Chapter 9: New Class, New Struggle

After dismissing the first message in front of him a new one popped up in front of him.

Congratulations on gaining a new affinity!

For being the first human to gain the Fire affinity, you will be given +1 Vitality and the skill Fire Manipulation as reward.

Tide let out a laugh, relieved to see that he managed to get the Fire affinity in time. He dismissed this message as well, and another took its place. The prompts were a bit backed up.

This was the message Tide and many others were looking forward to the most.

Analyzing status and actions…

As the system was making up its mind, all Tide could do was cross his fingers and hope for the best.

Most optimal classes:

* Geomancer (Rare)

* Sage (Epic)

* Elementalist (Unique)

Please Make Your Choice Now:

Tide was beyond overjoyed when he saw his choices. A rare, epic, and even a unique class to pick from!

As he saw his old class, a wave of nostalgia hit him. He partially wanted to pick it again because he knew what he would be getting, but he knew he needed something that would make him stronger than last time. While the rare rating was better than what most could hope for, it was nothing compared to the other two. In his last life he had only met a handful of individuals with an epic class, and they tended to devastate the battlefield. Even more exciting was the possibility of a unique level class, a rarity he had never even heard of let alone seen.

Sage seemed like a class revolving around wisdom being the primary stat , taking on a more supportive role. As much as Tide would’ve loved to be an all-knowing old man with a long wispy beard, he was even more intrigued by what the last choice offered.

“Fuck it, might as well go big.” Tide muttered underneath his breath, selecting Elementalist from the list.

Congratulations on selecting the Unique class Elementalist.

You have learned the new skill ‘Manipulate Element’ which has replaced Earth Manipulation, Water Manipulation, and Fire Manipulation.

You have learned the new skill ‘Bind Golem’

You have learned the new skill ‘Elemental Augmentation’

Each level up you will gain five distributable stat points.

Good luck!

Tide was excited to look at each of his new spell's descriptions when he noticed something weird nearby.

Out of the corner of his eyes he saw a faint shimmering in the air, Causing him to instantly beon full guard and pull his axe out of the storage ring. After a couple of seconds, the distortion began to become more visible until a massive wolf appeared out of thin air in the same way the ring had just three days ago.

Tide was prepared for this and was already swinging the axe before the wolf could even figure out its situation. The axe impacted the wolf but only made a superficial cut before being stopped by the wolf’s tough flesh.

As Tide stared at the beast, he tried to inspect it and pull its description up. A small window popped up showing extraordinarily little information.

Dire Wolf

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Level 12

Stats:????

Skills: ????

Almost panicking seeing how high the wolf’s level was. He must have wandered too far from the town.

The wolf quickly jumped back out of reach, wimpering in surprise at the sudden attack. A blood red bar flashed above its head showing barely a sliver missing. It quickly figured out the source of its pain and angrily snarled at Tide.

“Well fuck, why couldn’t it have been a bunny or a slime.” Tide muttered, preparing for the charging wolf.

Just before it reached him, he swung the axe like a baseball bat aiming for the wolf’s skull. Much to his surprise, the wolf ducked under the swing and swiped at him with its paw. The sheer impact sent him flying, feeling like he got hit by a cannonball. He landed on the edge of the river, and he dropped his axe mid-flight. He quickly scrambled to his feet and tried to escape the riverbank onto more stable footing.

As he stood up, he coughed up a spray of blood. Looking at his health, he saw that the wolf’s attack left him with about three quarters left.

The wolf was not idle as Tide recovered and he saw it begin to charge at him once again. It began to bite and claw at Tide who could only scramble backwards to avoid the assault.

Some of these attacks grazed his arms and legs, leaving him with rivulets of blood streaming down his limbs. As he dodged backwards, the roar of the waterfall's slowly became louder and louder.

This made Tide realize that he was quickly running out of real estate to dodge the wolf’s relentless attacks, as it continued to press Tide ever closer to the edge.

Soon his back was up against the cliff, only a handful of feet separating him and a tumble into the jagged rocks below.

As if the wolf had sensed Tides' dilemma it backed up a small amount and got ready to pounce upon him to finish this battle, likely lunging for his throat.

Using this brief window of time, Tide pulled his shovel out of storage and managed to hold it in front of himself, wedging it into the wolf’s mouth as it knocked him flat onto his back. The force caused him to shred his back and slide right up to the sheer edge of the cliff.

As the wolf continued to press its weight down onto him, Tide strained to keep his arms steady on the shovel. Saliva dripped out of its mouth onto Tide’s face, hungry for its first meal.

While the wolf couldn’t clamp on to Tide’s throat like it intended, was still able to shred his chest and legs with its powerful paws.

Grinding his teeth, Tide fought through the pain and brought his legs up under himself and sent most of his mana pool into the ground. Together, his legs and a writhing column of dirt slammed into the beast’s chest forcing it upward and over Tide’s head soaring past the cliff’s edge. It flew for a brief second before plummeting down into the sharp rocks below.

Tide just laid there worriedly looking at his health bar which had but a fifth remaining.

He laid there for a couple of moments recovering mentally from the near-death experience. He was still in great pain, but he managed to force himself up and away from the drop. If another wolf or something showed up, he would be easy prey. Grunting, he made his way over to camp and packed up his supplies before findinghis axe. He took a quick dip into the river to clean off the dirt and blood on his wounds before using his shirt to fashion some makeshift bandages.

At this point he made his way down the cliff carefully to loot the wolf’s body, but once he finally got to the bottom, he heard a faint whimpering.

“Of course it isn’t dead” Tide complained as he readied his axe and made his way to the edge of the pit. Once he found the beast, he saw that the wolf was in a miserable state. Its’ spine was twisted in an unnatural way, and it was almost certainly paralyzed.

Tide put it out of its misery with a couple of axe strikes on the beast's neck. A small mercy to the beast, but he really just wanted to get the experience and loot from the creature.

As soon as its head came off, the wolf’s body faded away into wisps of light. After they faded, a system window popped up in front of him.

Level up!

Level up!

You now have 10 stat points ready to be distributed!

Tide quickly waved this window away. He would have to figure out how his class worked before deciding to spend his stat points. What was much more interesting was the second window that appeared in front of him.

Congratulations on completing the Achievement “David and the Goliath”

For being the first to kill a monster more than ten levels higher than you with no help, you will receive a Gold tier reward!

Calculating reward…

Reward being delivered…

Complete!

As soon as the window finished this process it disappeared, and a classic treasure chest appeared in front of him. Excited at the thought of some kind of rare loot, Tide walked forward and opened it up. The pain of his wounds hurt much less at the thought of a cool new item.

Much to his surprise, inside the box was a tiny wolf pup. Its fur was pitch black and its eyes a dark brown. It wasn't moving and just laid asleep in the box. Confused, Tide tried to check the pup's info. Instead of a status screen for the pup, a different window appeared in front of him.

Would you like to bond with the “Black Dire Wolf Cub”?