When the pain started to fade, and Ambrose could open his eyes once more, his surroundings were changed. He was no longer holding onto anything and no threads were visible in the area around him. Instead Ambrose stood around a small campfire, its light and warmth holding off a violent storm that raged wherever the brightest light wasn’t.
Wind and rain tore at a forest around him, cracks of ominous lightning flashed all around, tearing into the trees and ground with impunity. The fire stood as the only bastion, only the few items bathed in its immediate warmth were protected. The fire was fed by six hearty logs, small items surrounded the fire, all utilising it, trying to protect it, or also trying to fight off the impossible storm.
Ambrose huddled up against the fire, and sat watching as his surroundings were destroyed and reborn in an endless cycle where only he stood safe. Eventually the darkness grew deeper until only the light of the fire remained.
Ambrose awoke, laying in blood and dirt. He couldn’t be sure how long it had been but the smoke was gone, it was still light out though.
A golden pane of glass interrupted his contemplation, pushing its way into his vision.
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CONGRATULATIONS OUTWORLDER, YOU HAVE DEFINED YOURSELF
You are an Adventurer.
Error Character removed
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CONGRATULATIONS OUTWORLDER, YOU HAVE DEFINED YOURSELF
You are a Flame Against The Storm.
Anything to survive, you stand in defiance.
Fight to survive: Effects of Skills directly contributing to your survival are increased.
Fuel the flame: Learning rate of Skills directly contributing to your survival are increased.
Burn them all: All damage increased against creatures that have wronged you.
Ability gained: The Flame That Burns.
The Flame That Burns: The storm may tear you down but you burn brighter in spite until the end.
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Energy flooded into Ambrose’s body as his wounds visibly healed in front of him. The physical body was fully healed, but the pain from his actions inside of his breakthrough lingered, seeping into every inch of flesh.
“Congratulations on breaking through your first barrier, Ambrose, and on defeating the Ousted King.”
Ambrose dismissed the remaining notifications for now, he already knew the result of the most interesting ones, and he still had work to do. He grunted in pain as he rose to his feet and turned towards his floating companion. “Thanks Prism. Things certainly got a little hectic there. How long was I out for?”
“You were out for only a couple of minutes. It is interesting how it takes longer for an Outworlder.”
“Uh, yeah. Weird.” Ambrose rubbed his head in embarrassment.
It was finally time for Ambrose to loot the camp, he was obviously planning on taking the large club, which was actually an item called the Royal Sceptre, but it didn’t seem to be magical so Ambrose left it where sat while he went around gathering everything else that would fit into the bag.
Most of the camp was empty of things valuable to Ambrose, though he was able to stock up on some additional materials to practise his Sewing once he got around to it, tying several pouches worth of the hide and wool to his bag for transport.
Off of all the Loobins he managed to gather several more of the dungeon made tools, getting a file, shears, backup knife, hammer, and even found a set of different sized and types of measuring tools inside the main tent that all counted as a single item.
Inside the main tent was a disgusting mess, it seemed that the king had rarely left the tent, with remnants of food littered around. In the centre stood a wooden chair, poorly carved out into what was presumably meant to be a throne. Behind the false throne was what Ambrose was interested in. A large pile of shinies.
By the time his bag was full, Ambrose had made out pretty well. Much of the pile wasn’t of value, being mostly made up of shiny pebbles or other rocks, but several gems and chunks of unrefined metals were also found within, each finding their way to the bottom of Ambrose’s bag, hidden underneath the small mountain of seeds.
The last things to make their way into his possession were the crown and sceptre. He had considered wearing the crown on his way out of the dungeon and into town as a statement, but didn’t want to risk making any of the towns less reputable members targeting him. The crown was made of poorly formed metal and was a simple trash ranked item with trash ranked quality. Its durability was comparatively good, but would be easy enough to break down and pull out the many jewels that filled it as soon as he had access to a strong enough heat source.
With his bag full and the camp empty of valuables, it was time to try and get back to the town. Ambrose wanted to bring the club with him, but he wouldn’t bring it all the way to town, only needing it within the dungeon, and would leave it in the tunnel in between so that he wouldn’t risk losing it to some roaming mob.
Ambrose applied his Attribute increases first, wanting to judge how much of a difference a couple of points in his Strength of Body attribute would have. His other four points went into both his Mind Attributes and then two into his Speed of Body, leaving his Soul Attributes to lag behind once more.
He pulled his sleeves up, clamped both hands around the hide wrapped handle of the club and pulled it upwards. The weapon was still cumbersome but Ambrose felt that he would be able to swing it now without throwing his back out. Perhaps once he gained the relevant Skill he would adjust.
An hour after Ambrose had entered the camp full of Loobins, he left alone, leaving only a horrific mess behind.
The trip back to the tunnel gave him the time to practise wielding the large club, as he slowly began building familiarity with it, the weapon grew more wieldable as he had indeed unlocked the weapon Skill for it, and felt that he would be able to at least use it in combat against Loobins without risking his life any more than usual.
When inside the tunnel he dropped everything and ran back to the destroyed camp, dragging three of the intact Loobin corpses back up the valley and outside the dungeon. He wasn’t able to carry either of them in additional to his bag comfortably, the lingering pain running through his body sapping him of strength that had grown worse as he carted the now heavy bag and his new weapon around, so he left the corpses to guard his sceptre in the meantime.
Though the day was still young by the time he had broken down the three bodies and refilled the meat barrel that had been emptied during the festivities, leaving some extra for the town and impending sailors to enjoy, Ambrose was dead tired. The pain wasn't dissipating in the lighter work of skinning and butchering, only seeping deeper into his bones as he continued working, so when he was finished with work and a hearty lunch, with a full second serving, had been consumed, Ambrose went to bed and crashed.
He found himself back by his fire, the storm raging around him. The warmth was peaceful, but he felt a presence beyond the light. Something was looking at him, waiting for the fire to fade so it could eat him whole. Ambrose was unsure what to make of the nightmare, his mind playing tricks on him? Or perhaps a warning that something was coming.
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She watched on, the Outworlder was growing quicker than he should, something was happening between him and the dungeon, there had to be. He brought another two of the Loobins out today, as if feeding them to the rest of town during their celebration wasn’t enough.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
She knew he was bringing power back to the dungeon, it was only a matter of time before it had enough and turned on them again, though this time it would surely punish the entire town for cutting it off and leaving it to die. This Outworlder would doom them all, she had to find a way to stop him that wouldn’t mark her as an outlaw in the process.
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Morning came, Ambrose checked himself over, only to find that the pain was still there. He went downstairs and joined in on breakfast. The table was livelier than the previous morning, Luce no longer hungover.
“Are you feeling alright dear, you didn’t come down for dinner last night. You didn’t push yourself too hard did you?” Mariella looked at Ambrose as she spoke, adding additional fruit to his already full plate.
“I did actually, I made it to my breakthrough yesterday, it took a lot out of me.” Ambrose responded, an embarrassed look on his face.
Jobe laughed, patting Ambrose on the back in celebration. “Level ten in less than a week, amazing. Well done, well done”
Luce interceded in the celebration, eyes wide with interest. “Come on, tell us the story already.”
Ambrose smiled, regaling the family with his raid against the Loobin camp, though lowered the number of foes he had faced so it came off less suicidal.
Jobe and Luce both enjoyed the story, even cheering at the fall of the king. Mariella just looked worried, clearly having seen straight through his changes to the story.
“And then my breakthrough was straining as well, probably an Outworlder thing. Feels like my entire body has been pulverised.” Ambrose said, fishing for information.
“Well that is certainly interesting, nothing I have ever experienced, maybe you can ask Renna the huntress, she might have come across it back in her adventurer days.”
Ambrose finished breakfast and went to his room to retrieve some things. He had decided to hide some of the jewels he found within the room, various gaps in the floorboards had a gem sneakily placed into them, he would need to rip the floorboards up to get them back but they would be safer that way. He had also hidden a small pouch inside the roofing itself, tying it to a piece of wooden beam.
He didn’t really expect someone to rob him, but he didn’t just want to leave all his valuables lying around in the one spot, especially seeing as he wouldn’t be able to offload his haul all at once. He had also buried the crown along with most of the metals in the tunnel just outside the dungeon, the tunnel was a space between the two worlds, the dungeon creatures allegedly couldn’t get out there unless the dungeon was destroyed, and the townsfolk couldn’t venture in either due to it being outlawed. It turned out that that meant a lot more than it had in his home world, if something was outlawed and you were a Resident of the area, you would be marked in a way that any law enforcement or official could detect just by looking at your face, making it effectively a death sentence for any of the townsfolk to even venture into the tunnel. It had a side effect of making crimes almost non existent on small out of the way islands like Baro, only ever being committed by outsiders who could only be marked directly by law enforcement or nobles who witnessed the crime and could identify who had done it, the system wouldn't let them mark otherwise.
Apparently people would even be repelled from things that were outlawed, almost like how the Wolfspider that had hunted Ambrose had begun to feel a deep sense of fear and unease while being near the exit. Fortunately Ambrose wasn’t yet a Resident of the town as he reguarly visited the dungeon that he was actually considered a Resident of, even if he did settle down in the town, replacing the dungeon, he wouldn’t be stopped from entering into the dungeon. Jobe had explained that the rule couldn’t be applied automatically to him as he had already been in there previously, and seeing as there wasn’t an active Lord overseeing the town, no laws could be changed or reinforced. Only the captain of the guard Renmark, who held the title of acting lord could reinforce the rules, but Ambrose would need to cease being a Resident of the dungeon first, which would only happen if he purchased property in town, accepting Resident status being a pre-requisite, or if he didn't visit the dungeon for a full week which would transfer his Resident status to the town because he didn't hold any permanent residence elsewhere.
Ambrose took only his small pouch and a handful of the best stones with him as he left the tavern. With whatever injury he had incurred during his breakthrough, Ambrose didn’t feel like doing any physical training, feeling that it would likely only make things worse.
“Oh wait, I still haven’t checked my notifications.”
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CONGRATULATIONS OUTWORLDER, YOU HAVE MANIFESTED NEW SKILLS
You have gained the Skill Madness at Level 3 (Rare): When the chips are down, you slowly put forward a carrot.
* Increased rewards from doing something you know to be mad.
You have gained the Skill Large Bludgeons at Level 2 (Common): Big stick, big hit.
* Increased proficiency when handling basic, large bludgeoning weapons.
* Increased effect when using Large Bludgeons Abilities in combat.
You have gained the Skill Storytelling at Level 1 (Uncommon): Making what you do sound interesting really is a Skill, let’s hope you get better at it.
* Increased emotional damage when using Storytelling Abilities.
* Improved understanding of how to tell a story.
By gaining these Skills you have gained the following Abilities.
* Create Story (Storytelling): Once upon a time.
Your new Skills have also affected the following Abilities in some way.
* Melee Weapon Attack (Small Blades, Cruelty, Large Bludgeons)
* Throwing Weapon Attack (Small Blades, Cruelty, Large Bludgeons)
* Weapon Block (Small Blades, Large Bludgeons)
* Weapon Deflect (Small Blades, Large Bludgeons)
* Incite Emotion (Speech, Persuasion, Storytelling)
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CONGRATULATIONS OUTWORLDER, YOU HAVE NURTURED YOUR SKILLS
* Your Assessing Skill has increased in level: 8 -> 10
* Your Improvised Crafting Skill has increased in level: 1 -> 2
* Your Inspecting Skill has increased in level: 12 -> 13
* Your Item As Weapons Skill has increased in level: 3 -> 6
* Your Pain Resistance Skill has increased in level: 1 -> 3
* Your Perception Skill has increased in level: 13 -> 14
* Your Rebel Skill has increased in level: 1 -> 10
* Your Small Blades Skill has increased in level: 11 -> 12
* Your Speech Skill has increased in level: 1 -> 7
* Your Stealth Skill has increased in level: 12 -> 15
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“I haven’t even seen a carrot here let alone brought one to a poker table. It's really weird how some of the notes are very clearly targeted at me while others are just something completely random. Neat how I get more stuff from taking risks though, I wonder how that’s going to work, it's not just experience as other Skills have just said experience. Does this mean that there will mysteriously be more loot? If I had this way higher level and I killed a completely naked person while somehow triggering the Skill, could I somehow find that he had a second heart? Hmm, experiments are needed.”
Ambrose spent a couple of minutes going over the increases, pinpointing the times that he would have improved at each of the Skills. The problem with not opening your notifications immediately, was that he couldn’t be sure exactly when something had increased, he wasn’t even sure when he had unlocked Storyteller, while it was more likely he had earned it this morning, it was entirely possible that he had earned it from his taunting of the king. With his metaphysical wounds he could no longer feel the subtle ping of a new notification filling his body and wouldn't have noticed it against all the other ones that had been arriving during that combat, so he truly couldn’t be sure.
Most of the increases were obvious, directly related to the Rage Bomb and his use of it, his gains in Stealth, Perception, and Item As Weapon Skills all had grown almost exclusively because of it. Rebel was the most interesting case, being uncommon it was harder to actually raise, and there was no way that pissing off the Ousted King would grant him all that experience. Even his fight against the breakthrough space probably would have granted that much as he was only fighting himself. Perhaps actually making a decision and affirming his desire to fuck over Mundane had granted a bonus, it was his own Sponsor after all, it wasn’t like he had been defying some other authority with his breakthrough.
His musings had brought him right outside the general store, which he entered once he had finished noting down his observations.
“Ahh Ambrose, greetings. I take it you have made some other discovery on the island to be back so soon when the next ship has yet to arrive.” Whesker winked at Ambrose, stopping his cleaning to properly greet the potential customer.
“Indeed I have Whesker. I am looking to trade these beauties I found for some more tools and some Skill books.” Ambrose displayed the gems on the counter with a flourish.
Whesker began checking over each of them, using a monocle to go over the gems in detail. “Well you certainly have hit a bit of a goldmine, though the value you get here will be far less than you would get in one of the kingdoms proper as they will probably take me years to sell off, no enchanters or jewellers here you see. Are you sure you want to do so?”
Ambrose made a small act of reconsideration, not wanting to give up that he had far more to bring with him to the mainland. “Yes, I want to take the opportunity to learn what I can while I am here and I will need the tools to do so.”
“Well alright then. For all of these I can sell you the spinning wheel and full loom you were looking for before, as well as the Sewing book. From there it depends what else you want, you can probably get most of the stuff for another two of the professions. I only have some of the common feeder books though. I do have the uncommon ranked Forging one but an anvil and a forge aren’t something I can supply you with. The common Smithing one largely has the same problem.” Whesker had dropped his act of not knowing about the dungeon and placed several different books in front of Ambrose.
“Potion Making, precursor to Alchemy and relates to healing and positive effects. Its opposite is Poison Making but I don’t have that one. It's an uncommon ranked Skill and book. Then I have Tanning, if you want to double down on the Tailoring branch. Mining and Metallurgy, for your Smithing and later Forging, though it also helps with Engineering and any time you need to use minerals or metals in other creations, usually Alchemy. That's one book by the way. Whittling for Carpentry or Woodworking. Then I also have First Aid and Cooking, both can be fed to Alchemy down the line if you want. All of those are common”
They discussed back and forth on values and uses for the tools that would accompany the books, or would work with the Skills he was planning on working towards.
In the end Ambrose ended up with a mishmash of the various tools. He obviously bought the spinning wheel and Loom, but he also took several of the blacksmithing tools, all of the alchemy equipment that Whesker had had, a pickaxe, a woodsman's axe and some tanning equipment. He also ended up with a box of assorted tools and many different containers that he would use to improve his Bomb Making and work towards Engineering, he needed something to store his large stash of Somniferum power after all. As for the Skill books, he took the Sewing, Potion Making, and the Mining and Metallurgy books. The last one may not end up being the most useful in the near future as he wasn't planning on mining at all, but it was something that Ambrose would struggle to learn on his own, the Metallurgy would also inevitably be useful for Engineering so he felt that it was gems well spent.
Fortunately, Whesker had also offered to help Ambrose carry the several crates worth of goods through the jungle to the dungeon's entrance. The act had saved Ambrose multiple trips due to the Bestial Giants enhanced strength, but also drew attention away from the oddity that would have been the newcomer spending all day carrying crates of into the jungle and leaving them there.
“Thankyou for the patronage, Ambrose. Don’t die and you might single-handedly bring the town back to life.” The man laughed as he clapped Ambrose on the back, leaving him to bring the crates into the tunnel and the dungeon proper.
With all the tools he had needed to gather and many more acquired, as well as the tutorials that were the Skill books in his bag and keyed to him, it was time for Ambrose to finally learn crafting properly.