Jack had a few things to look over, the first being the notifications that he had ignored when he finished crafting his spear.
[Congratulations! You have crafted Icy Spear]
[Congratulations! For crafting a weapon of at least Uncommon Rarity on your first attempt you have gained the skill Weapon Crafting]
[Weapon Crafting
Rarity: Uncommon
Type: Passive
Level: 1
Description: Increases efficiency when crafting weapons of all kinds. Chance to improve weapon rarity and quality increases with skill level.
Note: Skill level can be increased through use.]
While it was nice to get a new skill, Jack was more interested in his new weapon.
[Icy Spear
Rarity: Uncommon
Quality: Average
Durability: 60/60
Material: Ice-Infused Tusk, Oak Wood
Properties: Retains a natural icy enchantment
Damage: 25-35 Piercing damage, 10-15 Frost damage
Special Effect: 5% chance to apply Freezing status effect on successful hit, reducing target's movement speed by 30% for 5 seconds.
Description: This weapon is especially effective against foes weak to ice and can be thrown for ranged attacks.]
Jack admired the icy spear in his hands, feeling a sense of accomplishment. The weapon looked deadly, and he couldn't wait to use it in combat. The freezing effect added a strategic element to his attacks, providing a potential advantage against agile opponents.
Next Jack examined his new status.
[Name: Jack
Race: Direborn
Exp: 0/500
Class: N/A
Profession: N/A
Path: N/A
Level: 5
Strength: 23
Agility: 21
Dexterity: 14
Wisdom: 4
Intelligence: 3
Charisma: 2
Constitution: 15
Endurance: 14
Free Points: 4
Health pool: 150/150
Mana pool: 30/30
Stamina: 140/140
Attunements: N/A
Skills: Identify (Level 3), Awareness (Level 1), Skinning (Level 2), Woodcarving (Level 1), Weapon Crafting (Level 1), Alchemy (Level 1)
Spells: N/A
Titles: Favored of the Alpha
Resistances: N/A
Abilities: Savage Roar, One with the Elements
]
Jack smiled. Something about seeing those numbers go up… But of course, they hadn’t finished going up yet. He still needed to decide what to do with his free points.
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He thought it over. Strength and Agility were his highest stats. They didn’t need any extra boosts. Constitution was doing alright, especially with the extra two points he was getting from his new Title. Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma weren’t exactly helping him now. It might be a different story once he learned spells and started interacting with sapient beings, but for now he felt that those stats could be safely ignored.
That left Dexterity. With his increased strength and speed, coordination was more important than ever, Additionally, Dexterity was supposed to give boost to his crafting Skills of which he now had three. Yes, Dexterity seemed like the way to go.
Decision made, Jack put all four of his free points into Dexterity and closed his status window.
There was more to do of course, more questions that needed answering. But for now, Jack was bone-weary and all he wanted to do was sleep. He settled down on a bed of soft grass near his still flickering campfire and was almost instantly out like a light. His sleep was deep and dreamless.
The next morning, Jack woke up with a sense of confusion. Where was his bed and why was he lying on grass?
As the memories of yesterday returned Jack looked at his surroundings with a sense of awe. The rising sun made the pool shimmer like a liquid gold mirror, reflecting the vibrant hues of the surrounding trees. The air carried the sweet scent of blooming flowers, and the distant calls of birds added a melodic touch to the symphony of nature awakening.
Jack rubbed his eyes, still half-dazed from the remnants of his dreamless sleep. He sat up and took in the surreal beauty around him. Then a new smell intruded on his senses, cutting through the fragrant bouquet of blooming flowers and the crisp morning air. It was a putrid odor of decay that stung the nostrils.
Jack looked over at the savaged corpse of the Tuskbeast Patriarch. The once-majestic beast lay in a grotesque display of death, a stark contrast to the vibrant beauty that surrounded it. Jack's gaze lingered on the massive boar, and he couldn't help but marvel at the swift and brutal turn of events that had unfolded the previous night.
Despite the unpleasant sight, Jack knew there was still work to be done. He needed to extract what he could from the Tuskbeast Patriarchs body. Slowly rising to his feet, he shook off the stiffness of sleep. First, he wanted breakfast. He ended up eating what remained of the boar meat from his roast the previous night. It was cold now but Jack didn’t care. Afterwards he went over to the rotting carcass.
Upon closer inspection, it became apparent that the Alpha Greatwolf's ravaging of the Tuskbeast Patriarch's body had left it in a much more mangled state than he had initially thought. The wolf's powerful jaws had torn through the flesh, rendering most of the hide unusable. Jack realized that the tusks were the only salvageable parts left.
Undeterred, Jack carefully approached the Tuskbeast Patriarch's head, where the tusks protruded. He extended his hand, gingerly avoiding the areas that had been ravaged by the wolf's relentless assault. With a mix of awe and trepidation, Jack began the delicate process of extracting the tusks from the boar's skull.
Even with the damage caused by the Alpha Greatwolf's feeding frenzy, the tusks remained surprisingly intact. Jack used his newly crafted Icy Spear as a makeshift tool, leveraging the weapon's sharpness and his strength to carefully pry the tusks free.
Once that was accomplished, he Identified his prizes.
[Tuskbeast Patriarch Tusks
Rarity: Uncommon
Material: Mana-infused Dentine
Properties: Receptive to enchantment
Uses: Can be used in the crafting of enchanted weapons or tools; may provide a bonus to magical effects.]
Jack thought it odd that the Juvenile Tuskbeasts tusks had been labelled as Unusual while this higher levelled monster only had Uncommon Tusks. Just to make sure he was understanding this correctly he refocused on the Rarity part of the description. The System showed him the window with the explanation.
[Rarity is a measure of how scarce a particular item is. The Rarities are from lowest to highest
Common
Uncommon
Unusual
Special
Rare
Epic
Heroic
Mythical
Apex]
There was no doubt about it. The juvenile Tuskbeast was rarer than the Patriarch. The question was why.
Jack began to run laps around the pool as he pondered the question. Before it had taken him about 4 hours of running and resting to get a single point in Stamina. This time he did the same thing but after 4 hours there was still no Stamina increase. Maybe I need to drive my body to the limit in different ways each time.
After he was fully rested from his last series of laps, he stripped off his clothes and dived into the pool. He began to swim laps, pushing his body against the resistance of the water. The cool sensation of the pool enveloped him, and he marveled at the clarity of the liquid, which seemed to have a revitalizing effect on his senses.
As Jack swam, he contemplated the potential benefits of testing different physical activities to increase his stats. Maybe he had to strain different parts of his body in order to increase Endurance. The possibilities seemed endless, and he was eager to explore the limits of this new system.
After a little less than 25 minutes of swimming, Jack felt the familiar fatigue settling in. He climbed out of the pool, dripping with water, and checked his status.
[You have driven your body to its limit]
[You have gained + 1 Endurance]
Jacks maximum Stamina was now at 140. This meant that he could fight for, he did the math in his head, about 23 minutes before running out.
Delighted with his progress, he put his clothes back on. It was time to hunt.
Picking up his spear, he walked into the forest. For the next 30 minutes, as he traversed the wooded terrain, his attention was split between Identifying everything insight and looking for game trails. Soon he was rewarded with a new notification.
[Congratulations! Identify has gained a level]
Soon after that, Jack managed to track down a young doe grazing peacefully at a bush in a clearing. With newfound confidence in his abilities, Jack decided to test his skills with the Icy Spear. He approached the doe with stealth, taking care not to alert the cautious creature. He identified it.
[Lightfoot Doe
Rarity: Common
Level: 3
Health: 30/30
Mana: 10/10
Stamina: 50/50
Skills: Leaping Flight
Description: This creature is fragile and relies on speed to keep it safe
]
Jack figured the doe probably had most of her points in Agility. Using the bushes to conceal himself, Jack managed to get close enough to hurl his spear directly at the grazing doe.
The weapon penetrated the does midsection. She reared back, blood pouring from the wound…and collapsed.
[Congratulations! You have killed Lightfoot Doe]
[You have gained 30 experience points]
Jack heard a rustling noise behind him. Turning he saw a small faun running as fast as it could in the opposite direction. Jack stared.
Did…did I just kill Bambis mom?