While I sat alone on watch, I took the opportunity to reflect on what had happened. Killing that many armed combatants was lucrative for Experience Points, even though the lion’s share was restricted to Skills for my pets. It was strange how Experience Points worked. Killing a dozen creatures one at a time was not as potent as killing a dozen all together. Perhaps it was because the actual challenge is what mattered. Indeed, going back now to kill Giant Frogs would yield nothing for me even though they had once been most profitable. I observed a noticeable bonus for the fact that I had not just killed many soldiers, but I also wiped out their unit as a whole and captured their standard.

I could now appreciate why enemy Adventurers would bother joining the military campaign. I am sure few cared about the war as a whole and the politics involved, but getting paid handsomely to sharpen their Skills must have been an alluring prospect. Not that anyone else gained Experience Points like I did. Their system of Blessings, to which mine only paid lip service, was far more abstract. Exercising their Skills in meaningful ways unlocked new Skills or improved existing ones. As such, placing well in a yearly flower competition was just as rewarding to a [Gardener] as a war was to a soldier (and whatever Blessing he or she actually had that was usurped by the standard). By the same vein, growing a good harvest during a famine was exceptional for a [Farmer], even if it took no more effort than would be needed in a year of plenty.

I came to a crossroad. Well, a figurative one, for I still sat still and kept watch while making my choices. For The Boys, I had a choice to continue them down a route of being a big, bad, scary monster that stomped around and wrecked everything and everyone. It provided them with increased strength and raw power, which would be great for devastating huge areas. The only other available route made them smaller in size, but quicker, more cunning, and more refined and flexible in what they could do both in and outside a fight. Considering they were already larger than most buildings and perhaps not even fully grown, I decided the first option was a poor choice. Their mother was much larger than I was, but I was too nimble for her to deal with, and I did not want The Boys to face the same fate.

I decided to skip over the first path, [Evolve Hydra - Tyrant of Desolation], and picked the second one, [Evolve Hydra - Master of Many]. From the description, it suggested that each head of the hydra would earn Skills in a different area of expertise, and thus as more heads were gained, entire new Skill sets would be available to them. It was the slower route that paid a bigger return on investment, and considering I was not living in a dangerous world (sans the current war), it seemed to fit my needs. Plus, The Boys would like it, for large and scary monsters do not get offered much in the way of snacks or belly rubs from the general masses of a city.

Plato, the leader, unlocked a myriad of Skills for water magic, which certainly matched the breath attacks he had used in the fight. He also no longer needed to keep his tail in a body of water to fuel his Skills, which I had suspected was perhaps an issue, but also apparently no longer one. Socrates, ever cautious and inquisitive, gained a plethora of poison spells. More importantly, he provided protection against such things, and considering all the mediums of delivery and the various types of poisons in the world, that would undoubtedly become an important asset. Aristotle, my reckless and shy bundle of joy, was all about fire. It remained his first and last problem solving tool when startled. While not great at actually stopping things from getting to him if they were already in motion, it would provide a deterrent to anything more clever than a boulder chucked his way.

With what other Experience Points I had to spend on them, I shored up their defenses and stamina. I figured they could win a slugfest if it were drawn out, so I wanted them capable of weathering the storm. I also focused on Skills to help their coordination and general wisdom. They may not be performing complex math calculations any time soon, but they would at least have more than just base instinct to rely upon when assessing and responding to threats. In part, they could even tap into some of my own wisdom, and so if I had faced a particular creature in the past, they would know what strategies those creatures used. Or put another way, some of the benefits of my [Deeds] applied to them. Overall, while their size had decreased, they were now tougher than a brick shithouse with a hefty arsenal of tools to utilize for “conflict resolution”.

For my beloved Giant Frogs, they each had a few ways to go for advancement in their innate Blessing of [Giant Frog]. I rejected ones like [Speed Demon], [Rock Hopper], [Froggy Longlegs] (which was nightmare fuel), and [Bullfrog Dozer] for Hopper. They all felt to be way too specialized and a bit comical for my tastes. Similarly, Ribbette had options like [Tea Frog], which focused on poison through prepared drinks, [Licker of Death], which focused on licking things and being licked to transfer poisons, and [Tadpole Patroller], which focused on using offspring to deliver poisons as well as Abilities to aid in scouting. Perhaps whatever system governed Blessings was having a lark at my expense.

However, I found an interesting matchup for them both that seemed to fit thematically while also providing small bonuses to each other because they matched. I chose [Kaeru Kenshi] for Hopper and [Kiri No Kaeru] for Ribette. I only vaguely understood what they meant, like I heard them in passing, and even then, my memory could just be wrong. I am pretty sure they were meant to mean “Frog Swordsman” and “Frog of Fog” respectively, but my vague knowledge of languages from other lifetimes was not very solid in those days, and my Skills reflected what I knew.

These changes were both cosmetic and functional to their form, but additionally, they would be more intelligent than before. Not a high bar to beat, but I’ll take it. I likewise continued with Skills to increase their defenses, perception, and means of being sneaky. They had already proven to be quite deadly, so I banked on the idea that an upgrade to their Blessing would not somehow make them less effective. I aimed to make Hopper more well-rounded while Ribette would be focused on hit and run attacks with strong alpha strikes, moderate cooldowns, and a need for some preparation before she could unload.

For myself, I gobbled up everything I could find to make my pets more efficient on my own person and mana. Having half my mana drained in under ten minutes during their debut was not endearing me to forsake such an investment. That Skill investment led to mana drain being significantly reduced when my pets were idle while summoned as well as having mana regenerated during certain activities, such as them performing a combination attack with each other or me. Again, all of it was suggested to me in abstract terms, but I wagered the coming battle would provide me with ample opportunity to test things out.

As for what I could freely spend on myself, I decided to bolster areas where I was weak. I had never been in a party before, so working as a team and indeed leading a team were both well outside my wheelhouse. I gobbled up all the small goodies I could find. For example, [Leadership - Decisive] to help bolster my confidence at leading and to give direct and clear commands. It would help me with things like saying, “Skull, put out that fire,” instead of “Someone needs to put out that fire”. Such subtle and seemingly innocent clarifications for orders could prevent the wrong number of people being dispatched to solve a problem. Another Skill, [Teamwork - Trust], gave me an innate and seemingly supernatural sense as to the intent and capabilities of my teammates in a fight. It would guide me to getting out of the way as they launched an attack, or convince me to make a leap of faith, trusting that a teammate would use some special Ability to ensure I succeeded at something that would otherwise be foolhardy.

Sadly, my [Age] category of Skills remained gated by the passing of time. Other than [Deeds] providing boosts to it, I was not going to get anything good from it any time soon. The fact that everything in my [Deeds] web of Skills remained a mystery until they were accomplished remained irksome for how I could leverage them harder. Perhaps at some point I would unlock a Skill to scout out the [Deeds] web, but for now all I could do was try to accomplish new things and try not to die.

And it was at this point in picking my Skills that something odd occurred. I don’t think it was anything related to the most recent Skill I had picked, but all my Skills for teamwork, pets, social networking, and all that ilk shifted into a brand new Skill web called [Social]. New Skills replaced the ones left behind in the other webs, Skills that appeared to be a hair more powerful than their neighbors of comparable cost. I know I have been vague about things until now, but that brought my Skill webs to [Hoard], [Age], [Survival], [Social], and [Deeds]. I marveled at the implications as I watched the grand visual display that accompanied it, all performed in the theater of my mind. The old Skills burned away like parchment to flame with new ones rising out of the ashes. The new Skill web seemed to unfold like some complex origami contraption.

Now I had to go back through with my remaining Experience Points and check over everything from top to bottom. I found it to be a little annoying, but ultimately more exciting than anything. Would I be able to unlock something like [Combat] if I picked up more Skills directly related to my martial prowess, or perhaps [Magic] if I dabbled more into the arcane? I knew not the mechanics that drove this change nor what prerequisites I would need for it to occur. Would I need the right [Deeds] and a certain number of thematically related Skills for this to happen again? Would having Skills getting snatched up by one new Skill web make other webs impossible to unlock? The mysteries were endless, and so now I had to consider not just how good a Skill itself would be, but also how that may lead to new or improved Skill webs.

Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

I would have killed to unlock a Skill that worded things in concrete terms, and indeed I had been killing things left and right to that end. My Experience Points collectively were more like a cistern of water that I could use to fill up Skills until they unlocked. I could take estimates as to how costly Skills were, but without clear numbers, the math behind it remained dicey. It would also have been nice to see myself in such terms. I knew I possessed great strength and could lift several times my own weight, but it would have been nice to see some page of statistics where I could see it clearly labeled, such as “Strength - 50”, but alas, such was not to be had. Take for example [Veil of Shadows], my number one move for being sneaky.

[Veil of Shadows: An active Skill that weaves shadows around you, making you more difficult to detect and observe. Decreased efficiency and effectiveness as light levels increase.]

Why did it say “detect and observe”? Did “observe” mean that it was painful to look at me, much as how I felt dread and apprehension when trying to watch Skull use her shadowy Skills? How much mana does it use, and how much worse is it in bright light? I hoped to see it written more like this:

[Active - Shadow - Stealth - Veil of Shadows: Use 10 mana per second to become more difficult to detect. Anyone looking at you feels a compulsion to look away. Decreased efficiency and effectiveness as light levels increase, up to 50 mana per second in bright daylight.]

Now that description would easily tell me if a Skill was Active or Passive, what school of magic or what have you related to it, what general category of use it belonged to, the name of the Ability, and a detailed description with numbers and math. Not that I knew how much mana I had in quantitative terms. I had to take notes in a book just to keep everything straight and try to catalog what I had like some sort of barbarian. Where was my snarky spirit guide who would explain it all to me and make suggestions? Maybe I’m just a grumpy old-timer. “Back in my day, we didn’t have numbers in our Skills. We just had to figure it out and keep track of it in our heads. You won’t always have a calculator on you to sum up how much your Skills cost.” Bah!

Realistically, I could only spend Experience Points for Skill unlocks in [Survival] and [Social]. It made sense that violence rewarded Experience Points for [Survival], so now the question became if [Social] would also get the same treatment? After all, violence was the universal language. Pretty much any challenging task also gave Experience Points to [Survival], and somehow murdering monsters could then equate to me being better at knowing a good price for gravy boats with my [Appraise - Sundries] when it was still part of [Survival]. So, if I managed to create a [Combat] web of Skills, would I lose that benefit and have to spend more time at thrift stores haggling over trivial goods to continue advancing other Skills in [Survival] if the advanced webs did not gain Experience Points from violence? Or would it work like how my pets gave mostly Experience Points towards Skills related to them, but also gave me a portion to spend freely?

I did not have any good answers to these questions. Simply unlocking the [Social] Skill web had provided a generous number of Skills for free. It also unlocked more advanced Skills that I had not seen when it was all part of [Survival]. Perhaps the price of better Skills was a restriction on how easily they could be earned. I felt like I was tiptoeing all around the answer, but all I could do was continue to strive for more Skill webs unlocking and hope I did not paint myself into a corner.

At least my [Hoard] kept pace with my expectations. The standard I had captured gave me an aura that increased the mana efficiency of myself and allies near me. Mind you, that is an effect for me as long as the standard is in my [Hoard], not the effect of the standard itself as it had for a military unit. Sadly, it would not function while it was within my pocket dimension, so I would need to deposit it in my home at some point to reap the benefit provided. It also unlocked a [Deed], [Spoils of War - Appraise], which would allow me to quickly spot valuable goods in an enemy camp and to have a better understanding of their market price value.

Some potential Skills were rather wild and permanent in nature. Most combat-themed Blessings have some Ability themed around the concept of “haste”, or generally moving and attacking faster. They all flavor it differently and have slightly different mechanics that drive it, but the general effect is the same. I had the offer to take this little gem:

[Fools Rush In - You can no longer activate any Haste Abilities, but you automatically gain an improved version of the most powerful Haste ability activated near you while that Ability lasts. This is a passive skill.]

This would vastly change my combat style, especially since it said “Abilities” and not “skills” or “Skills”. “Abilities” was a broader term, including magical items, potions, spells that others had trained you in using, boons from gods, and so forth. I had a handful of weak actives and passives to help me with moving faster for combat purposes (which Skills certainly seem to differentiate between combat and everyday use). Even being around enough people who had barely restrained hostility towards you could deactivate Skills that were not meant for combat, and so mean-mugging someone before mugging them was a valid strategy. This Skill would devastate anyone who relied on Haste effects, but it would leave me rather lacking when trying to overpower people who had no such Abilities, whether they be from Skills, items, or other effects.

I had not been too reliant on haste so far. Mine was [Charging Dragon], and it offered tremendous speed when charging at an enemy. I rarely used it since laying traps and generally “peeling the onion” against my foes was my preferred strategy. On one hand, I would not be reliant on it to win a fight, but on the other, I would have less practical experience at how to utilize it effectively unless I had a training partner who could give me Haste. I decided it was a worthwhile trade, and so I took that Skill.

In a similar vein for potent Skills, I had this Skill as well:

[School’s Out - This passive Skill gives bonuses when not using the same school of magic as the previous active Ability used. Using an Ability of the same school of similar magnitude in a row gives penalties. Each Ability magnitude maintains a separate tracker.]

Boy, that mouthful had a lot to unpack. I think I understood the gist of the “magnitude” part in that I could not cheese the rule by using my cheapest Skill on mana to thread my Ability combo together. It also meant that the record was distinct for different potency levels of Abilities, the exact specifics of which Abilities go into which brackets remaining nebulous. I would have to play around with it to see where things fell. Additionally, what the “bonuses” were that it provided were also vague, but I like bonuses, vague and otherwise, so it seemed acceptable.

I had been abstaining from devoting myself to any particular school of magic. I wanted to keep my options open and to have the correct answer to any given problem without needing to resort to overwhelming force. I was almost doing as the Skill described anyway, so with some practice and discipline, it would just become natural to me. With no obvious downsides to going down this route, I took the Skill.

The real breadwinner of them all was for what I had been doing completely up until now.

[Forsake Armor - This passive Skill gives strong bonuses while you are not wearing armor, excluding shields.]

I have never worn armor. It is expensive, it needs to be constantly repaired, and it can be easily outgrown with the need for higher quality as one advances in power. I had been relying on my technical skill in combat, quick movements, positioning, and healing abilities to compensate. Granted, some plucky youth who picked up a sword to gallivant off to fight monsters as an Adventurer had no training to fall back on, so I was rather fortunate to have such a luxury. I could also see the outlines of Skills that branched off from it, so I damn near could not accept the Skill fast enough once I saw it. Additionally, I was already tougher thanks to my [Age] Skills, so any weapons that could pierce my skin would also go right through whatever armor I could afford.

Those three major Skills cemented my combat style and how I would advance in the future. I would keep my eyes peeled for more like that, but I currently had none. I would kill for some Skills themed around using a shield. Shields are always good and go with most weapons, but being stuck with, say, daggers, would make one pretty worthless when fighting oozes or other things that generally lack any concern about being stabbed. Even the less martially-inclined Platinum Adventurers have several different kinds of weapons so that they can deal with different kinds of threats. Getting pigeonholed into one weapon type is a trap that Silvers fall into.

Other than my emergency reserve of Experience Points to help me in a pinch to solve niche problems, I had acquired everything I could for new Skills. I spent some time in deep thought for how I could deploy them to the best effect, formulating several contingencies for different scenarios that were likely to unfold in the war. I looked forward to trying some of them out, so for me, dawn could not come soon enough.