2, Toughness +1, Wisdom +1, Intelligence +1, Perception +1, Willpower +1, Fixation +2.

With the wave of notifications washing over him, TJ’s body began to shiver uncontrollably. His bones cracked, his shoulder and calf tingled, and his aching muscles faded until they were weightless. After a minute or so, TJ felt like himself again, and the changes in his body faded away. Again, the System wanted to tell him something, but he didn’t pay the notifications any mind, instead investigating how different his body felt now.

All the pains from before, from the small blisters that had begun to form on his heels to the deep wounds in his shoulder, had faded, and looking down at his calf, the pattern of teeth marks faded to a curve of fine pink marks in his flesh. Curious and cautious, he poked at his shoulder. No pain. He pulled his bloodied rag of a tank top away from the wound, the blood having crusted to his skin. As it peeled away and the cold fresh air set his skin to gooseflesh again, TJ poked the thick muscle of his trapezius. No wounds, just some slight scarring.

“Haha! Does leveling up always heal you? Is that why I’m all better now?”

The act of leveling elevates the body to the greater heights now available. All resources are restored to full, and most minor to severe injuries are fully healed. In the case of amputations or maiming, the scars remain without regeneration.

TJ happily tossed the shirt to the side, where the congealed blood and shredded cotton would bother him no longer. Then, before he resumed his questioning of the System, he checked the additional notification he’d received.

Title gained: Irregular.

Description of Title: The vast majority of Participants who begin their journey towards the Throne in earnest acquire their Class before their Occupation. You are one of 0.5% of Participants who not only sought out but also acquired an Occupation before their Class.

Effects of Title: 5% increase in experience gain for all Occupation related Skills, levels, and more.

“Sweet.” TJ muttered to himself, and a small part of him raged against his happiness at this small gain. His son was somewhere he couldn’t see, find, or reach, and here he was, glad that this stupid System gave him a new little Title for his idiotic Occupation. He’d kept himself from thinking about Junior for a while, but now that he was truly resting without having to think about anything else, TJ worried for his son. He was only three, and Junior had been real quiet ever since Mari’s passing. Could they even take care of him?

You should not worry. Observer Thiago Jorge Harris V is being kept in a type of stasis that will ensure that his emotional, physical, and social needs are met without causing undue stress.

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

With a fiercely muttered string of swears, TJ thrust his son’s current well-being from his mind as best as he could. If he let himself worry too much, he’d end up as a mess curled up on the ground while coyotes ate him. “So. Race. Is it that I leveled up from my two Occupation levels? The average between my Occupation and Class levels?”

Correct.

“And how are the attributes I get from leveling up as a Human decided?”

As a baseline human, you gain +1 to all attributes, and as a holder of the Divine Bloodline of Kukulkan, you gain an additional +1 to Vitality and Fixation for each level gained in Human.

“Huh. Status.” TJ commanded to see his updated attributes.

Status Sheet

Name: TJ (Thiago Jorge) Harris IV

Race: Human – lvl 1

Class: N/A

Occupation: Savage lvl 2

Level of Divinity: Dirt

Divine Bloodline: Kukulkan

Health Points (HP): 140/140

Mana Points (MP): 100/100

Stamina: 130/130

Attributes

Strength: 10

Agility: 9

Endurance: 13

Vitality: 14

Toughness: 13

Wisdom: 11

Intelligence: 10

Perception: 11

Willpower: 14

Fixation: 5

Free Points: 2

Titles: Irregular

“So, Savage must be a pretty good Occupation, right? I mean, I get so many attributes compared to what Human gives me, so it must be a rare or great Occupation.”

The Occupation Savage is somewhat unique in that it is an unfocused Occupation. Most Occupations, such as Blacksmith, Huntsman, Quartermaster, and Shipwright, have a specific course of action they are meant to take. Savage, however, is a generalist that can gain experience through crafting, hunting, or leading. The only requirement for the Savage is that, whatever they do to gain experience for their Occupation, they must do so with tools and implements that they created for themselves. As a result of the unfocused nature of the Savage Occupation, those Participants who select this Occupation require all the attributes. Therefore, Savages receive a low amount of each attribute to ensure they can follow whatever path they so desire. Other Occupations give attributes focused on assisting the Participant to act in accordance with the Occupation’s intended function.

TJ settled onto his back, looking around while thinking about what this meant for him. After all, if he could still progress a little, maybe it would be good for him to wait to get a Class until he qualified for the Neophyte one he was still inexplicably drawn to.

“Wait, can I use things from before the Integration now that I’ve become a ‘Savage’?”

Savages can use pre-Integration tools, ingredients, and other materials, but they receive a reduction in experience gain when they complete any Occupational tasks using or benefitting from that which is pre-Integration.

“Better than nothing, I guess.” TJ watched the fire dancing, its allure hypnotizing while his mind wandered. With a conscious effort, TJ thought of something, anything to ask. “Is Kukulkan still… alive? Did he become a god?”

No. All Participants that begin on their Path towards the Divine Throne either succeed the previous God, or reach the end of their mortal lives.

“But I still have a Bloodline that’s supposedly divine from him. So was he a god or not?”

Upon reaching the upper tiers of Divinity, which are Ruthenium, Iridium, Osmium, and Orichalcum, a Participant’s body is molded by and becomes Divine instead of merely housing a certain level of Divinity. Kukulkan became a Divine, but did not reach the Divine Throne and thus never became God.

TJ let himself bask in the warmth of the fire as he listened for anything to approach in the dying light of sunset. Only the popping of the branches in the fire and the whistling of wind through the shoddy lean-to he’d constructed greeted him, though. The exhaustion of the day washed over him, and just before TJ gave in to the allure of sleep, one more question occurred to him.

“What Class was Kukulkan?”

Whether the question was actually asked out loud or not TJ couldn’t tell, but he received an answer nonetheless. He dreamed, and all he could see were swiftly passing clouds. The smell of rain was thick in the air, and the crackling of electricity danced over his long body. With a sinuous movement, he rose his head before diving down, down through the clouds. Once his eyes cleared the cover, a beautiful land lay spread before him. Long fields of corn undulated in the wind, the rustling of leaves accompanying his movement. Untamed jungle was held back by the strong arms of his sons and daughters, fighting the servants of the other aspiring Participants back and away from his temple.

His home awaited his arrival, and the peak of his newly constructed temple had long been prepared for his landing. With a tamed wind ensuring his landing was light and easy, Kukulkan’s coils spread across most of his temple, his Castillo. He breathed deep and then blew a warm, wet wind over his lands, bringing gentle rains and pest-free agriculture. With another breath, the feathered serpent was no more, and a tall, handsome man stood atop the temple. Statuesque with his war kilt adorned with leopard furs and thunderbird feathers, Kukulkan raised his hands high above his head and welcomed the cheers and worship of his people. Their adoration washed over him, and he could feel his Divinity soar.

As Kukulkan changed from his mile-long serpent form to that of a man, TJ was taken from inside of Kukulkan’s perspective to that of a third party observer. The “human” form of Kukulkan wasn’t truly human. Nubs of feathers interspersed with iridescent green scales patterned the backs of his arms, and what TJ had thought were feathers placed in Kukulkan’s hair were instead growing from his scalp. Though Kukulkan’s torso was bare and muscular nearly to the level of a body builder’s, his skin bore countless scars, the evidence of hard-fought battles.

“My child.” The Divine’s voice was honed obsidian and honeyed tea at the same time. “I see I have failed. I always feared I would. Let me look on you.”

Before TJ could look for whoever Kukulkan was addressing, his ethereal body was wrenched through space to stand before Kukulkan, whose eyes pierced TJ’s soul. The eyes yawned a deep black, even the sclera the same, serpentine void. Even so, there was a turquoise center instead of a pupil, and the bright blue burned TJ inexplicably.

“You have lost, and you are willing to do what is necessary to protect that which is precious to you. You will jump into the cenotes and sail over the trees. You have done well to choose the Neophyte. I will guide you in this first, great jump into the abyss. I will be the water you land in and the soft shore you can rest on. Now sleep, and when you wake, listen for my command. After all, I do not believe we will ever have the opportunity to speak through the ages like this again.”

Then, oblivion.

TJ awoke, freezing cold, the skies still dark. The only light he could see were the barest hints of buried coals under several inches of ash. He trembled, his fingers stiff and aching as his stick poked through the ashes and attempted to find a smoldering coal that could still serve to begin a real fire. Desperate, TJ dropped a couple handfuls of pine needles in, and one luckily found the necessary spark to flare to life. As patiently as he could, TJ fed more and more of the dry brown tinder into the growing flame before again building up his fire.

With both hands held over the growing, crackling flames, TJ finally realized he had another flashing System notification. When he opened it, he needed to reread it several times to fully understand what he was being told.

The Participant has received Divine guidance. This is a rare occurrence, and the Divine System suggests you follow it. After all, all the Divines are dead.