It was another day, and Spencer went back to the woods. He was going to learn to be a better hunter, and ask the farmer if he knew how to tan hides to make equipment. First, however, he had to get more animal skins. He steeled himself and walked quietly into the woods. After a couple minutes of walking nearly silently, he got another skill.

Skill GainedSilent Movement: Basic Lv. 1 (5.02%)

He could tell he was going down the path of becoming a hunter, which he was okay with, but he wanted to explore more choices as well. When he finally learned Morthan, he would leave the house to go to a city. He, of course, would wait for his friends. Then a thought struck him. Why hadn't he used his power for hunting! He had neglected it for so long, he wondered if it would still work. Luckily, he just spotted an elk. He whispered "Stop" and the world froze again. In a smooth motion, he drew and fired an arrow right at the elk's head. It was a shot worthy of an award. He had hit the elk clean in the eye, piercing the brain and killing it instantly, with no blood. He then got two notifications.

Skill GainedHunting: Basic Lv. 1 (7.62%)

A new skill has been created! By stopping time while firing an arrow, you have created a brand new skill exclusive to you! What would you like to name it?

"Uh, I guess Timed Shot would be good."

Skill GainedTimed Shot: Unique

Spencer thought about this 'Unique' skill. There was no level on it, possibly because the skill couldn't be improved, after all, how would you improve a skill that was pretty OP already. Spencer wondered if his power was a skill. he didn't see it in his skill list earlier, but he didn't really look for it. He would think about that later. He walked forward again, but sensed something watching him. He looked to his left, and saw a wolf creeping towards him. The wolf, realizing it had been spotted, jumped at Spencer.

Spencer panicked and stopped time for a second, then sidestepped. He heard the notification sound and grinned. This was a good chance to weaponize his time powers. The wolf crashed into the ground, looking quite confused. It went into another jumping stance and Spencer held his bow with an arrow ready to fire. The wolf jumped at him again and Spencer stopped time and fired another arrow, aiming for the wolf's eye. The arrow hit it's mark, but it wasn't strong enough to pierce it's brain. The wolf was bleeding and couldn't see out of one eye, Spencer clearly had the advantage, but he didn't want to get cocky. He got into a defensive stance this time, and the wolf jumped at him again, but overshot his mark due to his lack of depth perception. He jumped into a tree, smashing his face into it. Unfortunately, he had also hit the arrow against the tree, which sent it into his skull and it pierced his brain. The wolf dropped to the ground and died, its teeth still clenched together. Spencer looked at his notifications.

A new skill has been created! By stopping time while dodging, you have created a brand new skill exclusive to you! What would you like to name it?

Skill GainedDodge: Basic Lv. 1 (4.27%)

Skill Leveled Up x2!Bow Mastery: Basic Lv. 3 (27.02%)

Skill Leveled Up x3!Dodging: Basic Lv. 4 (43.02%)

Skill Gained!Aimed Shot: Basic Lv. 1 (22.14%)

By Killing an Enemy 5x Your Level, You Gain 200% More XP!XP Gained: 324

Leveled Up x2!Status Points Gained: 20

Spencer was overwhelmed by all these messages. He had used his power again and got another unique skill, got a skill he could use in actual fights and hunting, got a defensive skill, and... leveled up? He named his new skill Timed Dodge, and wanted to know how to spend his points. He tried a bunch of commands, but Character brought up his screen, and he was again assaulted by a screen.

Status WindowName:Spencer AbramsAlignment:Lawful GoodLevel:3Class:NoneRace:HumanGender:MaleTitlesThe Crafter-Health:100 / 100Health Regen:.1 / SecMana:100 / 100Mana Regen:.1 / SecStamina:100 / 100Stamina Regen:.1 / Sec-Strength:10Perception:10Endurance:10Charisma:10Intelligence:10Agility:10Luck:10Stat Points: 20

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Spencer looked at this screen and eyed everything carefully. The stats were very similar to Fallout. He decided to put one in everything to see what would happen.

Status WindowName:Spencer AbramsAlignment:Lawful GoodLevel:3Class:NoneRace:HumanGender:MaleTitlesThe Crafter-Health:110 / 110Health Regen:.11 / SecMana:110 / 110Mana Regen:.11 / SecStamina:110 / 110Stamina Regen:.11 / Sec-Strength:11Perception:11Endurance:11Charisma:11Intelligence:11Agility:11Luck:11Stat Points: 13

That was exactly what Spencer was expecting to happen. It worked like you would expect it to. Strength affected Health, Endurance affected Stamina, and Intelligence affected Mana He could guess what the rest did. He raised everything to 12, then increased Luck and Perception to 15 each. He wanted to aim better with more critical hits. He was surprised at the next message he got.

PerksLady Killer/Confirmed BachelorIncreased reputation with women/men.Night VisionBetter, not perfect night vision. (Incompatible with Eagle Eye)Eagle EyeFar better eyesight during the day. (Incompatible with Night Vision)HunterNever stain pelts and meat is always intact (Incompatible with Dr. Doolittle)Dr. DoolittleCan learn animal languages (Incompatible with Hunter)Intense Training10 more Stat points (Can get this perk 5 times)Rapid ReloadRanged weapons automatically reload.Fast ReaderRead books at twice the rate you normally do.Swift LearnerLearn languages twice as fast.Perk Points: 1

Spencer knew what to choose. He had set on the path of being a hunter, and by god he was going to get the best stuff possible from his kills. Hunting meant leather, and leather meant gear. He chose the Hunter perk and carried his kills back to the house. it was around 4 he guessed, so he went to the table outside and took care of the animals. He didn't get nearly as sick as last time, and leveled up the skill to level 3. Apparently getting the meat was a part of skinning, so any levels he got for skinning helped him get better meat, which would lead to better meals. Spencer was going to be the backbone of their group if it killed him.

All these menus that made this whole world like a game got Spencer thinking. It dawned on him, he must have an inventory! That's probably where all his stuff went! He whispered inventory and a box-like menu showed up. It had twenty slots, but two of them where being taken up by both of his suitcases! He took one out, then put it back in. Now that he had his stuff, he could leave the house any time he wanted! Except... he had to wait for his friends. Spencer sighed. What if they all went to different places? What if they went to different worlds. He would stick around one more day, as tomorrow was the end of their 7 days to prepare. He walked into his room, picked up a piece of wood and started to carve a blade. He learned that he didn't really need sleep, at least not every night. He spent the whole night until dawn making them all weapons. He was going to be the rogue, so he went into the forest and started to look for trees. Spencer was making himself a bow, so he needed a bendy wood, and located what looked like a fir tree. The wood was bendy and rather strong, so it would work for him. He also needed several pieces of wood for Kyle and Eric. Kyle was the rogue, but he was also going to be melee, Spencer called dibs on ranged. Eric was going to use magic, and in games. Spencer wasn't too sure about magical wood, so he just picked up a lot of oak wood.

He went back to the house, again and started with arrows, doing what he did last time. Eventually, he reached level 5 in whittling and was confident enough to make Eric's club/staff. He got a thick branch about 3/4 his height and started to taper one end. His result was a thick block of wood, but it didn't look magical enough, so he rounded the top and carved lines into it that gave it the appearance of being old and lumpy, and it looked way more wizrd-ish. After that, he was at level 7 for whittling, so it seemed like the more complex the object, the more experience he gained. His carvings were getting better, so he made Kyle's dagger and sword, as that seemed the logical mix of warrior and rogue. He made the dagger with a crossbar that curved outward, so he could trap enemy's swords, and he made the sword with a crossbar that curved inward so the swords would slide off. He made both with a generic blade, and they were both fairly boring. Spencer reached level ten, and set out to make his bow. He carved a straight piece of wood and bent it by attaching a string on both ends. He carved some intricate designs into it, carved a notched into it for the arrow, and added a small reticle for aiming. All in all, all of his weapons looked basic and like shit, but they would serve their purpose.

Despite the fact that the weapons were not high quality, it took all night, and Spencer walked outside to see his two best friends lying on the ground, looking dazed.