Lucas stared at the intruder with the intensity of a predator seeing his favorite meal walk into its den. There was no fear of this creature, he had defeated it before, but Lucas knew that he would be hard pressed to win this fight. Teeth designed to rip and tear could be seen just inside the slavering jaws of this furry behemoth. Claws that could rend and tear Lucas’ unprotected flesh adorned the ends of powerful legs that could spring more than four times the creatures height in one smooth motion. In addition to that the creature had preternaturally sharp hearing and smell, making it incredibly difficult for Lucas to sneak up on it.

Lucas crawled forward, slowly but steadily approaching his nemesis. One false move and he would be spotted and thus lose the advantage of surprise. If that happened, a tough fight became almost impossible without using skills that he had sworn, with the most sacred of oaths, not to use.

Just one more shuffle forward and Lucas would be within striking range. Slowly. Slowly. There. Lucas prepared to spring. The muscles of his thighs and back tense with potential energy. With the merest whisper of breath, Lucas released all of that pent up energy and shot forward towards his opponent.

Sneak Attack Partial Success!

Your attempt to attack your opponent from stealth was unsuccessful as your opponent was aware of your presence, yet you still managed to initiate combat with an advantage.

Bonus Applied to Initial Attack: 50% increased damage (normally 150% increased damage)

Sneak Attack Progress: 13%

Sneak Attack Skill Level 2: 98% towards next level.

(Experience rewards for all levels gained in skill deferred until full System Access is acquired)

With an audible thump, Lucas landed on the back of his opponent from above. His opponent let out a mighty roar and attempted to contort around and get his fangs around Lucas’ neck, but Lucas was firmly in place on the creature’s back and could not be dislodged. The creature swiftly changed tactics and attempted to roll repeatedly and either crush Lucas, dislodge him, or, if it was incredibly lucky, both.

Lucas tucked his chin and held on tightly with his arms and legs, but his opponent had taken his measure. With two handfuls of thick black fur, Lucas came free from the creatures back and rolled into the wall.

You have become dazed.

20% Reduction applied to perception, dexterity, and wisdom for 30 seconds.

(Potency and Duration reduced due to resistance)

Lucas disregarded the message and jumped back into combat. The messages came repeatedly but he refused focus on them and they faded into the background. The creature was preparing to attack for the first time in this battle and Lucas needed to be ready. The creature crouched and sprang at Lucas with its claws extended, ready to make this interloper pay for disturbing its rest and, most importantly, damaging its pride.

Lucas attempted to dodge, but he wasn’t fast enough or agile enough to completely negate the creatures attack. A sharp claw tore through Lucas’ shirt and drew a line of blood across his chest. The strike caused Lucas’ already dubious balance to degrade as he came out of his roll and he struck an end table.

Both opponents froze immediately when the vase of flowers struck the floor with a resounding crash.

“Lucas Stanley Winthrop Hunter,” came Lucas’ mother’s voice from the kitchen. “By all that is holy, you better hope that you didn’t break your grandmother’s vase.” There was a brief pause and the sound of steps as she came into the living room from the kitchen. “Of course, you broke your grandmother’s vase,” she said wearily, “and you tore your shirt. Your father’s going to tan your hide when he gets here. We’ve told you not to roughhouse inside.” Lucas’ mother’s bright blue eyes were full of disappointment as she stared at her wonderful, beautiful, infuriating, miracle of a son. At only six years old he could already read like an adult, and made a habit of reading anything he could get his hands on. He also spoke far more eloquently than any six year old had a right to. The down side was that he got in to everything. Just last week she had found him on the roof with his head jammed down the chimney while he tried to stuff the rest of his body into it. By his side was that ridiculously named demon his father called a pet. She still wasn’t sure how he had gotten on the roof to begin with and no threat had worked so far to loosen his tongue.

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“Well, come here,” she said. “Let me fix the shirt.”

Lucas walked over to his mother, head hanging in shame. His pet void cat, an animal that the adventurers guild called a threat to any party that ventured into its habitat, hid behind the couch with its tail tucked under it. No matter how fearsome it may one day be, right now it only hoped to stay out of the way of the matriarch. It knew that when she had that tone of voice it may end up sleeping in the barn for a week or more living off of rats. It hated rat.

When Lucas got within reach his mother reached down with her alabaster hands, still smooth as silk after years of living on the edge of the wilderness and released a small bit of hearth magic. First, the scratch on Lucas’ chest changed from a bright red with a small streak of blood to neat scab, mostly healed. Second, the shirt itself seemed to come together. Torn pieces of cloth found their matching remnants on the other side of the tear and joined back together, slowly the tear faded away as if it was never there.

“Now, I want you to go to your room and wait for your father to come home because you are going to explain to him exactly how you managed to break your grandmother’s vase,” she said with finality. She then turned to the cat, which stood as tall at the shoulder as her son’s waist. She didn’t even have to say anything, she simply made eye contact and pointed towards the open front door and the cat ran out as if the hounds of Harvan’s hell were on its tail.

Lucas shuffled to his room without a word. Luckily, there was plenty of time before his father came home. He entered his room and climbed onto his bed. He then reached under his pillow and grabbed stick. It was a fortunate find, stick. Perfectly straight except at the end where a branch was snapped off to make a perfect hook a few centimeters from the tip. The tip itself was split and allowed Lucas to fit the stick perfectly in the latch for his shutters, which his parents had inconveniently placed too high for his six-year-old height. He was sure that it was an oversight on their part, but never bothered to broach the subject with them since he did have stick. With a quick flick of the wrist, one of the shutters opened and two yellow eyes awaited him. He moved back to the head of his bed, replaced stick, and embraced his void cat as it leapt into the bed with him.

He took a moment to acknowledge the blue boxes. He couldn’t make out all of the words but he understood what each meant on an instinctive level. Before he started reading, they were just a feeling he had from the world, no boxes, no words, just knowledge that appeared in his head with a noise.

Congratulations!

Stealth has leveled up.

Stealth Level 3 > Level 4

Stealth Level 4: Progress 0%

(Experience rewards for all levels gained in skill deferred until full System Access is acquired)

Not all boxes stayed around, but he had to pay attention to any that talked about his skills or they wouldn’t go away and he got a headache. He waited a moment then “looked” at the last box.

Congratulatons!

You have learned the skill Dodge

By using your knowledge of your opponent and your natural agility, you have successfully avoided a blow that would have caused catastrophic damage.

Dodge Level 1: Progress 0%

(Experience rewards for all levels gained in skill deferred until full System Access is acquired)

He couldn’t help but sigh. His dad wasn’t going to be happy that he learned another skill. Maybe he wouldn’t ask.

“As long as they don’t ask, it’s not a lie,” he said to his cat.

The cat just stared back for a moment before shoving his head into Lucas’ stomach and demanding head scratches. He was likely doomed to spend the next few days subsisting on rat thanks to his master’s escapades and he was going to get all the scratches he could before the matriarch found out he was inside.

+ + + + +

Stan returned home from the forest with the carcass of a horned bear in tow. The bear carcass was as thick as three grown men had to weigh at least a thousand kilos with a dark red tint at the tips of the light brown fur. The horn itself had been broken off at some point in the past and a small nub on the bear’s muzzle was all that remained. Stan was pulling the giant carcass on a small sled that he had commissioned years ago with weight reduction and stability enchantments. That one carcass would supplement their diet for the rest of the season with the fur providing enough credit in town to cover the family’s expenses for a year. It was an extremely lucky kill, one that Stan wouldn’t have been able to accomplish alone if the bear hadn’t been injured. So, Stan was in an uncommonly good mood when he got home until he saw his mother’s vase.

When Lucas heard his father’s voice in the living room he knew that his slight reprieve was over. With a resigned sigh, the six year old pushed his bright red hair out of his eyes and pulled stick out from under his pillow. The cat gave him one last head butt before leaping through the open window and pushing the shutter back into place for Lucas to latch. He had just replaced stick when his father opened the door to his room.

“So, your ma’ tells me that you n’ the cat were fighting in the living room,” began Stan. “I thought we had a talk about this, son. Your ma’ don’t have the energy to keep up with you, and you know better than to be fighting inside. You broke a valuable memento and caused your ma’ no end of grief trying to put it back together. She was in tears when I came in.”

“I’m sorry,” muttered Lucas. He didn’t make eye contact with his father and sat on the edge of his bed with eyes downcast.

“Well, you know what I gotta do,” his father replied.

“Yes sir.”

“You know why I’m doing this?” asked his father as he pulled out the strap.

“Yes sir,” replied Lucas. At least, he tought as he turned around and grabbed the edge of his bed, he didn’t ask about the new skill.

Pain Resistance skill increased

Pain Resistance Level 3 progress 5%

Pain Resistance Level 3: 15% towards next level.