I pull up my various ability advancements first before the rest of the goodies:
Wilderness Survival(App): Lv.1--15
Animal Companion(B): Lv.7--9
Natural Reinforcement:Lv.8--10
Congratulations! Your Spell, Natural Reinforcement has tiered up!
Natural Reinforcement(App): [Active] Utilize the surroundings of nature to empower your body. By selecting and casting the spell upon a targeted object or phenomenon of the natural world, your body will be strengthened in a fashion alike to the selected object. Costs 1 Mana/second to cast and maintain, will reduce with tier. Every 10 levels in Spell will increase tier and potentially unlock additional aspects.
Apprentice Bonus: Due to synergy between Skill, Class and Companion, may now cast on Animal Companion for differing effects depending upon quality focused upon (i.e. casting on claws or fangs will allow Player to gain them, muscles will grant Strength boost, fur will grant Constitution boost).
Blood-Fueled(B): Lv.4-6
Score! That Apprentice bonus has some seriously interesting implications that I can’t wait to explore come our next battle but now, onto the level up!
Congratulations! You have killed an assortment of Beasts for a total of 1500 XP!
You have leveled up! You have 2 free Attribute points and 1 free Skill point available!
Your Constitution has increased by 1.
Top 10 World Achievement! You are the 7th Player to reach the Apprentice tier in an Attribute. You have been granted the Title: Top Tier I.
Top Tier I: All Apprentice tier leveling (Skills, Spells, Levels) will be 5% faster than normal. Upgradeable.
“Damn….” I mutter before musing, “That will certainly be helpful, especially with how slow Wilderness Survival has been to level thus far compared to the rest, and I have had it the longest too.”
I deliberate raising my Soul to 5 or even bumping up my Intelligence again but with the battles that I can almost palpably feel on the horizon come tomorrow, I decide to stay purely physical with their placement and put 1 into Strength and the other into Dexterity.
PAID
Player: Nova
Age: 27
Race: Human
Class: Wild Huntsman(R)
Class Ability: Huntsman’s Duty
Level: 6
210/3200 XP to Lv.7
Attributes (Human range between 1 and 5):
Strength 4-5
Dexterity 4-5
Constitution 9-10
Intelligence 6
Soul 4
Mana: 24
HP: 50
Skills: Wilderness Survival(App.) Level 15, Animal Companion(Basic) Lv.9
Unlock next free Skill point at Lv.8
Spells: Natural Reinforcement(B) Lv.10, Blood-Fueled(B) Lv. 4
Unlock next free Spell point at Lv.7
Items: Icy Soul Hatchet(U), Barely There Cloak(C)
Titles: Natural Born Killer, Soul Searcher, Top Tier I
Taking a renewed look at my full PAID, I realize I am beyond all that made humans human before the world became what it now is. Of course, I had considered this earlier, but now it’s all the more real, even more so when I think deeper upon the future implications. Like when my growth begins to surpass even our ideas of what is, or rather, what was superhuman before the System.
To shake those deep thoughts off, as completely useless as they are to consider in the here and now, I change mental tracks by pulling up my list of Skills to choose and receive a surprise in response. One my Class seems to have created and likely what it meant by narrowing my future Path.
Skills List (Recommended by Compatibility %)
Huntsman’s Athleticism(App) (98%)
Wild Blade Mastery (96%)
Tracking (95%)
Skinning (93%)
Wilderness Conservation(App) (88%)
…
Roughriding(65%)
…
So, it seems my class now tinges all of my Skills, likely my Spells too but I’’ll have to wait a level to find out.
For now, I read into those few that interest me most.
First up:
Wild Blade Mastery(B): [Passive] Grants the Player knowledge on the usage of tools and weapons most suited to the wild environment they are in. Limited to forests, mountains and lakes. Every 10 levels will increase tier and unlock further effects.
Wilderness Conservation(App): [Active] Grants the Player the ability to, once per day, revive a dying plant, purify a river or smaller body of water, or remove toxic or harmful chemicals or objects from a moderate-sized patch of land. Every 10 levels will increase tier and unlock further effects.
Both of those sound very cool and would certainly be useful, especially the second one if I understand the “unlocking of further effects” bit, which I think means I could potentially heal animals and maybe even poisoned or environmentally affected humans too! But for immediate use, the clear choice has to be the Class upgraded version of one I have had available since the beginning:
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Huntsman’s Athleticism(App): Grants the Player advanced knowledge of their own bodily movement, capabilities and most physical pursuits. Also, grants the Huntsman a wider ability base in terms of movement through forests and other natural expanses, including deserts, caves/underground, bodies of water and mountains. Every 10 levels will increase tier and unlock further effects.
I just can’t pass up an all-around boost to my combat and movement viability. With this one, I should be able to move faster, quieter, more hidden and all around just better than before. This is exactly the type of Skill I need to synergize with my rising stats. For without an increase in ability, more strength or speed is like “teats on a mule”, as they say, or said?
I don’t know, I guess I’m not that folksy.
Anyway….
I select the Skill and my mind floods with the expected knowledge and the equally expected yet dreaded pain. When it finally fades, I sigh with relief and pull myself to my feet, waking up Artemis who hops down as well.
All that good fun out of the way, we head to dinner.
We spend the evening talking, or being petted in a certain dog’s case, with the other inhabitants, eating our share, and more, of the huge amount of Beast meat locked in the village’s newly unlocked Storage function by an enthusiastic Grover. As the crowds of people head off to a well-earned rest, I just sit and smile from afar as I watch a number of children climb all over my best friend like the world’s fluffiest jungle gym.
Later on, as I curl up in bed and begin to drift off to what I’m sure will be a dreamless sleep, I find myself at peace, both with myself and the new world, a newfound hope blossoming at this small growing community.
My final thought as sleep takes me is one that, when the day began, I would never have expected:
‘Perhaps humanity can survive this and come together after all…’
I awake the next morning with the sun’s first rays shining in through the window and onto my cot, rousing Artemis too. Since we are both awake and dawn is here, we make our way to first the mess hall for some breakfast to-go and then to the entrance of the Village where a clearly impatient Belina awaits us.
As she picks up her roughhewn shield from its resting place leaning against her leg with one hand and grabs her spear with the other, she matches our pace as we make our way back out into the sprawling forest, the trees swallowing us whole as we make tracks toward our former cave shelter from the day before.
We walk in companionable silence for a while, before I broach a somewhat delicate subject, “Hey, would you be comfortable reading off your stats and skills from your PAID for me? I will, of course, return the favor and read off Artemis’ as well but I think it might be a good idea for us to familiarize ourselves with the other’s abilities if we could potentially be fighting together at any moment.”
“Sure,” she responds easily enough, before listing everything off for me,
PAID
Player: Belina
Age: 19
Race: Human
Class: Bulwark(U)
Class Ability: Foundation
Level:5
?/1600 to level 6
Attributes
Strength 5
Dexterity 4
Constitution 5
Intelligence 3
Soul 2
Mana: 6
HP: 25
Skills: Legionnaire’s Stamina (App), Shield Bash(B)
Spells: Flaming Spear(B), Mythril Shield
Impressed with her pretty impressive build I tell her as much, “Nice, those are some seriously solid stats!” before asking curiously, “What does your Class ability do? If you are okay with telling me, that is.”
“Of course! I can’t exactly want to tag along and team up with you if I can’t even tell you about what I can do!” she says with a radiant smile beaming from her innocent face before explaining, “It allows me to essentially plant my shield in the ground, holding me in place essentially indefinitely but also, it borrows from the strength of the ground to harden and protect my shield from taking damage and losing durability. I only hit levels 4 and 5 during the swarm yesterday so I haven’t gotten to use that one or the Mythril Shield Spell very much. Mythril Shield allows me to turn my shield into the Mana-dense metal, Mythril, for exactly 1 single strike in a battle, seemed like the best choice with the current quality of my shield.”
“Oh, those sound like they could be really useful! You are staying pretty consistent with your choices and having them all follow your combat style like that. What about the rest of your Skills and Spells?” I ask as we pass the site of one of our battles from yesterday, the broken Beast corpses now nothing but bones buzzing with mutated flies the size of teacups.
She proceeds to explain the remaining three as we cross the halfway point in our journey, the sun now halfway to its zenith in the sky; the summary being as follows:
Legionnaire’s Stamina, her sole Apprentice tier skill, allows her to recover her energy and heal three times as fast while marching with shield and spear, fighting with them or, finally, hunkered behind her shield. The last one doubling the Skill’s effectiveness, allowing her to recover 6 times as fast!
Shield Bash is exactly as it sounds, increasing the power behind which she can use her shield to push back an enemy.
Flaming Spear is another pretty self-explanatory one, merely raising the level of damage her spear can deal and adding some fire damage as well. According to her, it only costs 1 Mana to activate as she strikes, which with her limited Mana pool is a great thing considering she can use it 6 times before running out.
“A very focused build for sure, then. That’s definitely going to make you a valuable asset to any team moving forward. They just need the experience to understand how useful someone with your abilities will be to draw the attention or aggro of an enemy and keep it occupied. Which should be fairly easy for you with the synergy between your Class ability and other shield abilities.” I observe with my compliments to her as she wraps up her descriptions, before spending a few moments detailing Artemis’ and I’s stats and abilities to her.
“Your Constitution is already at 10?!” she exclaims as I finish, before continuing in something of an aside, admiration tinging her voice, “I knew your Class was Rare and figured that would make you strong, but damn! And you already have a second ability at the Apprentice tier too, my next closest is only halfway to 10!”
“Uhh…. I’ve just been very fortunate?” I say somewhat sheepishly, head on a swivel all the while, keeping an eye out for some training encounters for our newly enlarged team.
Surely not to avoid making eye contact.
I would never do that.
Artemis turns her head to face me, mouth lolling open in a doggy grin at that less than honest thought of mine and my acknowledged discomfort with compliments or admiration.
I narrow my eyes at her but can only hold it for a moment before a short chuckle escapes me over her antics.
My mirth ends swiftly though, as we see a small group of 5 {Suicide Squirrels, Levels 4 and 5}
“So, any thoughts on how we should do this?” I ask her, a challenging note in my voice.
“I can draw their attention and, as they rush to attack me, you and Artemis can flank them? I should be able to handle their base attacks and at least 2 of their Suicide Bomber attacks before needing to dodge.” she answers somewhat nervously but with strong certainty in her voice.
Although, given the very fact she has survived this long, I should not be surprised by her competence.
With a nod from me, Artemis and I dart off the undergrowth to either side of the small rodents as Belina settles in behind her shield and shouts out, “Hey, one tasty human over here! Come and get it!” ringing her spear against her shield like the world’s largest dinner bell all the while.
The Beasts answer the call immediately, salivating in great hanging rivulets as they charge at her shielded form.
3 squirrels lead the vanguard of the attack, leaving 2 further back, both higher leveled at Lv. 5 and perfect targets for Artemis and I!
With Huntsman’s Athleticism guiding my steps agilely through the underbrush, I come sprinting up behind the unsuspecting squirrel and bring my ice-pick attachment down upon the spine of the Beast! With a meaty crunch and a squeal of pain, I pull it back and bring it down again and then once more for good measure, completely pulping the critical nerve highway.
Artemis likewise makes quick work of her opponent, great jaws closing around the smaller skull of the lesser Beast like a vice.
Belina has, in the meantime, managed to finish off one of her three enemies but looks be beginning to be a bit harried by the two remaining, though not for long…
Artemis comes leaping down with her Arctic Claws outstretched while letting out a deep roar that nearly shakes the trees!
I remain a step back, allowing Belina to solely finish off the final kill, not that a Lv. 4 has much to offer after you have crossed the Class threshold anyway.
As she pins the twitching squirrel to the ground with her Flaming Spear, the engagement comes to a satisfying conclusion.
“Nice work!” I encourage her, very happy with our new teammate, although I do realize she is the best out of over half a hundred other people, which was a big factor in my allowing her to join us in the first place.
“Thanks! That was a lot smoother than any other group I have worked with though, usually I take at least a couple decent wounds. Guess a good party is a strength all its own.” she responds thoughtfully.
As the morning progresses, we encounter a couple more groups of Beast that we gladly tackle together, building up team chemistry in preparation for the unknown that comes with the cave system.
Said caves that have now come into view as the sun begins the earliest bit of its descent in the blue sky I can just barely peek at through the leaves above.
We have a quick bite to refuel, Artemis munching on a whole haunch of squirrel from earlier, before marching up to the ominous dark mouth of the cave entrance.
“So, are you sure you want to join us in this? This is likely the last chance you’ll have to back out, there’s no telling what will be in there.” I ask her seriously.
“Yes, I’m sure. If I don’t come and take the option to likely grow stronger and be better able to fight for our world, I will always regret it.” she replies equally as serious.
And with those sage words, we step into the darkness of the cave and whatever mystery its depths hold…