SKIPS-ONE-STEP
The Vanguard fell swiftly. This time, they were aware that they were going against a Vanguard, so they used rock spears to attack the head of the creature. The scorpions had gained throwing skills and they had manufactured rock spears. They threw the implements into the fontanella of the Elite Vanguard quickly. The thing crashed into the acid sea within a few breaths after the group stepped through the portal. Then, the group got items that they lacked the coins to attune to, left the dungeon and reached level 10. They received a message:
As the first group to reach level 10, you gained the title: Planetary Forerunning Group 10.
As this achievement has been shared between 5 people, its effectiveness is halved compared to the ‘Planetary Forerunner’ title.
A moment later, a second message appeared:
As the first five people reached level 10, the status of the planet is upgraded.
Please welcome new dungeons and adversaries!
Of course the scorpions wanted to immediately return to their villages to protect the ones they cared about the most. As well as the other people in their villages, as well as the adjacent villages, that didn't have a convenient level 10 nearby. However, this was something, Skips advised against. She knew a trick to get through another advantage that was only available at round levels. As they just reached level 10, it was a bad idea to wait to select an archetype. She showed them how to select one that works well with their classes as well as their classes in Solidarity. This might sound strange, but as there are crafter classes, fighting classes and classes which are more utilitarian, Skips tried to ensure that each scorpion got a minor boost in what they really cared about. Of course, some scorpions had preferences outside of their primary skills, but she also took that into account.
In addition, she taught them how to differentiate the different new dungeon portals that they might find now. Only then, she suggested that they returned back.
As she was resting for a moment, she saw Cvetka return from the dungeon. She smiled and waved: “Hi Cvetka. Well done!” She then got up and reached out a hand.
Cvetka stared at Skips for a moment before she shook her hand: “I didn’t imagine you were that fast. Congratulations! Well done!”
Skips smiled: “Thanks. I am doing my best. Are you holding up?”
Cvetka nodded: “I am. I tried to get to level 10 to get some class features that I wanted to have. Now, I feel that I can breathe somewhat.”
Skips nodded: “I understand.”
Cvetka smiled: “Anyways, I need to get back home! And I need to get Rush home.”
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Skips raised an eyebrow: “You’re with Rush?”
Cvetka shook her head: “Not really, I mean, I care about him, but not in that way, you know?”
Skips looked disgusted: “I can’t tell you what to do, but that guy is vile! Better be careful around him!”
A guy from the group looked at Skips and looked offended, but didn’t say anything. She didn’t recognise him as his skin was covered in mud and dirt. She did get a bad feeling about the person though. Her heart beat faster and a cold shudder ran down her spine. As if her subconscious recognised a threat that she was unaware of.
Cvetka made a gesture towards the dude and responded: “It’s okay, I know what I am doing.”
Skips looked at the guy, then at Cvetka, then realised who it was: “Rush? That’s it. I am going.”
Rush took a step back and nodded: “Please do. I have deserved it by my actions.”
Skips looked surprised, then looked at Cvetka and raised an eyebrow.
Cvetka tried to look stoic, but Skips felt a twinge of effort in this.
Skips turned around and was about to leave when Cvetka asked her: “Why are you doing this? Your movements constantly look wrong. Are you doing that to impress us? Still keeping up a skill after the dungeon or is it still active from your dungeon run?”
She smiled: “It’s a trait. It’s active unless I suppress it. So, sorry, if I freak you out.”
“It looks like you use some low-grade teleportation just to get around. It just seems like an insane waste of resources. That was why I asked,” Cvetka explained.
Skips looked confused: “It doesn’t feel like that to me. It feels very smooth to move to me, but maybe there is something to this.” Skips paused for a moment, then continued: “Anywhere, I need to run. Take care!”
Skips had not been able to increase her movement speed for a while. Well, she got slight improvements with level ups in Unlimited Potential, but she never had been able to improve her Longstrider Skill in Solidarity over level 9, but now that Cvetka mentioned how movement looked to her, she moved much more mindfully.
TEKI
He returned to the village, while checking his notifications. He felt relief: Throwing had reached level 8. He finally had upgraded a skill to level 8 and by that, he had upgraded the village to this level. Now, he looked around, most of the initial wave of creatures was defeated. He snaked to the village and assessed the damage. Most people had only minor injuries, however, there were a few people who looked badly injured. Teki quickly changed his skills to gain abilities to heal and he started treating the scorpions as if he was a physician. Well, a physician on a planet that was on a pre-medieval level of technology and magic.
The process of healing was different from the healing spells of Unlimited Potential that he lacked access to. It was more like assessing the damage, then, weaving magic into the structure of the body and integrating it into the soft tissues, bones, muscles, ligaments or exoskeleton plates. The magic then guided the regeneration of the body. It was a difficult task, but he had the confidence of having a level 6 skill off the repository.
Eventually, the scorpion-of-Tsanh that he cared for woke up and could use the repository to use xir own regeneration skill to assist in the regeneration. As the sun set, the young Runs-Into-Sand was healthy again and Teki fell asleep in the sand.
----------------------------------------
As he woke up, he once again received a phone call. His boss. He snaked into the water and took it again: “Yeah?”
His boss said: “Hey, sorry, but we were not able to save your position. There’s currently a ship in orbit, so yeah, we can pick you up directly. You can pay us back for the transport back to earth. It’ll be 500’000 Lira for the journey. You can pay the company back in instalments if you prefer. I am going to arrange this for you, is this okay?”
Teki shook his head: “Please don’t. Just remove my restrictions and let me loose here.”
There was a pause: “What‽”
He said: “Just remove my levelling restrictions for the system on this planet and I will manage. I don’t need transport back. I will remain on Tsanh.”
Another pause: “You want to… actually remain on Tsanh? Despite it being the least hospitable planet for a Keani?”
He confirmed: “I will manage. I will manage better than I would manage a huge repayment.”