Today was training day, and what a day it would be. They were back at Water Beartopia as they now affectionately labeled the area. It was time to test out some skills and they settled on easier, lower leveled prey. While they were sure they could handle a tougher challenge, this wasn’t the time to take risks, as each of them would be learning their new abilities on the fly.
They’d decided on a pretty simple course of action. They would keep to the same flanking tactics they originally employed, as they’d found success there. They would spend time each individually showcasing their skills and then they’d spend the rest of their time knitting them together as a group.
An hour after arriving, they located their first group of generous test subjects. Two level 3 water bears were lumbering down the path, likely towards their favorite pond to the east.
Calvin looked over “Alright Ian, you’re up.”
The group formed up in their typical formation and gave Ian the go-ahead.
“Let ‘er rip.” said Marshall.
Ian held his hand outstretched willing Storm Surge into being.
BZZZZT
A blinding flash erupted from Ian’s hand, forcing the group to look away momentarily. Looking back and squaring their shoulders for the charge…they stood in stunned silence, mouths agape.
On the path in front of them, where two water bears once stood, were two grotesque smoking piles of fur and bubbling fat.
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“Ian.” Marshall said. And after a long pause… “Dude.”
The group just stared at Ian, their faces void of comprehension.
“Can we see that skill description again?” Calvin asked.
A moment later.
Storm Surge: Unleash a wave of crackling electricity that chains between enemies, dealing damage and briefly stunning them. This has a moderate MP cost and long recharge time.
“I’m going to go out on a limb here and say, they’re probably stunned.” Marshall pointed out.
“Yeah, I’d say. I’m not so sure it’s as overpowered as it looks. Although, damn, I do love that skill. It’s got just under 6 hours before I can use it again, and it took up nearly 40% of my MP. I get the feeling that against higher level targets it won’t be so effective.”
Ian noted that the timer hadn’t started at exactly 6 hours, leading him to wonder if he could reduce the refresh time with stats. He filed that away for review.
The group marched forward, a terrible calamity about to befall the citizens of Water Beartopia.
It was only another 10 minutes before their next lucky contestants came into view. Three level 3 water bears this time.
“Alright Ian, we’ll just hang back and let you handle that.” Marshall joked, although he still got into formation. That last display was certainly impressive, but they weren’t going to get cocky just yet.
Ian focused on the water bear closest to their group. The backs of the creatures were facing the group, completely unaware of their presence. Ian read the skill description for Enkindle again.
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Enkindle: Create a targeted eruption of fire at a specific spatial point. At base evolution, this spatial point must be in direct line of sight. This has a moderate MP cost and low recharge time.
Nodding his head he focused his attention on the left rear haunch of the unfortunate creature and cast Enkindle. Fire immediately erupted in the poor bear’s fur, clearly wounding its leg and setting a small blaze burning on its ass.
Ian followed up by three quick blasts from Rock Shot. A fraction of a second later, three small earthen projectiles like small stones fired off from in front of him, like small earthen bullets. Each of them pierced the injured water bear, bringing it tumbling down to the ground wounded, and likely completely out of the fight.
The other two water bears identified the source of the attack and charged. Just moments later, their brutal charge was cut short by an otherworldly sound.
AWOOOOOOOOO
Freya stood facing the charging bears, unphased by their speed and ferocity. Her head craned up towards the sky letting loose a mighty howl. The dust around her rose from the ground, slight ripples spreading outwards in a wave. The charging creatures dropped immediately as if their legs completely failed them. In fact, they had. Freya’s howl stunned the weaker creatures, completely robbing their ability to act. Amy and Calvin quickly moved up to dispatch the creatures.
All in all, Ian’s test was successful. Sure, they’d utterly annihilated these water bears without any significant challenge, but that wasn’t the point of the exercise. They simply needed light targets that allowed him to focus on activating his skills, get used to the cooldown period, and experiment with ways to employ his skills in battle.
The group was under no illusion whatsoever that any of their further fights would be a complete beat-down like these water bears. They simply crossed a major chasm of power since the last time they’d fought these creatures. Not only had they gained several levels, but they also obtained their classes, which came with a butt-load of stats and new skills. No longer were they operating from the initial system granted ‘light proficiency in primitive weapons and combat tactics’, they were coming into their power, earned through their resolve in facing the system’s challenges head-on.
This thought was both a point of pride for them and a slight point of fear. Now that they’ve crossed this first threshold and stepped through a barrier, they instinctively knew there would be no more free lunch. The system would not likely implant free knowledge into their brains unearned. From here on out, everything they gained would be earned through trial and tribulation. They would pay for this power in blood and sweat.
The group continued their training methodically throughout the day. They would isolate a group of fuzzy bears, set about the task of trying each of their combat skills individually, and spend some time post-battle deliberating on how best to employ these tactics in the more challenging fights ahead.
One thing was for certain, the census taker for Water Beartopia was going to have a hell of an easy job this year.
Ian looked back at the carnage they had leveled against the water bears this afternoon. He felt a mix of pride and despair. In roughly a week, he’d gone from a rookie firefighter, fresh out of the academy to a level 5 Nanomancer. Just thinking about that sounded so unreal. He felt his newfound powers coursing through him and it gave him a sense of elation. He was the master of his own destiny now and looking around at his friends, each of them was on a level of power incomprehensible to them before this whole ‘tutorial’. It was truly amazing. But... looking back at the corpses in their wake, he’d wondered if they were becoming monsters. They’d just laid waste to dozens of woodland creatures, not for sustenance or self-preservation, but simply to test their new strength.
He shook those thoughts from his mind. They didn’t ask to be sent to the ass end of this alien jungle and they didn’t volunteer to participate in the system initialization. They were thrust into it unwillingly and forced to grasp at survival using whatever means they had lying around. He wasn’t planning to just lie down and take it, so if water bears had to die, then die they shall. At least they’d be eating good for a little while.
The group made their preparations to head back to camp for the evening, they would grill up some fresh water bear steaks and begin the preparations to set out for the Sunken Caverns.
Just over a mile away, on the opposite side of the pond, three humanoid figures peeked over the crest of a rocky outcrop looking down at the group below. “What the fuck should we do about that?” one of the figures said.
“They could be a problem for us. Keep a scout on their tails and find out where they bed down for the night, we’ll bring this back to the boss.” Another figure said. With that, they ducked back behind the hill and were gone.