Andy spent the better part of an hour walking them over the functions of the base.
Apparently it was persistent now, meaning that if they survived the tutorial, the base would come with them back to Earth. It would continue growing with upgrades becoming larger and able to sustain a greater population.
A larger population meant additional tax income. Taxation seemed great! Nothing like having a local tax man to go along with all of the other amazing system benefits… right?
The system operated on a universal credit standard. There were trillions of factions within system-occupied space, all trading in a standard currency. Individual factions were also able to apply non-credit-related taxation in the form of materials and equipment, which could then be sold on system marketplaces for credits. All in all, it sounded great, although, at this point in the tutorial, they would not have access to system markets. They still needed to ‘prove themselves worthy’.
Immediately valuable to them however were the base management options they’d unlocked. When Andy was describing creating housing and infrastructure, Seth had wondered what exactly that meant. Would they have to chop down trees and build cabins for every new person who arrived? That was a little bit of a yes and no, answer.
Yes, they would need to supply resources to the base resource cache. These resources would be things like wood, stone, ores, and various materials they would uncover on their journey. Materials without any special nanite-infused properties were all categorized the same way by the system. Wood from any tree was just wood. All non-attuned rocks, whether they were granite, marble, basalt, or sandstone… were stone.
Their quantities were generalized by weight, so a ton of twigs would equate to the same amount of wood as a ton of logs. The nanites would break down the supplied materials and use those components to construct the various aspects of their base.
Andy also explained that there were unfathomable numbers of artisan classes available, such as Seth’s Artificer class, that would allow them to influence aspects of the construction and grant new options in the base management ‘store’. Store was an apt name for this function because they could shop for upgrades as if they were buying items online.
An extremely convenient feature of this entire process was that all unmodified materials such as trees or stones within the base rune, were considered in the calculation of resources available. Furthermore, they were given fine control over which of those materials would be harvested. In a selection screen, they could choose which trees to ‘chop down’ or which stones to ‘mine’, allowing them to keep certain natural features as they desired. With the expansion of the rune into the forest, they now had a metric shit ton of material to begin construction with; and begin construction they did.
The group tested the construction features by selecting a few cabins to drop down by the water. They had enough materials for two large cabins which they joined by a communal seating area, complete with a fire pit. This was unreal. Yesterday they were sleeping on ragged hides in the dirt, huddled around a fire, and in… 6 hours or so, they’d each have their own bed. The furnishing options were pretty sparse, and they were still going to be sleeping on piles of hides for now, but they’d have shelter, a fireplace, and a whole host of creature comforts they didn’t have before.
They selected the options and watched as the process began. Nanites began pouring out of the rune, swallowing the trees and stones they’d selected to clear out. They had essentially begun printing these new structures like some high-tech 3D printing process. Which is exactly what was happening. In just 15 minutes or so, the first layer of the homes was complete, and they could see that the logs making up this layer were meticulously recreated as if they’d been chopped down and hauled over there in a single piece.
The next order of business was a wall. A band of assholes had rifled through their belongings and that just wouldn’t do. Beyond that, the jungle was teeming with all sorts of unsavory beings, and having a pack of raptors strolling through their camp wasn’t exactly ideal. Andy had advised them to get a defensive perimeter up as soon as possible.
They opted to keep the design simple and had the base begin constructing a wall along the entire edge of the rune with two large gates leading out from opposite sides of their base. The rune extended far out into the water, so they had the wall continue a short way out into the water and stop. This would prevent creatures from entering the camp from the shallows but would still afford them the nice waterfront view they’d set up for themselves.
“I could get used to this.” Marshall said. He was seated on the ground with his back resting against a large rock that hadn’t been gobbled up. He watched with amusement as the little robot workers transformed their shoddy camp into a real hangout.
Next, it was time to check out their level 10 skills. Andy explained the skill system to them.
“Every 5 levels, you’ll be given a skill point. Rarely, a skill can be obtained through means other than spending a skill point, either as a reward for an achievement or through specific insights into the nanite fabric itself. While in the tutorial, your skill points can be exchanged for skills while in the area of a base rune you have a positive relationship with. At levels 25 and 100 you will have the opportunity to evolve your class, either selecting an entirely new path or enhancing the path you’re currently on. These milestones will also improve your grade. Improving your grade will improve your base stats and class multipliers. As you improve in grade, your natural lifespan, resistance to damage, and ability to inflict damage will improve in turn. Some of the first entities to achieve the highest grades still exist today, effectively immune to the natural aging process.”
They listened intently to Andy as he explained the intricacies. It was weird having Andy around, but it had proven to be an incredibly valuable resource to them. They didn’t ask too many questions though, they were ready to dive into some upgrades.
Calvin cracked open the skill menu looking at the many options available to him. Andy had said that many skills would be offered at each junction. Most of them were tied to the level and always offered, some of them would be unique and offered by the system to highlight certain achievements. Calvin spent a good amount of time pouring through the options. Many of them just weren’t interesting. For example, one of the skills would grant him a stronger punch. He had a spear, why would he want to punch anything? He could see its usefulness if he was disarmed, but in the face of the other options… no thank you.
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Two skills stood out to Calvin, for very different reasons.
Shield Wall: As the vanguard, the Lupine Techlancer finds themselves confronting danger head-on. The techlancer plants their spear in the ground generating a short-lived barrier that can intercept projectiles or slow incoming attacks. This skill replaces Nanite Barrier (Minor) and is a continuously evolving skill, having many options to evolve and grow with the wielder.
Rush: The Lupine Techlancer often finds themselves as the tip of the spear. Rush passively improves the techlancer’s movement speed. Channeling energy into this skill allows to techlancer to cover a short distance at great speed, repositioning either to deliver or avoid a strike. This skill receives enhanced improvements from Speed.
There were a few flashy offensive skills in the list such as some sort of whirlwind strike that would let him deal damage in a wide circle around him, but right now he didn’t feel he was lacking yet in that department. Over the last dozen battles though, he’d come to realize that he had a few shortcomings he needed to shore up. First, he got hit, a lot. And frankly, that sucked. He’d been swatted, thrown around, blasted by wind, electrocuted, scratched, tackled…. you name it. Either of these abilities would allow him to avoid such things. He’d already had his nanite barrier, and this seemed to replace it, but it also came with that interesting line about evolving. Upon questioning Andy, he’d learned that all skills can be evolved through the use of tokens. Tokens were rare and skills that can only be evolved through tokens had fewer options available than skills that evolved on their own. Those skills would evolve through various means such as using the skill, gaining insights into the skill itself, quest rewards, and of course tokens. The paths these skills took were unique and based entirely upon the actions and achievements of the individual.
Rush was another interesting option. It had the advantage of not replacing a skill he already had and gave him a much-needed movement skill. His ability to close the gap or escape a dangerous situation was non-existent at this moment. Thinking back to the encounter with the large statue, a movement skill would have allowed him to take far fewer risks.
Andy, the ever-insightful advisor gave Calvin a few helpful suggestions. Evolving skills were not all that common, while movement skills were exceedingly common. There are even many evolving movement skills. Additionally, evolving skills typically end up growing in power level at a much greater rate than their non-evolving counterparts. Making them a benefit whose dividends keep paying out at an ever-increasing rate. This sealed the deal for Calvin. He would be level 15 soon anyway, and he could explore the option of a movement skill at that time. For now, he would take Shield Wall.
The gains just kept rolling in, as each of them selected their skills and shared their skill menu.
Amy selected Echoing Strike.
Echoing Strike: The Glitch Blade is adept at wielding daggers in all forms. Bending the nanite-fabric to their will, a glitch blade can throw a spectral copy of their weapon at a target, which detonates after a short delay doing minor damage. This copy carries with it intrinsic bonuses built into the thrown weapon. It does not carry any attributes or bonuses imparted to the weapon through skills.
“Damn Ames, we need to test that out pronto!” Marshall exclaimed. With her Sonic Edge, this skill sounded like a big upgrade.
Marshall flashed up his screen with a wink.
Triage Tent: The combat medic can erect a small nanite-infused dome on the battlefield for a short period of time. This dome is highly impervious to damage and removes the combat medic from combat for a short duration, allowing the use of skills without negative combat modifiers. This skill has a high MP cost and long recharge.
“I figured with Calvin always getting his ass beat, I should try and help him out a bit. It’s the least I could do for a pal. I didn’t get anything to deal with that monstrosity on your face, but maybe Seth picked up a barber skill.”
Calvin rolled his eyes at the comment but knew it was mostly true. A skill like this could save their ass big time. Marshall had no room to talk about the beard though. They were all looking pretty scruffy now. Well, except Amy of course.
Ian scored a pretty big upgrade in more ways than one. First was his newly obtained skill.
Attuned Wall: The nanomancer is able to bend the environment to their will. By channeling nanite energy into this skill, the nanomancer can erect an elemental wall at any location within their line of sight. The duration and size of this skill is determined by the caster’s Control. The composition of the wall is limited by the elemental skills currently available to the caster.
As far as he understood it, he would be able to erect a magical barrier on a whim. He currently had access to lightning, earth and fire spells, giving him a wide range of utility in such a skill. Speaking of fire spells, he’d also opted to use his evolution token on Enkindle. The others had decided to save their tokens for now, however, when Ian saw the options presented to him, he didn’t hesitate for a moment. He was now able to affect spatial points outside of his immediate line of sight, which he understood would allow him to spontaneously generate fire inside of something. That would certainly come in handy.
He also opted to increase the overall power of the skill. He’d teetered on either that, or adding two more potential targets, but with Storm Surge and the low recharge of Rock Shot he felt he was already pretty good at saturating an area with pain. Enkindle had quickly lost much of its effectiveness, only performing superficial damage to most things they’ve encountered by now and he really wanted to have a fire skill that pulled its weight.
Seth went in a slightly different direction with his choice. He didn’t focus on primarily combat-oriented skills, of which he was presented with quite a few. He felt his utility was best served in a support capacity. The team was flush with damage and defensive skills at the moment but was extremely lacking in equipment. He chose a rather interesting skill. It was called Runebinding. It was a crafting skill primarily, which would allow him to etch runes into various objects. It sounded like some sort of enchanting skill at first, and it was, but he’d talked with Andy about it and the applications were far more numerous. For example: He would be able to etch something like his Runic Snare onto a stone and store it away in his pouch, giving him a deployable snare that didn’t rely on combat casting. The downside to this was that Runic Snare only cost MP to cast. Etching required infusing the rune with materials. With runes such as traps and snares, they were often a single-use item, meaning the cost could be substantial depending on the materials required. Seth was already working ideas over in his head and really wanted to spend some time in camp with his skills.
What did you get girl? Calvin asked through his link.
Within just a moment, Freya popped up her skill menu for everyone to see. The fact that she could interact with the system and control it no longer baffled the group, who at this point felt like they’d seen everything.
Afterimage: The Lupine Guardian phases through space reappearing a short distance away, leaving behind an identical duplicate. This afterimage is incorporeal, cannot be damaged and cannot perform any actions. It is a visual illusion. This is a continuously evolving skill, having many options to evolve and grow with the wielder.
“Nice Freya!” Calvin gave her a little pat while he mentally flicked a treat out of her pouch.
Freya’s tail kicked up a small cloud of dust at her praise.