Kid woke up in his tree and refused to move for a while. The light filtering through the leaves and branches above him told him that it was nearing noon already. He sighed and finally hopped down before stretching to get the kinks out. He still wasn't sure about the questions he was left to think over but he was determined to try and live as best he could for now. It might not be some great answer to all the questions but for now it was good enough for him to move on.

With those thoughts behind him, he began walking out to the road to meet Randy, who said he would be coming around noon. He thought about his current goals and how to accomplish them. The most important thing was to make sure he could find a way to keep his status out of the eyes of everyone, which he had no way to reliably accomplish at the moment so it was best to not focus on that yet. He also wanted to try and get his main level to 20, or as close as possible, before picking up a class. As far as he could determine, picking up a class would drastically slow his species from gaining levels and he wanted to make sure he got as much out of not having a class as he could.

Considering what he might face once he reached the next layer as well, he wanted to try and get his class to 25 before he left. It would probably take him a little longer than even Randy wanted to spend but having that second class skill available as soon as possible seemed like it would be too helpful to ignore. As far as he was concerned he was currently in the safest environment possible to train himself up and he intended to every last thing he could to make the most out of it he could.

Randy soon showed up and after some quick greetings they both headed off to a place where they could hunt some level 20 bears. As they walked, Kid thought about his biggest problem at the moment and decided to try and ask Randy about it.

"Say. Is there some way I can get some kind of item or clothing or something that could hide my status until I can train up my blocking skill?"

"Those types of things do exist, yes. If you're asking if there's a way you can get one before you go to the next layer, then no. I mean, there might be a way I could pull it off if I could leave and go get it myself but until you go to the next layer I can't leave and it could take me as much as a month to get it."

"Right. So, that's not super helpful."

"Well, as much as you may not want to hear it, it might just be best to drop the skill until you can appropriately hide it."

"Ya...the thing about that is...it might not be the only thing I want to hide..."

"You...can't be serious. Well, that's definitely a bigger problem, then. That said, I think you're forgetting something. I said I would give you some help once you got to the next layer. There's a few ways to deal with your problem and I might have a solution. If that ends up not working out then I'd be willing enough to get you one of those items."

"Thanks but why? I mean, I can understand if it's something small or easy but you were saying it was going to take a month which I can't think of as being something easy for someone like you. We don't even know each other that well."

"Right...you're pretty smart, huh. Well, let me ask this first. Do you want the real original reason that sounds worse than it is or just a good reason that's true while being more acceptable? Neither one will be a lie but-"

"But I may not like the first one? Why don't you give me both? It's not like I have much of a choice but to accept whatever you say regardless. I was just curious. Even if I don't like the reason, it's not like I can just head off and do my own thing since that would probably get me killed right now."

"Hmm. Well, to be honest I've been in a similar position as you're in before. There were a few differences, of course, but there's enough similarities that it just makes me kind of want to help out since I'd prefer to not have some people's political bullshit affect you when you just got here. Also, my god has become interested in you and is kind of hoping to draw your interest in some subtle ways."

"Huh. So, why's your god interested in me?"

"*Sigh* Of course you'd keep asking further. Okay, so look. No matter how I try and say this, it's going to sound bad. Try not to take it in a bad way, though. So my god...well...he kind of likes to...collect people? Unique and rare people, mostly. He hasn't been very successful but..."

"I see."

"..."

"Hmm. That's actually kind awesome in way. It makes sense, too. I mean, for them it's got to be like their playing some super advanced video game with things actually at stake or something. I know I did something like that in some of the games I played, so who am I to judge an actual god for doing it when I did the same thing while pretending to be one?"

"So...you're actually okay with that?"

"Well, you're his follower and you seem okay. You haven't really said anything bad about him. Unless he's planning to do something unsavory with the people he's gathering, I don't really see anything wrong with it, really. In a way I can even see it as a good thing since the more unique and strange someone is the more they tend to be ostracized. It's nice to have people and a god that can accept you for who and what you are. A god who not only accepts but actively wants someone like that? I'm actually confused why he hasn't been very successful unless he just has bad advertising or something."

"You're kind of strange, you know that? Well, I'm sure part of why he isn't more accepted is because he has a pretty strict guideline for accepting followers. Unique or rare in some way, long-lived, accepting of some strange things and ideas, willingness and ability to help fellow believers, and no attachments to another god are some of the main ones."

"I can see how I fulfill most if not all of those. The last one seems a little strange, though. He doesn't want anyone converting from another god or something?"

"No. He doesn't mind if they want to convert but a lot of the gods aren't exactly his fans. Because of that there are some people who want to take it a step further and there was an incident some time back where someone decided it would be a favor to their god to pretend to convert over and then wipe us out from the inside."

"I see. Sorry. Didn't mean to bring up bad memories."

"Nah. They didn't succeed, obviously. They just made a new rule be added to gaining any future followers. Anyways...since you seem so accepting already, is there a way I can convince you to come visit our temple at some point?"

"Sure. Why not? I'm not saying I'll immediately become a follower or anything, though. I should probably at least check out some of the other gods as well before I do that."

They both fell into silence after that. It was less awkward than the day before, at least. There was just not much to talk about at the moment. It didn't take long before they reached the hunting grounds of the day and, still in silence, began to hunt the bears. Kid quickly found one and took it down with his revolver. As he reloaded he thought of something and turned to Randy.

"Hey. You're supposed to be my mentor, right?"

"I am your mentor. Why?"

"Well, shouldn't you be...I don't know...mentoring me or whatever? Like...shouldn't I be learning what the common sense of Aeon is or learning some new skills or something?"

"Common sense is called that because it's common. There really isn't much to teach about that that you wouldn't have figured out over the past couple of weeks. I'll watch over you and correct you here and there until we leave just in case if that's what you want but teaching you how to wear pants doesn't really seem like something I should need to do. As for skills...well...I guess you do have kind of a point there. While we hunt I'll start telling you what to do for some skills and if you think of any that you want then just let me know and if I know how to get it or at least have an idea then I'll help with that first."

"Awesome. That's all I wanted."

***

Name: - (Guerilla)

ID(Hidden): 1095341C47-9

Sex: M

Age: 17

Lvl: 16

Exp: 17/256

SP: 11.5 (+2.5 racial)

Stat Points(Hidden):

3.5

2.5 (not Vig)

1.5 (Mnd/Mag)

Species: Cambion(T2)

Race: Etherai, Blood Demon

Role: Hunter

Sta: 146.3/146.3

(Vig/2)

Sta Reg: 64.5/hr

(Dex/5)

Mana: 171.7/171.7

(Mag/2)

Mana Reg: 44.4/hr

(Mnd/10 +50%+7%)

--- Vig Dex

Vit: 95.9

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

(94.1+2%)

Con: 104

(102+2%)

Str: 92.8

(91+2%) Fin: 110

(96.4+10+1.5+2%) Agi: 106.9

(93.4+10+1.5+2%) Spd: 105.7

(92.2+10+1.5+2%) Mnd Mag Int: 93.2

(91.4+2%) Wis: 98.2

(96.3+2%)

Will: 91.9

(90.1+2%)

For: 113.2

(95+10+5+1+2%) Pow: 111.4

(95.2+10+5+1+2%) Spi: 118.9

(100.6+10+5+1+2%) --- Class: + Lvl: 0 Exp: 0/0 Skills: 1. ---

Traits:

Angel Blood, Bidirectional Hearing, Blindsight(ground sense, hearing, water)(5 meters), Blood Domain, Blood Magic Affinity, Glossophobia, Bloodhound, Carnivorous, Curse Absorbent(blood), Dark Magic Affinity, Demon Blood, Dragon Blood, Endoskeleton, Farsight, Four-limbed(bipedal), Kinetic Vision, Night Vision, Nosocomephobia, Trypanophobia(minor)

Racial Skills:

1. Blood Magic(T2) (3) 3. Detect Life(T1) (7) 2. Minor Regeneration(T2) (2) 4. Meditation(T1) (7) 5. Dark Magic(T1) (3)

General Skills:

1. Identify(T1) (6) 4. Block Identify(T1) (1) 2. Magic Circle(T1) (5) 5. Precision(T1) (5) 3. Mana Manipulation(T1) (5) Ultimate Skills:

Titles:

Adrenaline Junkie, Deadeye, Double Death, Guerilla, Hand of Death

Abilities(Hidden):

Blood Manipulation, Draconic Might, Enduring Mana, Mana Burst, Unholy Intimidation

Potential Skills (Hidden):

Aiming(T1), Cooking(T1), Dismantling(T1), Drawing(T1), Jogging(T1), Jump(T1), Knife(T1), Magic Sign(T1), Mana Line(T1), Quickdraw(T1), Rapid Reload(T1), Sneak(T1), Tracking(T1)

After seven days of work he had gone up several levels and gained access to several skills. His slotted skills hadn't improved all that much but he also had been working more on getting new ones than improving his current ones so he wasn't too worried about that. He did notice how it was beginning to take longer to level after each level he gained, though. At the current rate he figured it would take another two week or so before he got to level 20.

Randy soon showed up where he was waiting by the side of the road like normal.

"Hello, my wayward student. I was thinking about it and we should probably head to the second layer in three days at the latest. I know you wanted to try and push your levels up as much as possible before that happened so I thought I'd give you a warning that you're almost out of time."

"Huh? I mean, I'm only at sixteen at the moment. I was going to try and get to twenty before I get my class and then try to get my class to twenty-five before leaving. Is there a reason we have to hurry?"

"Yes. Several, actually. I did tell you that you couldn't stay forever. The system only gives you a month here before it forces you to become a resident, for starters."

"Wait, what?! I wish I'd known about that sooner. If I had been pushing harder I could have been twenty already."

"Maybe. There's also that I planned to try and help you hide for a while, remember? That has a bit of its own timeline. I've been getting some things set up and ready for you and it's taken some time but there's only a certain amount of time we'll have to be able to do anything. So, three days."

"Well, damn! Okay, so can we do like some super hunting today or something? If we really try then..."

"Then? You'd get another level, at most. You'd probably do better to even slow down with hunting and just focus on your skills, instead. That's my advice, anyways."

"Right. Maybe I should go ahead and choose my class and do extra hunting today, then work on skills for our last two days..."

"That would work, too."

"Okay. Give me a moment."

Kid opened up his class options and saw a larger list than he was expecting. The Giant Killer class he was hoping for was there, too. There was another one at the bottom, though, that he swore he hadn't seen in any of the books.

Giant Killer: You wanted and needed to prove yourself and you did. You fought a superior opponent and used the advantages you had available to take them down without letting them easily reciprocate. You are a slayer of the mighty and will prove that true strength is in bravery and not status. Condition: Kill something at least five times your level without help and either without being detected or without coming within five times of the longest natural reach of either party. Benefits: Gain +10% to damage dealt. Gain +5% to damage dealt for every 25 levels the opponent has over you. At level 1 and every 3 levels after gain +1 to Str. At level 2 and every 3 levels after gain +1 to Fin. At level 3 and every 3 levels after gain +1 to Pow. Class Skills: Stealth type, Damage type.

Death Dealer: People have considered you impulsive and crazy but you've proven them wrong. You fought something that most would consider far beyond you by yourself and came out on top. You've done it once and can do it again. You are the one who is ready to deal out death to those who dare to pit themselves against you. Condition: Kill something worth at least 20x your level and collect the Hand of Death title. Benefits: Gain +10% to damage dealt. Gain +0.25% to damage dealt for every level the opponent has over you. Gain +1% to damage dealt per level. At level 1 and every 4 levels after gain +1 to Str. At level 2 and every 4 levels after gain +1 to Pow. At level 3 and every 4 levels after gain +1 to Spd. At level 4 and every 4 levels after gain +1 to Fin. For every day that Hand of Death remains an equipped title reduce the cooldown of the Instant Death ability from the title by 1 minute (minimum of 1 hour). Class Skills: Sense type, Stealth type, Damage type, Accuracy type.

Death Dealer was basically a complete upgrade to what Kid had already determined to be the strongest class he could get. The only thing it left for consideration was whether he should equip his Hand of Death title over Double Death. One got a benefit from his class that would someday be improved into a ridiculously strong ability while the other would help him stay alive. He already knew he was going to pick the class either way so he went ahead and did that as he turned to Randy.

"Quick question. How much can you guarantee my safety until I can at least hide my status?"

"That's kind of random. I told you that my god is interested in you. He will keep trying to get you as a follower until you either accept or choose another god and I have no intentions to anger my god by just letting you get captured or worse so I'll be doing what I can to help for a while now. That said, I don't intend to force you either, so if you decide to just go off and do your own thing then I may not be able to help you anymore. In the end it's safe to say that you'll be safe for as long as you let me keep you that way."

"Right. Thanks. I have a title that can save me in emergencies and a title that gets boosted by my class so I was trying to decide which to have active."

"Is that right? Not even at the second layer and already holding some good titles, huh? Well, when you get your class to a hundred then you might get the chance to equip another title. Something to keep in mind for the future in case you ever feel like dropping a title."

"Oh, really? That would be helpful. Wait, what do you mean by dropping a title?"

"Hm? Well, there are certain occasions and methods and whatnot where you can lose a title altogether. The most commonly known way would be opposing titles. This is common knowledge but there are two titles called The Brave and The Cowardly. You can only have one. If you already have one and fulfill the requirements for the other then you have a choice to lose the one you have to get the other. That's the most common method of dropping a title but there are a few others. So if you have some great titles or titles that are hard to get then it's a good idea to be careful about ever dropping them since technically you can eventually equip more than one."

"Right. With my class, you said. So how do I do that?"

"Like I said, get your class to a hundred. You might get the chance then. Speaking of titles, what level is your identify at?"

"How is that 'speaking of'? Whatever. It's at six, why?"

"Give me a moment, then."

Kid waited for a moment but Randy seemed to be staring off into space without doing much. Deciding to not just do nothing while he waited, he went ahead and tried to switch his title out. He told the prompt 'yes' when it asked if he wanted to deactivate his current title and saw a countdown timer of 24 hours marked as hidden next to the blank that marked his name. Sighing as he closed his status and looked back at Randy, he realized that his mentor was also looking through his status and made some mental notes to remember how it looked so he could try and figure out how to be more stealthy about it himself. Randy finally finished with whatever he was doing and turned his eyes back to Kid.

"Alright, try Identifying me now."

[Dwarf(Ruler of The Frozen Wastelands)][Hunter]

"Wow. That looks...impressive."

"Not as much as you think. I tend to only keep titles equipped to my classes so I forgot about it and tried to choose one that wasn't nearly as strong or rare as some of my best ones. This one should be good enough to let me have some sway in case I need to talk our way out of something in a few days without drawing too much unwanted attention. Anyways, as you can see, Identify will let you see equipped titles at five. Then at ten you can see character levels, at fifteen classes along with their titles, and at twenty class levels."

"Right. I still think it's an impressive title. Are you, like, a king or prince or something?"

"*Sigh* The ruler titles aren't as impressive as you're thinking. All that's required to get one is to own a certain amount of land somewhere and have the system recognize your ownership. Yes, it takes a certain amount of power and money and all that but that's it. I happen to own some land in The Frozen Wastelands and so I have the title."

"Oh. Too bad. Would have been nice to say that some king was my teacher and was offering me protection."

"I'm sure. Now that that's done, though, we should probably get your class leveled some, wouldn't you say?"