Not even 10 minutes later, the black hole of an entrance to the caves appears at the base of a small rocky outcropping nestled snuggly amongst several of the giant trees and not a few bushes, likely a useful aid in camouflaging it somewhat.
I send a short feeling of caution to Artemis, as well as the image of any number of potential creatures that could be calling this cavern home, getting a nod of ascent from her cute noggin and a sense of readiness across our link in return.
I would love to say that all our caution was for naught, that we found an empty cave, bedded down and had a nice, relaxing, apocalyptic evening, just a man and his dog, but alas….
ROARRR!!!
….it was not to be so simple.
Out of the back of the large entry cavern, only the first in a series of caves in the system my Skill had illustrated for me, comes the large silhouette of a stomping form barreling its way toward the two intruders in its den---namely us.
As the fading light of day sends a brief flash of illumination into the blackness of the cave, I am able to make out the enlarged and clearly mutated form of a bear!
{Brutal Brown Bear, Lv. 6}
Oh dear, that’s the highest leveled Beast we’ve seen yet!
I send Artemis her battle orders and make the necessary preparations to commence with my own part of the battle plan, casting Natural Reinforcement on myself with the stone from one of the cave walls.
As my skin grows its armor, I brace for impact with my hatchet poised to strike at the most opportune moment.
Unfortunately, that moment just so happens to be as the bear makes contact with me!
I feel a hubcap sized paw come crashing across my rocky torso just as my hatchet, ice pick head set to Soul [Active] mode, lands my counterstrike across the bear’s wrathful black eyes!
As the pain of a nearly crushed torso, ‘nearly’ due only to my Skill-generated armor, sends me flying both physically and mentally, Artemis comes leaping in at the blinded bear’s throat, Arctic Claws first!
Through a fog of pain and disorientation, I catch a glimpse of Artemis dancing around the Beast as they trade blows, her nimble form allowing her to remain unharmed although I can see the bear’s attacks getting closer and closer to landing.
Desperately, I struggle to rise, my horror growing at the potential outcome.
The bear’s eyes weep blood and its many claw wounds only add to its mounting blood loss, but its nose twitches in overuse as it uses its other senses to hunt us. Yet, those senses appear to be just enough as it grows ever closer to striking my companion I notice as I refill my flagging Mana pool with a judicious use of Blood-Fueled.
Artemis, fighting valiantly despite the exhaustion I can feel building up in her, heeds my worried mental call and retreats toward me.
As both us and the bear realize the battle’s finale approaches, I send a quick plan to Artemis to help us get an opening, gather my sore body, and move with all the speed and strength my stone covered body can manage.
And in reaction, not far away, the bear begins its own charge!
As I come in from its right, Artemis arrives from the left, both of us aiming for the head.
The Beast, trying to capitalize on our choice of target, uses what I assume to be a special ability as its jaw unhinges like a python and its giant teeth await our arrival….
But the bear ends up clamping those massive jaws on nothing but air as we our trajectories alter just enough to dodge!
Our feint to the head had accomplished just what I hoped, giving us both an opening to strike at the vulnerable belly of the now overextended creature.
My hatchet sings through the air as it crunches the ribcage, pulping the lung underneath and releasing a veritable explosion of blood onto the dusty earth beneath us.
Artemis’ claws do the same to the other side of the thickly furred behemoth before the bear lets out a mournful bellow and we quickly make scarce., regrouping by the entrance for the bear’s death throes to pass.
As growls echo through the cave and the half-hearted scrabble of claws across the earthen floor come to an end, I let out a sigh of relief as Artemis howls out her victory in a clarion call of our next great reward from the Apex System!
Congratulations! You have killed a {Brutal Brown Bear, Lv.6} for 720 XP!
You have leveled up and have 1 free Attribute point available!
You may now select your Class!
Congratulations! Your Animal Companion, designation Artemis, has killed a {Brutal Brown Bear, Lv.6} for 720 XP!
Your Animal Companion, Artemis, has 1 free Attribute point and 1 free Skill point available!
First off, before my own juicy choices, I go back to adding Artemis’ point to Intelligence, hoping to get to have an actual conversation with her someday soon.
Next, I pull up her Skills and peruse them, noticing that the top available ones remain mostly the same but with some compatibility changes and a bumped-up addition:
Skill List (Recommended by Compatibility%)
Sled Pulling (97%)
Sprint (95%)
Stubborn (92%)
Howl(90%)
Not blinded by the awesome-ness of a single Skill this time, I mentally click on the two most intriguing options:
Sprint(Basic):{Active} Engage Skill to increase running speed by a lesser amount. Will cease to function as user grows tired, Skill will correspondingly shorten time until being tired as well. As Skill levels, fatigue will be brought on later and later. Every 10 levels in Skill will increase tier.
Stubborn(Basic): [Active] When charged by an enemy, user can plant their paws and will remain in place and unharmed unless attacker is more than 5 levels higher or utilizes special means. Must be used on solid ground and limited to one use per encounter. Every 10 levels in Skill will increase tier.
While I can see the definite utility in both options, our recent brush with a rampaging enemy many times greater in size than us leads me to an easy choice.
I select Stubborn, warning Artemis just before the expected knowledge dump comes a-knocking inside her mind.
I rub her belly soothingly as she recovers herself and hold off on placing my own Attribute point before flicking to the next item on the agenda in my PAID: Choosing my Class!
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The following classes have been selected for you based upon both your actions before and after System implementation as well as you current Titles or Skill/Spell choices, although some actions and choices are valued more than others. Please choose carefully as the choice of Class will set you upon your path into the future. Keep striving, Player!
Class List
Warrior(B)
Hunter(B)
Rogue(B)
Thief(B)
Assassin(U)
Executioner(U)
Animal Friend(U)
Wild Huntsman (Rare)
As my eyes track slowly down the list, eyes widening in interest the closer I get to the end, I involuntarily utter, “Woah…” just as my eyes come to my final choice and its rarity….
For all of two and a half seconds, I try and force myself to go through each option, seeing the expected bonuses to physicality or stealth or increased skill growth in a natural environment.
But my anticipation quickly shatters my careful approach and I immediately pull up the description for the rare class:
Wild Huntsman(R): The Wild Huntsman draws his roots from the bygone age of the Fae, where these skilled defenders of nature and the natural cycle of life and death battled cruel giants and other races to protect both the natural world and its inhabitants. By attaining this class and moving along its path of progression, the Player will bond himself closer and closer to nature with every step, opening up new paths but closing others that do not align with its principles. Class will increase points per level to 2 plus 1 additional point automatically placed into Constitution which will come into effect retroactively (Rarity Bonus) to better handle the sometimes-harsh environs that a Huntsman is expected to combat. Additionally, it will grant the Class ability, Huntsman`s Duty, which will notify the Player when nearby non-hostile animals, beings or objects of nature are under threat and grant a +3 to all stats when combatting said threat. Protect that which gives life, so that I may someday lay within its embrace in death.
At my near squeal of joy, Artemis tilts her head curiously at me which makes me smile, a smile that only grows as I select Wild Huntsman and await the changes!
A stream of energy unlike anything I have experienced enters my mind and body, shifting and changing me, teaching me how better to move in the wondrous forests, to climb the majestic mountains, to fjord the great rivers and to endure even the most extreme weather. The energy goes on either forever or for a nearly eternal second, but as it fades, I find myself laying on the ground, Artemis looking down on me with her expressive eyebrows arched in worry.
“I’m okay, girl. Just a little power up is all.” I tell her with a touched smile and a pat on the head.
“Woof!” she replies, tail a-wagging eagerly as I stand back up, nearly launching myself across the cavern in the process.
“Whoa!” I grunt as I catch myself, our bond informing me of Artemis’ fresh amusement at my bumbling, “Suppose I better look at those changes to my stats, huh?” I ask aloud with a rueful chuckle as I stay very still before pulling up my freshly updated PAID. I decide to place my final single Attribute point into Dexterity, the maneuverability boost likely a further boon for my Class and the environments I may end up in. The first thing I notice is the new line below Class and then a few Skill and Spell level ups from our battle.
PAID
Player: Nova
Age: 27
Race: Human
Class: Wild Huntsman(R)
Class Ability: Huntsman’s Duty
Level: 5
310/1600 XP to level 6
Attributes (Human range between 1 and 5):
Strength 4
Dexterity 3à4
Constitution 4à9
Intelligence 6
Soul 4
Mana: 24
HP: 45
Skills: Wilderness Survival(App.) Level 13, Animal Companion(Basic) Lv.5
Unlock next free Skill point at Lv.6
Spells: Natural Reinforcement(B) Lv.7, Blood-Fueled(B) Lv. 2
Unlock next free Spell point at Lv.7
Items: Icy Soul Hatchet(U)
Titles: Natural Born Killer, Soul Searcher
Now those are starting to look like some respectable stats! With the retroactive bonus to Con putting me at almost 10, I now have over double the HP! Additionally, I am only a point away from the upper threshold of what’s possible for a human. This thought makes me curious if there will be any bonus to pushing all of them to 5 or above while realizing I am only 1 level away from 10 in Constitution, potentially a threshold all its own.
All of the fun taken care of, I take stock of our surroundings. This cavern seems about 50 feet deep and roughly 30 wide, with a ceiling nearly 100 feet up and a tunnel leading deeper into an underground system of additional caves and tunnels beyond.
While eager to explore the depths and the strange phenomenon I noticed deep below, I first intend to continue my trek into the forest in hopes of encountering fellow humans.
Even just signs of their passage to reassure me that I am not the member of an extinct species…not yet anyway.
Wiped out after a day of change, growth and struggle, I pull together some loose and dry branches, leaves and straw-like grass from just outside the tunnel, taking in the idyllic peace of the forest in twilight as I do.
For all of the horror, terror and blood I have experienced within it, my soul still resonates with a feeling of welcome, of being home in this great natural expanse.
As I step back inside, my soul buoyed, I arrange the branches in their typical tee-pee formation, grab some helpfully System-identified flint and strike it with the blade of my hatchet before breathing life into what soon becomes a merry blaze.
Pulling some meat from the carcass of our erstwhile bear attacker, I roast us some dinner, the Mana rich meat dripping with juices that makes Artemis perk up and salivate-extensively.
Moments later, we dig in, the meal making our somewhat dank shelter seem like a palace of comfort and warmth, the only sounds chewing, appreciative groans, or soft grumbles from a certain canine consumer.
Our meal suitably demolished, I cuddle up with Artemis and shut my eyes, using her as a warming body pillow due to her pony-like size around and counting on her keen senses to warn us of any intruders. The next moment, I know only oblivion, sleep claiming me from the waking world.
The morning dawns bright and early, illuminating the interior of the cave just enough to rouse me and subsequently, Artemis, from our bear-like slumber.
Too soon?
Oh well.
Anyway, I make my way outside our makeshift den and cover a yawn as I groggily take in the first breaking of day under the administration of the System.
It is as glorious as our natural mornings, but all the more wondrous besides!
A blanket of magenta-hued fog (Mana influenced perhaps?) enshrouds the ground and the bases of our giant leafy neighbors, adding a suspension like effect to an already magical sight. I take a seat, chewing on some leftover bear meat to break my fast while tossing Artemis some of her own to munch, and simply take it all in for a moment. The world has changed tremendously, the least I can do is be a witness to its magnificent metamorphosis.
Eagerness and trepidation war in my mind for a moment as I make ready to begin our delve further into this vast wilderness, the fear over the unknown fate of the rest of humanity weighing me down like Jupiter’s gravity even whilst I enjoy the changes that have been wrought.
But I know I will likely be a rarity amongst my species, more than aware of our own propensity for self-destruction and hatred when given even mundane changes to the world, let alone these great magical ones.
I still wish to find them, if for no other reason than to reassure myself that I will not truly be alone, at least not yet…
Chuff!
The air from a deep exhalation from Artemis, pulls me from my brief reflective melancholy, her kind soul quick to remind me, I am never truly alone, not anymore.
“Thanks, girl. Don’t know what I would do without you.” I say with a rueful smile, giving her taut belly a rub, earning a bowing stretch in return and a wagging tail.
Mood much improved, I gather my cloak around me once more and begin my careful hike further into this great unknown.
Hours pass, the landscape essentially just more of the glorious same, great trees and large bushes, foliage thick like a lion’s mane in several places. The occasional rocky hill or outcropping, bubbling brooks and the rare raging river as well.
And all the while, the Beasts.
We tackle dozens in our passage, all species we have seen before, though the levels are slightly higher, none higher than our own though, thankfully.
We do find the occasional outlier, a non-hostile animal or three, mutated by the System but without succumbing to the rabidness so virulently infecting others. These, we leave well alone, my Class whispering to me in a somewhat abstract fashion that these animals are, if not friendly, neutral, even natural.
It seems that we have gone over an XP cap of sorts though, we now only receive half the XP for those under level 5, I assume to prevent the "bullying of the weak", as any privileged, cultivating, young master might say.
All told, I earn only a 1000 XP for half a day’s battling. Nothing to be disappointed over considering our already prodigious strength and yet, I find I am all the same. I find I have become just a bit addicted to growing stronger in such a palpable and classified way. Something to be aware of, I suppose, although nothing to worry over yet.
On the bright side, I do receive a few notifications of some Skill and Spell level ups!
Wilderness Survival(App.): Lv.13-14
Animal Companion(B): Lv.5-7
Natural Reinforcement(B): Lv.7-8
Blood-Fueled(B)àLv.2à4
Both Animal Companion and Natural Reinforcement are nearing the end of the Basic tier, something I am vastly curious about seeing the effect of. But only time and combat will bring that about, both items now in fairly great abundance, I believe.