I appeared in the jungle just after nightfall, about a 3 miles away from the large city that had been established in at the world portal. I was only wearing pants, due to the fact that tigerkin around here don’t need or want to wear shirts since they live in a tropical climate, and they were often climbing trees anyway, and extra clothing increases the chance of something being snagged. As a tigerkin, I had a tiger’s ears, eyes, tail, and claws. I had the coloration of a golden-furred variant and had made this body a 30-year-old male at level 18, which was a little bit above the average. I was white, since while there were black tigerkin, there were mostly white ones left, due to, you guessed it, racism. While they had stopped killing each other, this group wouldn’t be as helpful if I was black, and their actions weren’t what I wanted to test.
I opened up my stat sheet, preparing to distribute my stats.
Name
John Pitcher
Race:
Tigerkin
Classes:
Jungle Runner, Crafter, Beta Tester (hidden), Aura Master, Mana Manipulator
Level:
18, 1800 XP to next level
Health:
200/200
Stamina:
200/200
Aura:
150/150
Mana:
150/150
Fate:
60
Perk Points:
18
Spirit:
19/19
Karma Points:
3
Vitality
14
Intelligence:
15
Endurance
11
Wisdom:
12
Constitution
13
Willpower
10
Strength
12
Perception
12
Nat. Armor
1
Charisma
11
Agility
16
Focus
6
Aesthetic Appeal
15
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
Luck
12
Undistributed Stat Points:
144
Skills:
Running lvl 8
Climbing lvl 5
Unarmed Combat lvl 7
Repair lvl 4
Beta Tester Passive (hidden)
Aural Shield Lvl 3
Aural Blade lvl 4
Aura Manipulation lvl 6
Mana Manipulation
Qi Spiral lvl 2
Mana Shield lvl 2
Qi Reinforced Body lvl 8
The passive for Beta Tester was something that I had added for the purposes of expediting the testing:
Skill:
Description:
Beta Tester Passive
Greatly increases the chance of someone to give you a quest of great importance. Increases speed of skill leveling
After distributing my points and modifying my skills using perk points, this is what I had:
Name
John Pitcher
Race:
Tigerkin
Classes:
Jungle Runner, Crafter, Beta Tester (hidden), Aura Master, Mana Manipulator
Level:
18, 1800 XP to next level
Health:
520/520
Stamina:
400/400
Aura:
300/300
Mana:
300/300
Fate:
60
Perk Points:
0
Spirit:
19/19
Karma Points:
3
Vitality
26
Intelligence:
30
Endurance
20
Wisdom:
20
Constitution
24
Willpower
15
Strength
24
Perception
25
Nat. Armor
3
Charisma
24
Agility
25
Focus
14
Aesthetic Appeal
20
Luck
18
Undistributed Stat Points:
0
Skills:
Running lvl 6 (Main)
Climbing lvl 4
(Main)
Unarmed Combat lvl 7
Repair lvl 3 (Main)
Beta Tester Passive (Hidden)
Aural Shield Lvl 2 (Main)
Aural Blade lvl 4
Aura Manipulation lvl 6 (Main)
Mana Manipulation
Qi Spiral lvl 2
Mana Shield lvl 1 (Main)
Qi Reinforced Body lvl 8 (Main)
Jungle Movement lvl 3 (Sub)
Tree Climbing lvl 2 (Sub)
Magical Repair lvl 1 (Sub)
Magical Aura Shield lvl 2 (Sub)
Mana Reinforced Body lvl 1 (Sub)
The only reasons that I was able to get as many extra skills as I had were due to the synergy between several skills and me accepting them at lowered levels.
With that taken care of, I took off running towards the city just a couple miles away.
* * * * *
Arriving at the main gate on the nearer side of the city, Agrath, he wasn’t surprised to be challenged, as it had become full dark while he was distributing his points.
“What are you called when among friends?” one of the guards called down.
“I’m known as John Pitcher, a Runner and Aura Master, seeking battle in the Arena,” I told them, using my prepared excuse. The Arena was a sporting area, where warriors would battle in a competition event for gold rewards, and the winner of the tournament and the direct runner-up got to meet the king and get important quests from him. I planned on using this to show the people in this tier how they could advance, by going through the process myself and bringing people along so that they could return and share the process. Hopefully, I would eventually make it so that everyone is aware of the ability to ascend.
One of the guards opened the small door and beckoned me forward into the light of his torch. I complied, and he studied my face for a minute before letting me through. On the inside were several wanted posters, showing why he examined me, to see if I was a criminal in a disguise.
“Know of a good place I can stay the night?” I asked
“If you want good food and board for cheap, I would suggest The Wandering Inn. If you want a truly luxurious stay, you can go to the Jade Dragon. It’ll lighten your purse quite a bit, but it is the best place in the city. As a competitor in the Arena, you’ll be given a room in the barracks for the duration of the event.”
“Thanks,” I said, heading into the relatively uncrowded streets, though there were a few people walking about, taking advantage of the racial night vision.