LoRG 1

Legend of Randidly Ghosthound

As the system initializes the world shifts Geography is rearranged and mixed and levels and stats are instituted across the globe On that night one young man was walking through an underground tun more As the system initializes the world shifts Geography is rearranged and mixed and levels and stats are instituted across the globe On that night one young man was walking through an underground tunnel his mind on the small problems of his easy life Because of his location during the shift he starts in a dungeon far above his level with no knowledge or teacher or Newbie Village to guide him Without a class he struggles simply to survive in this world changed by its new connection to the Nexus But struggle he will for he is Randidly Ghosthound and this is only how his legend begins

Author s Note This started as a way to destress and play with overly complicated stats systems and level systems and I just kept writing I don’t really take it very seriously but feel free to read and enjoy back

Chapter 1

Randidly Ghosthound was walking back to his dorm sighing when it happened

System initializing

Huh Randidly stopped looking around with a frown If he didn’t know better he would say that a god like entity had just spoken into his mind Or that he was suddenly in a videogame and received a system announcement What was

And then the world warped walls shifting and changing and with wide eyes Randidly turned to find an exit

It was about that time that Randidly was smashed aside by the 3 Horned Demon Ram that spawned next to him sending him sprawling into the wall Luckily it was only a glancing blow because the charging ram had spawned practically on top of him but the glancing touch of the rams powerful flank was enough that Randidly’s head was smashed into the wall and he quickly fell unconscious

When he woke it was to a headache and several floating screens

Welcome to New Earth Your world has be entered into Nexus and as such are now running on a new system to give you the tools and challenges to survive and live a fulfilling life Good Luck

Basic Stats Set

Randidly Ghosthound

Class

Level N/A

Health(/R per hour) 28 (16 5)

Mana(/R per hour) 17 (6 75)

Stam(/R per min) 16 (9)

Vitality 4

Endurance 2

Strength 2

Agility 3

Perception 2

Reaction 4

Resistance 4

Willpower 4

Inteligence 3

Wisdom 1

Control 1

Focus 2

For more information you can view your stats anytime by thinking Menu and then selecting Status

Congratulations The Newbie Path is open to you

Congratulations Due to being the first player in your world on the receiving end of damage the P Def Path is open to you

Congratulations Due to being the first player in your world to be mentally aware of monsters the M Support Path is open to you

Congratulations For reaching 1 health the Risk Taker Path is open to you

Warning Your health is extremely low Due to being under level 10 arrows will be formed on the ground guiding you to the nearest safe zone

Sitting up Randidly looked down to find that he appeared to have been passed out in a pool of his own blood For now it seemed best to assume that the notifications meant something and to head to a safe zone

Cradling his painful head Randidly stood and looked onto the ground for the red arrow

There was none

He blinked several times then came to a realization The pool of blood was likely blocking the arrow He took several steps forward and saw the blinking red arrow It was pointing directly backward between his legs Randidly turned around and looked up

A slightly glowing blue door was directly above the pool of blood He had probably cracked his head on it Feeling slightly foolish Randidly went into the room

You have entered a safe zone +200% to regeneration

Randidly found himself in a rather large room with a pond and a small tree Which was slightly off putting in a small stone room Randidly had been walking home in the underground pathway on Rawlands University campus and apparently whatever change had come over the world had changed things but had worked with what was already there

Honestly though the room was about half the size of a football field How could he possible believe this was natural

He was 90% sure this used to be a maintenance room not 5 minutes ago

But then he rubbed his head and realized that he honestly didn’t know how long he had been down there Sighing he sat down and brought up his status screen waiting for his health to regen

It took a little less than a half hour to rise from 5 health to Randidly’s max of 28 Feeling somewhat better Randidly decided to take a peek outside again to see what was going on

Carefully opening the door Randidly looked in both directions This wall looked relatively normal but beyond that they seemed to be in some sort of underground jungle Thick foliage obscured the far wall Turning left and right the tunnel also seemed to extend Most of the wall he was near was clear and it extended for quite a long way on either side

Not really seeing anything around Randidly started walking keeping along the wall trying to see what he could find

About 20 minutes later Randidly sprinted back to the safe room two Lvl 24 Howler Monkeys chasing after him having learned a lot of things

One that the area around him was incredibly large and it wasn’t as uninhabited as he thought

Two Randidly’s level of N/A was far from sufficient for fighting Level 24 enemies Not that he tried But the way the crossed the distance towards his position before he had even noticed them spoke of their strength

Luckily once the monkeys dropped from the tree their speed dropped to just slightly higher than his own allowing Randidly to escape by the skin of his teeth

Third and finally the system also had skills Perhaps the real reason that Randidly was able to escape was that he learned the Running skill as he fled and leveled it to 3 in the mad dash on the way back Each time it leveled from 1 to 2 and then from 2 to 3 he earned a PP

Still it had been a close thing By the time he had made it back to the safe room his stamina had been at 1 and the thought of continuing to move for even a second longer made his vision go dark

After sitting by the pond slurping down some water from the pond and catching his breath Randidly opened up his menu

There were four options in the menu Map Status Paths and Friends List

Both Maps and Friend List was greyed out and Randidly already knew what Status was so he clicked on paths

A new menu opened up that showed Randidly the 4 paths he had available as well as numbers next to them Newbie Path was currently 0/5 while P Def and M Supp were 0/10 Risk taker was 0/15 In the top right there was PP 2 which made Randidly believe that PP stood for path points or something

After a slight hesitation Randidly clicked on the Newbie path which then switched to 1/5

Congratulations You have earned 1 stat point

Sure enough when Randidly switched over to his status there was a plus next to all of his stats Which seemed rather simple but

He shook his head There were just too many stats Although they seemed self explanatory there was no real information available to him He would have to learn through trial and error Suddenly he felt a chill in his heart

Does that mean he could die

Shaking his head he put that thought to the side No use worrying over it now Instead he considered what to do with a stat point He was torn between something defensive like Vit or End and something more active like Agi which would let him run faster

Struck by an idea he went back to the Path screen and clicked on Newbie again And sure enough

Now with two he put 1 into Vit and one into Agi with a clear conscience Randidly also noticed that when he put the point into Vit his health went up by 2 while his Health regen per hour went up by 3 Stamina regen increased by 1 Which he supposed was pretty small in the grand scheme of things

Chapter 2

Randidly quickly stumbled upon a problem Originally he had just planned to happily grind up his skills while staying near the safe room increasing himself stat by stat He had even started out quite well earning himself Lvl 4 in Running and learning the skill Physical Fitness and swiftly leveling it to 2 just jogging around the safe room

But then Randidly realized he was getting hungry He stopped sweating lightly from the constant exertion He supposed a few hours had passed but still

Gritting his teeth Randidly faced the truth He knew where some food was While he was walking outside he had spotted strange fruits and berries in the jungle surrounding him But going out there

His stomach rumbled unpleasantly After much thought Randidly put his two more points for levels into the Newbie path and put both of those PPs into Agi The plan would be to go in and get out as fast as possible

Randidly hopped experimentally side to side and was pleased to find he certainly felt a little faster With that extra bit of confidence he walked to the door and opened it The indoor rainforest swayed softly almost invitingly and Randidly shivered but still crept out and tiptoed towards the treeline

When he reached the edge of the ferns which extended for several feet before the vine encrusted treeline And right beyond that treeline

Randidly hesitated He could continue to move slowly trying his best to remain quiet or he could simply dash in and grab some fruits and then leave But because he hadn’t seen any berry bushes in the area just a few scattered glimpses through the treeline he chose the conservative sneaking route

And as he began to walk quietly forward he learned Sneak Lvl 1 Although the first level of a skill didn’t give a path point it still boosted his confidence that he might be able to pull this off He wound his way slowly forward pressing aside the ferns and entering the trees He peaked around a particularly thick trunk eyes scanning No animals no movement But there was a bush that was heavy with dark purple berries 10 yards down from him still near the edge of the treeline

He began creeping down in that direction his breath sounding extremely heavy in his ears When he reached the berries he had another conundrum how would he carry them

Well first things first He tentatively bit into a berry which was a little bit larger than a grape It was sweet and ripe filling his mouth with a wonderful fruity taste He had to spit out some seeds but initially it seemed like they were good for eating Satisfied he pulled up his shirt and began filling it like a pouch

Around the time the pouch was full was when he realized he was being watched

A lime green frog around the size of a small dog sat on a low branch gazing at him Above it hovered the notification Lvl 27

Randidly stopped picking and backed slowly away The frog watched him go tilting his head to the side Receiving a notification that his Sneak skill was now Level 2 Randidly turned and ran back through the ferns into the safe zone

There he ate about half of his gathered berries spitting the seeds into the dirt by the small tree

Afterwards he collapsed on the ground looking up at the stone ceiling The fluorescent lights had apparently also been transformed because the light they produced felt a lot like warm sunlight on his skin

Sitting up Randidly went to his paths and put the point he had earned for Sneak 2 into the Newbie path getting an End stat As he watched the extra point in End Watching closely he saw that the End got him 5 points of health and 3 of stamina but only 25 health regen and no stamina regen So End was more base Vit focused on regeneration

When it came down to it Randidly supposed he would probably prefer to buffer up his Endurance then for now Increasing the maximum value of his health and stamina was more important than anything else

Laying back Randidly fell asleep half hoping that this was all a dream half hoping that tomorrow would be filled with even more grinding

It was strange that he felt so torn Although this was life or death there was always something about RPGs that he appreciated The simplicity the systems and the stats Like there was a secret way of playing that could allow him to break the game

In life there were no secrets Or at least no secrets that didn’t leave you feeling slimy So although his heart was pounding Randidly felt content

Chapter 3

When Randidly awoke it was to some very weird notifications As he opened his eyes he noticed that the lights above flickered on as if they had immediately shut off when he fell asleep Shaking his head he inspected the notifications

Overnight he had apparently reached Level 3 in farming Sitting up Randidly was stunned to find several sprouts coming up out of the spot that he had thrown the seeds from the berries Excited he got up and went over to inspect them Although they didn’t seem like much if they grew

But then Randidly shook his head Although it might be safe in here he didn’t plan on remaining here forever In fact even just staying in the room and grinding would become a chore after a while Still farming would be incredibly useful for decreasing the danger in the short term allowing him to gather sufficient strength before venturing out

I wonder how Ace and Sydney are doing Randidly muttered his eyes going unfocused But then he snapped back to the moment opening his Path screen with an excited expression putting the final two points into the Newbie Path

Congratulations You have earned 2 stat point

Congratulations You have completed the Newbie Path +1 to all stats +1 stat point per level +4 Health per level +2 Mana and +2 stamina per level You have learned the active skills Mana Bolt Lvl 1 and Heavy Blow Lvl 1

Continue using paths to explore this world Remember there will always be a path open to you

Randidly laughed out loud It seemed like completing a path certainly earned a lot of rewards Not only was the final point he inserted worth 2 stat points instead of 1 but completing the path also had a big reward

Then Randidly frowned Although a lot of it was tied to level gains And his level was still N/A

Did he miss something

Randidly did a once through on his menus but there was nothing that he missed Grimacing Randidly considered the option that he had hypothesized about but didn’t want to give voice to If this is like a game then there is likely a newbie area But since he was underground when the system initialized he just spawned right into a dungeon And in the newbie area

Randidly’s eyes went to the spot where there was a series of lines instead of class

In the newbie area you earn a class which allows you to level up And without a class

But then Randidly shook his head No need to worry about that right now He was improving slowly and that is enough He also had 3 stat points he could distribute And now he had two skills that he needed to figure out how to use

After eating the other half of yesterday’s harvest of berries Randidly decided to put 1 point into End 1 point into Agi and deciding to take a gamble another point into Per Increased perception would hopefully allow him to spot approaching enemies like the frog earlier If it had wanted to attack him at that time

Randidly shivered

After distributing his points Randidly looked at his status

Health(/R per hour) 47/47 (23 25)

Mana(/R per hour) 19/19 (8)

Stam(/R per min) 25/25 (11)

Vit 6

End 5

Str 3

Agi 8

Perception 4

Reaction 5

Resistance 5

Willpower 5

Inteligence 4

Wisdom 2

Control 2

Focus 3

Paths Newbie 7/7 P Def M Supp Risk Taker

Skills Running Lvl 4 Physical Fitness Lvl 2 Sneak Lvl 2 Farming Lvl 3 Mana Bolt Lvl 1 Heavy Blow Lvl 1

Putting several points into End had improved both his health and his Stamina which was important Survivability and his ability to escape were critical But for now

Randidly turned his attention to his two newly learned skills Feeling slightly foolish Randidly said Mana Bolt

Immediately a screen popped up in front of him

Mana Bolt Focusing your energy you fire a bolt of pure mana at your enemies Costs 10 mana Damage based on Intelligence and level of skill

Pleased he then said Heavy Blow

Heavy Blow Concentrate your force into one powerful attack Costs 5 stamina Damage based on Str and level of skill

He tried saying the rest of his skills but nothing happened Apparently it only worked with active skills Experimentally Randidly raised his hand and pointed focusing on his finger

Nothing happened

Feeling silly Randidly concentrated again and said Mana Bolt

Something inside of Randidly moved something that he hadn’t had before yesterday and hadn’t noticed because it never had been there before rising and rushing to his finger Surprised Randidly looked down towards below his stomach where the feeling was coming from

Blue energy condensed on his finger and shot forward or rather downward because the distracting feeling caused his arm to fall to his side

So the mana bolt shot downward and struck himself in the foot

Yelping and hopping Randidly glared at the hole in his shoe chiding himself for his idiocy Then he checked his status It had done 5 damage to him

So at least it’s just flat intelligence plus skill level huh ’

Randidly wanted to try again but due to the fact his maximum mana was only 19 he would need to wait a bit And with a mana regeneration of 8 even tripled to 24 in this room refilling his mana would take awhile

Making a mental note to figure out what the Wis and Int stats did to his status Randidly turned his attention to heavy blow Stamina recharged per minute so it seemed like this would be much easier to grind

Feeling like he was in a martial arts movie Randidly walked up to the small tree in the room spread his feet took a deep breath and punched it

To get it over with Randidly had punched rather hard and the small tree shook slightly Surprisingly there was a dull ache in his hand but no real pain worth mentioning Perhaps this was his stats of Vit and End paying dividends

This time when Randidly punched he said Heavy Blow

Another new force moved within Randidly this time originating from his heart And where the other was cool this was warm and vibrant filling his fist with destructive energy When this punch reached the tree it once again shook but noticeably more

Shaking his head Randidly admitted he had been expecting a bit more but it was probably enough to have this After all his skill was still level 1 and he only had a Str of 3 As time passed and his stats and skill level increased

But then Randidly shook his head ridding himself of the budding excitement Life or death stay focused

Chapter 4

After a few hours of grinding Randidly had improved his Physical Fitness to Lvl 3 Running to 5 and both Mana Bolt and Heavy Blow to 2

Surprisingly Mana Bolt had reached 2 first It seemed like the lower cost of Heavy Blow meant it took more to level it Although that just meant it had taken 5 Heavy Blows rather than the 2 Mana Bolts it had taken

With the earned PP Randidly had started down the P Def path His odd points the 1st and 3rd net him P Def stats that could only be used on Vit and End which suited him just fine The evens were regular stat points

Randidly put one in each of Vit and End and with the distributable ones he put one in Int and one in Wis Intelligence increases maximum mana by 2 and mana regen by 25 Wis increases maximum mana by 5 and regen by 1

Another thing that Randidly noticed was that he was rather inaccurate with Mana Bolts At around 10 feet it became luck to hit a certain large cinderblock on the wall

But he was out of berries and with a determined face Randidly once more left the room Once more he snuck down towards the treeline moving across the grass instead of inside the trees down to where the berries were But when he arrived he was stunned to find that the bush had been picked clean

With nervous eyes Randidly looked up and sure enough the lime green frog was still there but it was looking quite a bit fatter

It actually had the nerve to burp looking at Randidly with a dismissive glance Randidly glared back up at it And forgetting about his plan of remaining relatively calm in the face of danger he raised his hand and channeled mana into his palm preparing a mana bolt He had discovered that he didn’t actually need to say anything out loud to use it just channel the strange mana he found inside of himself

The bolt slowly formed taking almost 10 seconds to condense The casting time was a problem but it had already shortened a little bit so hopefully that would continue in the future

Surprisingly the bolt that shot forward in a mostly straight direction slamming into the frog’s bulging sides Almost immediately its eyes went wide and it seemed to be engaged in an internal struggle Finally after a few seconds it opened its mouth and vomited a cascade of half digested berries and yellow goop that splashed on the tree next to Randidly It then turned its eyes towards Randidly which began to glow red

But just as he noticed that he noticed that his hand was burning and looked down Several small drops of the vomit had splashed on him Then he heard a sizzling noise He looked up to find the tree was disappearing before his very eyes eaten by the strange vomit Then his hand began to burn

He turned and dashed away setting his hunger aside for the moment earning himself another level in running as he sprinted back towards a safe room But then next notifications were much more foreboding

Congratulations You have learned the skill Acid Resistance Lvl 1

Hearing a splash behind him as if the frog spat again Randidly redoubled his efforts tapping into that hot energy inside of his heart

Congratulations You have learned the active skill Sprinting Lvl 1

Congratulations Acid Resistance is now Lvl 2

Randidly broke out of the trees and crossed the ferns in a second He then leapt scrambling up the rest of the distance to the safe zone door

Congratulations Acid Resistance is now Lvl 3

Congratulations Sprinting is now Lvl 2

Warning Some of the acid has entered your bloodstream causing you to be poisoned

Congratulations You have learned the skill Poison Resistance Lvl 1

Randidly opened the door and scrambled through it ignoring the continuing notifications He was starting to get distinctly dizzy

Congratulations Acid Resistance is now Lvl 4

Congratulations Poison Resistance is now Lvl 2

Congratulations Poison Resistance is now Lvl 3

Warning Your health is extremely low Due to being under level 10 arrows will be on the ground guiding you to the nearest safe zone

Congratulations Poison Resistance is now Lvl 4

Not even stopping inside of the room Randidly sprinted downwards diving into the pool frantically wiping at his hand which now had a rather large hole eaten all the way through it As Randidly gazed at his bone his resolve wavered for a second Then he snapped back to focus His brow furrowing He checked his status and saw his health was at 10 and as he watched it ticked down to 9 and then 8 Frantically he opened up his Path screen dumped the 6 points he had gotten on the trip into P Def Before he could switch back he noticed another notification but he decided to ignore it

Then switched back to his status screen dumping all 6 points into End

Instantly his health rose by 30 (Wait why was it not 30 and 44 instead Not that he was complaining ) The health continued to tick down but it was obviously slowing It continued to slow as he rubbed at the wound and gulped down the cool water until it stabilized at 12 health Letting out a long breath Randidly slumped back and considered the notifications

He ignored the ones for getting points from the P Def path but looked at the final one

Congratulations You have completed the P Def Path +2 to all P Def stats +1 P Def point per level You have learned the skill Iron Skin Lvl 1

Congratulations Acid Resistance is now Lvl 5

Congratulations Poison Resistance is now Lvl 5

Congratulations Acid Resistance is now Lvl 6

The healing pool has cleansed your body You are no longer poisoned

Congratulations Acid Resistance is now Lvl 7

Sighing Randidly collapsed on the floor That was probably too close The worst part was that he had only been splashed by a tiny drop and it still ripped a hole in his hand and ate at his flesh eventually poisoning him If it wasn’t for this healing pool

Shivering Randidly once more realized how close he was to dying while he remained here But

He couldn’t help grinning slightly He had survived And as such he had benefited immensely Not only had he finished the P Def path but he now had 4 more PPs to spend on the next path As well as the skill Iron Skin Perhaps it would be helpful in defending against the acid But based on how quickly his Acid Resistance skill had leveled Randidly doubted that he was at the level where withstanding a direct blow from the acid would be possible

Randidly put the 4 PPs into the M Supp path As expected he received two distributable stats and two M Supp stats

He hesitated but put both into control hoping that it would increase the accuracy of his mana bolt For the distributable ones Randidly struggled He already experienced a huge boost in survivability with the End increase but he was beginning to believe that it was just a drop in the bucket A direct attack would kill him several times over

So instead one point went into Agi and one into Per Sighing Randidly looked again at his stats

Health(/R per hour) 12/98 (34 5)

Mana(/R per hour) 12/22 (9 25)

Stam(/R per min) 5/52 (14)

Vit 9

End 14

Agi 9

Perception 5

Inteligence 5

Wisdom 3

Control 4

Paths Newbie 7/7 P Def 10/10 M Supp 4/10 Risk Taker

Skills Running Lvl 5 Physical Fitness Lvl 3 Sneak Lvl 2 Farming Lvl 3 Mana Bolt Lvl 2 Heavy Blow Lvl 2 Acid Resistance Lvl 7 Poison Resistance Lvl 4 Sprinting Lvl 2 Iron Skin Lvl 1

Too close He muttered sitting down to recover His stomach grumbled but he ignored it His life was much more important than going without a meal for a few hours He was tired and needed to rest and steady his nerve before he returned to the outside world

Chapter 5

It took around an hour and half for his health to regenerate back to full even with the bonuses of this room It made Randidly realize about the different uses of End and Vit even more He resolved to put a few more points into Vit when he had the chance

But at the same time he needed to get his Agi and Per even higher and without more points in Int his magic was useless

But during that time he had been grinding his Stamina skills including Iron Skin

Iron Skin Concentrate on your skin increasing your defense Higher mastery means quicker activation and localized application Costs 10 stamina per second Defensive boost based on level of the skill

Although the cost meant it was more of a one time use thing in battle rather than a constant buff the quickness of the recovery still meant that Randidly could keep it on for 6 seconds wait two minutes for his stamina to recharge and then do it again

Through this method he already pushed Iron Skin to Lvl 3 allowing him to put another point in Control and one in Per This room really was designed to be an area that allowed one to grind stamina skills incredibly efficiently The regeneration tripling made Stamina fill up within minutes

But he was unable to rely on this for much longer The berry bushes inside the same room were growing and much faster than was natural but it wouldn’t be quick enough to save him from hunger

He needed to go out once more for food

As his hand gripped the doorknob it trembled and Randidly closed his eyes

But then he opened them I’m not just Randidly I’m also the Ghosthound And I will make these damn frogs pay ’

And with that thought he pushed his way outward

Much to his surprise he immediately saw frogs although they didn’t see him As he watched their movements in the trees it seemed as though as though they were searching Randidly felt another chill but this one was even more quickly smothered Instead he turned and crept away along the wall moving away from the frogs He even earned another point in Sneak raising it to 3

After moving some distance away Randidly quickly cut towards the treeline Much farther and he would reach the area of the Howler Monkeys which were also outside his ability to deal with When he moved past the ferns and into the trees he was disappointed to find no berry tries but there were several other trees within sight that seemed to have fruit or nuts But that would require going even deeper into the rainforest area

But he needed food so he headed towards a tall slender tree that was the closest around which was what appeared to be tan walnuts After peering carefully around he knocked one against the tree until it cracked and inspected the insides Seemed like a nut

He nibbled on it and was delighted to discover that it had a savory almost smoky flavor He quickly cracked open several others taking the edge off of his hunger Satisfied Randidly was preparing to gather more in his shirt to take back when he caught a whiff of death

Moving very carefully he looked through the treeline to a small clearing he saw earlier but had ruled out as too far in But still his eyes had been dragged there to what appeared to be glowing red crystals hanging in the tree

Now his eyes went to the ground where he saw a long scaly green body lying still in the clearing

His eyes flickered and then once more against his better judgement he approached letting his intuition guide him His Sneak increased to Lvl 4 as he quickly circled the area moving on light feet The entire area was silent and Randidly was finally able to see why

A strange creature with pointed ears was waist deep in the large snake’s mouth But at the same time that creature had managed to drive a blade through the top of the snake’s skull where apparently the snake had died either from brain damage or blood loss They were both caked in dried black blood

But Randidly couldn’t take his eyes away from the dagger the handle long and slender wrapped in leather with a simple amethyst set into the hilt

A weapon would certainly make this much easier

Deciding to go for the speedy route Randidly sprinted out into the clearing grabbing the dagger pulling and then turning to go

But then he lurched to a stop the dagger stuck fast in the skull Freezing Randidly waited for his impending doom Nothing happened

So slightly reassured Randidly began pressed back and forth beginning the laborious process of grinding the dagger outside of the snake’s skull Thankfully everything in the area seemed quite dead

The process took so long that at one point Randidly had to taken several minutes as a break and allow his stamina to recover

Eventually with a sickening pop the dagger came free and Randidly admired the slightly carved blade with a wickedly sharp edge The notification was even more interesting

Congratulations You have learned the active skill Equip Lvl 1

Equip Randidly said outloud curious

Equip Allows you to inspect and equip weapons and armor Skill level must be greater than or equal to weapon level to utilize the bonuses seen with equip Utilizing a Weapon of higher level will raise skill level

Inspect

Item Quality too high to inspect

Item Quality huh Randidly had expected not being able to utilize the dagger for its benefits which he suspected would be stat gains but the fact that item quality blocked him from even examining it was strange Still it still was an interesting mixture of disappointment and excitement Disappointment because he didn’t know what it was or how it could help him excitement because it was a rare weapon

Although if it suddenly revealed himself to him when was only Level 2 in Equip that would be its own disappointment But Randidly suspected it wouldn’t be that simple

Pleased with his haul Randidly gave the pointy eared fellow a once over before he spotted the satchel hanging over his shoulder It was pressed against the ground beneath his back Feeling slightly embarrassed to be stealing from the dead Randidly tried to be gentle but quickly realized that if he did this would take forever So he began wrestling with the dead body

Within minutes Randidly’s more irreverent approach had yielded the satchel which Randidly opened to reveal a swirling darkness Frowning he prodded it with the dagger which instantly vanished sucked into it Gasping he grabbed after it perhaps foolishly sticking his hand into the darkness

But as he did so a strange knowledge entered into his mind Inside the bag in a strange 1 cubic meter space floated several items Some dried rations it looked like A map Some weird coins a book in a language he couldn’t understand 15 empty vials A bedroll of some kind Some stuff that looked like campfire tools And the dagger

And with but a thought the dagger reappeared in his hand Randidly gazed at the bag in wonder

20 minutes later Randidly left the clearing With his newfound dagger and bag he cleaned out everything he could find The strange glowing red crystals in the giant tree as well as the blue ones that studded the roots All the nuts from the first tree Several green banana shaped fruits from nearby

He even used the dagger to carve out one of the snake’s long fangs which was as thick as Randidly’s wrist and was just about to start on the second when a rustling from the bushes spooked him sending him dashing back to the safe room His little series of sprints also raised the Sprinting level to 3

Upon arriving back at the room the first thing Randidly did was have a fine meal of nuts and banana things The glowing crystals he was a little wary of and decided to wait until later Afterwards he considered the area

Then using the dagger Randidly carved out nine holes spaced several feet apart in a line and buried three nuts three of the bananas and finally one of the red crystals one of the blue crystals and one with both of them together to see if he could grow a tree like the one outside

While he was doing so he even had the pleasing notification that his Equip skill increased to Lvl 2 Fortunately or unfortunately it was still unable to inspect the dagger

Satisfied Randidly lay down for a nap laying out his new bedroll the lights dimming on cue leaving the rest of it for after he had some rest

Chapter 6

More notifications awaited Randidly as he awoke once more

Congratulations Farming is now Lvl 4

Congratulations Farming is now Lvl 5

Congratulations Farming is now Lvl 6

Congratulations Farming is now Lvl 7

Congratulations Farming is now Lvl 8

Congratulations You have learned the skill Plant Breeding Lvl 1

Congratulations Plant Breeding is now Lvl 2

So many levels And Plant Breeding Randidly muttered rubbing his eyes His original berry bushes were now approaching a point where they would produce berries leafy and healthy looking There were thin sprouts from the first six of the holes the 3 nuts and 3 bananas But disappointingly the final three showed no change

Well anyway there was still a lot to do

First Randidly took stock of his supplies He had about a dozen of each color of the crystal 30 nuts 25 bananas and some weird bread and dried meat from the person who killed the snake That was probably enough to keep him going for a few days giving him time to spend all his effort on grinding out his skills to increase his chance of survival

Next he went to his path screen He currently had 9 PP and used 4 of them to finish off the M Supp Path As expected he received 2 M Supp Points and then 2 free stat points which he put into Control and Vitality respectively

Then he examined the completion notification

Congratulations You have completed the M Supp Path +2 to all M Supp stats +1 M Supp point per level You have learned the skill Meditation Lvl 1

Meditation Allows user to enter into focused state increasing regeneration by 1% per skill level May be knocked out of meditation by disturbances Increasing skill level allows more actions to be done while meditation

Small now but There is a lot of potential there I wonder if it stacks with the safe room bonus

Then Randidly put the remaining 5 into the Risk Taker path Much to his disappointment the first 4 PPs did nothing Only the 5th and final gave him hope

Congratulations You have earned +1 all stats

He figured it made sense that as he continued it would get harder to get individual stats But rewards every five and likely the completion reward would still be worth it

Randidly also got a better sense of some of the stats Perception really did make his eyes and ears more sensitive and the tiny boosts in reactions he received enabled him to respond more quickly to things

The boost to Int made his mana bolt slightly more bright and powerful and it also now seemed to travel farther before dissipating which Randidly suspected was the increase in his wisdom The large boost to M Supp he had received let him determine that while control made his accuracy with spells better Focus decreased the casting time It only took around 5 seconds to channel the energy for the spell now which was much shorter but also too long in terms of what it would require to use mid battle

So for the next two days Randidly threw himself into grinding

He planned it out well In the mornings he would jog sprint and do push ups interspersing that Mana Bolts Then he would take a meal and spend several hours grinding heavy blow practicing slashing the small tree which seemed to be growing rapidly with the dagger leaving long scratches

It even earned him the Dagger Mastery Skill

In the evening Randidly alternated between using Iron Skin and shooting Mana Bolts and Meditating

For two day this continued Randidly ignoring the notifications and instead just continuing to grind He realized he might miss out on some marginal benefits by turning in PPs for stats now but he ignored that Better to not let anything distract them

At the end of the second day while he ripped away at some of the dried jerky he had taken from the dead body Randidly considered his gains

Farming Lvl 8 had increased to Lvl 11

Running Lvl 5 had increased to Lvl 7

Sprinting Lvl 3 had increased to Lvl 6

Physical Fitness Lvl 3 had increased to Lvl 10

Mana Bolt Lvl 2 had increased to Lvl 7

Heavy Blow Lvl 2 had increased to Lvl 9

Iron Skin Lvl 3 had increased to Lvl 6

Dagger Mastery Lvl 1 had increased to Lvl 5

Meditation Lvl 1 had increased to Lvl 4

Equip Lvl 2 had increased to Lvl 7

All in all he had earned 42 PP which might have been more than the amount he had used to this point Initially he was intimidated by that number because he didn’t have enough paths but two things soothed his thoughts First when Physical Fitness Reached Lvl 10 he unlocked the Basic Fitness Path which would require 20 PP to finish

2nd the notification at the end of the path completion made him think there was some secret to paths

So Randidly first finished off the Risk Taker path getting another +1 to all stats at 10 and 15 respectively and then a completion notification

Congratulations You have completed the Risk Taker Path Not all risks are rewarded equally Received 1 Random Chest +1% experience per each level a defeated mob has over you

Congratulations You have obtained a Small Chest

And as Randidly watched a small chest the size of a tissue box appeared in front of him

After a brief hesitation Randidly opened the chest finding a pair of Leather Gloves He immediately put them on and inspected them

Fine Leather Gloves Lvl Vitality +1 Agility +3

Even though it was a failure apparently his Equip level was high enough to at least see that little bit of information Still he was left without knowing how long it would take to Equip the gloves for real

Satisfied Randidly then poured 20 PP into finishing off Basic Physical Fitness Like Risk Taker only every 5th one had a reward At 5 he received on P Attack (which he put into Agi) at 10 a P Def (which he put into Vit) and at 15 a P Supp (which he put into Perception) 20 was a free stat which Randidly put into Wis to raise his mana regeneration

Congratulations You have completed the Basic Physical Fitness Path +10 Health +5 Stamina +1 Stamina per level

Another health boost was always beneficial although it was probably less useful that straight stats But increasing level up gains would be useful for him Hopefully

Eventually

Randidly then went back to his path screen a sinking feeling in his chest But as he looked at all the greyed out selections a notification popped up before him

Continue using paths to explore this world Remember there will always be a path open to you Please select one of the paths below for your continued journey

Trainee Path 0/15

0/20

Randidly considered Although the second one was effectively random it seemed like a higher level path because it would take more PP It had the same amount as Basic Physical Fitness Still Trainee path seemed like the natural continuation of the Newbie path and that had granted him skills

Deciding to play it safe Randidly selected trainee pouring his remaining 12 PP into it To his surprise he received a bonus every level which made him quite happy But he was stopped after putting his 5th point in

Congratulations You have earned +3 to Health

Congratulations You have earned +2 to Mana

Congratulations You have earned +1 all Stamina

Congratulations You have earned +1 stat

Congratulations You have encountered a branching path Choose either +4 Stamina and the skill Mighty Leap or +10 Mana and the skill Entangling Roots Warning your choice will affect the remainder of this path

Frowning Randidly weighed his options Essentially he had to choose whether to proceed down a Mana or a Stamina build The obvious choice was Stamina but Randidly was pulled towards mana for two reasons First a Stamina build would require more direct confrontations which Randidly did not yet have much experience with Especially when he considered those acid spitting frogs it seemed like it would be a bad idea

2nd the associated skill was much more desirable Entangling Roots sounded like Crowd Control which could hopefully tie down the frogs or Howler Monkeys enabling him to escape

In addition Randidly was very tempted by the 10 mana bonus from learning the skill

With these things in mind he selected the Entangling Roots option

Entangling Roots Summon roots from the ground to tie down opponents Costs 35 mana Duration of roots depends on skill level Strength and size of roots depend on skill level and intelligence Accuracy of roots depends on control

Immediately he felt an intense regret 35 mana cost His total mana was only 42 And even with the bonus from the safe zone his mana regen per hour was just 42 It would take him almost an hour and a half to get enough mana to use it again

Sighing Randidly entered in the next 7 PPs emptying himself out But those notifications brought some measure of optimist back to his heart

Congratulations You have earned +1 to Mana Regeneration

Congratulations You have earned +1 Stat

Congratulations You have learned the active skill Mana Shield Lvl 1

Mana Shield Conjure a thin shield of mana Effective against both magical and physical attacks Will block 20 damage plus the skill level x 5 Costs 20 mana

After putting the two stat points he had earned from the Trainee Path into wisdom and boosting his mana regen Randidly felt much better His mana pool was now at 51 and his regeneration at 17 per hour In the room that was 51 just above the casting cost of Entangling roots Training it up 1 per hour alternating with Mana Bolts was just barely enough for him to stomach

Closing the menus Randidly considered his options What was the best method to ensure his survival here

Chapter 7

One of the items he obtained in the bag was a map and after touching it the map option in his menu screen became selectable Inside there was a general outline of the dungeon which was simply called The Underground Jungle

Ultimately what he saw made Randidly’s heart sink The dungeon he was in was simply too big He was situated in the safe room halfway across the southern wall It was equidistant from the entrance and the boss room

But that distance appeared to be something near 20 miles

More disturbingly while the bosses chambers appeared to be in the Southeastern Corner the entrance was in the Northwestern corner meaning Randidly would need to cross through at least some portion of the forest in order to get there

Sighing Randidly dismissed the menu He had a long way to go before having any confidence in crossing the forest Randidly looked at his stats one more time before laying down for a nap

Health(/R per hour) 138/138 (53 25)

Mana(/R per hour) 50/51 (17)

Stam(/R per min) 66/67 (20)

Vit 15

End 17

Str 6

Agi 13

Perception 10

Reaction 8

Resistance 8

Willpower 8

Inteligence 8

Wisdom 11

Control 12

Focus 8

Paths Newbie 7/7 P Def 10/10 M Supp 10/10 Risk Taker 15/15 Basic Physical Fitness 20/20 Trainee 12/15

Skills Running Lvl 7 Physical Fitness Lvl 10 Sneak Lvl 4 Farming Lvl 11 Mana Bolt Lvl 7 Heavy Blow Lvl 9 Acid Resistance Lvl 4 Poison Resistance Lvl 4 Sprinting Lvl 6 Iron Skin Lvl 6 Equip Lvl 7 Plant Breeding Lvl 2 Meditation Lvl 4 Dagger Mastery Lvl 5 Entangling Roots Lvl 1 Mana Shield

After careful consideration Randidly found himself sneaking back over towards the Howler Monkey area There were two reasons for this trip One was to stop by the nut banana and weird crystal trees and stock up on more food and the other

Was to actually engage the Howler Monkeys

Well hopefully to lure one away and then bind it with Entangling roots and then something

The more Randidly thought about it the worse the idea seemed but he also knew that grinding was done for the explicit purpose of going out after and getting some actual experience He needed to be able to use his skills

Additionally the Howler Monkeys had only been scary within the treeline Outside of it they were slow enough that even a Randidly without all of his skills and stats was only slightly slower He was now confident that his 13 Agility would be enough to outrun them

Unfortunately there were only 2 or 3 glowing crystals that had grown back but there was several dozen nuts and bananas he had missed the first time After filling his satchel he began creeping back towards the monkey area To his surprise he gained a level in both Sneaking and Equip

He was still unable to see the level of the dagger or the gloves but the two PP let him almost finish off the Trainee Class which Randidly did huddled up against a tree

The fact that the stat point went directly into Agi probably was evidence of Randidly’s nerves With that done he continued creeping forward aiming to the Howler Monkey’s area

As he approached Randidly noticed what he didn’t previously that in that area the trees changed their crowns stretching higher their trunks farther apart Also the area was thick with vines

Feeling slightly foolish Randidly came out of his crouching position in the ferns and walked boldly past

Randidly scratched his head Last time had been so much easier

A blur at the edge of his vision was all the warning he had Had it been the him of a few days ago it probably would have ended with him wounded But the threat of danger and stat increases had sharpened his senses As soon as he noticed the projectile he summoned a Mana Shield

It smashed against Randidly’s shield slowing it only briefly and a stone the size of an apple crashed into him sending Randidly staggering His head whipped around and he saw a monkey standing in the tree chittering with laughter as it hefted another stone Furious Randidly raised his hand and pointed a mana bolt shooting out

With Randidly’s improved control his attack flew true striking the Howler Monkey in the chest With a squawk it was dislodged from its position on the branch falling to the ground Howling it then rumbled up towards him

With not enough mana left to cast Entangling Roots Randidly fled returning to the safe room

As he unpacked and sorted the gathered food Randidly viewed the notifications he had with serious eyes First the stone had pierced through his mana shield with enough force to do a little over 30 damage That means the stone itself thrown by the monkey would be about 55

2nd Blocking that stone had increased Mana Shield skill to level 3 Which seemed like an awfully quick level up even though level 2 was usually quite easy

Finally hitting the Monkey in the chest with the mana bolt had increased it to Lvl 9 For a while Randidly had been wondering whether it was a common thing to hole up in a safe room where the regeneration is doubled and grinding up their skill level But he was beginning to suspect it wasn’t Because it seemed that actually using the skills in real battle was much more effective at leveling them

Sighing Randidly used a PP to finish off the Trainee Path

Congratulations You have earned +2 to M Stats

Congratulations You have completed the Trainee Path (Mage Branch) +10 Mana +1 Mana Regen +1 Mana per level

The two stats went into Control and Intelligence If I was going to start trying to grind outside of the safe room I needed a bigger mana pool It wouldn’t be feasible in the short term to try and raise my regeneration to the point where it could matter

When he went back to the path screen there was only one option the from before with 0/20 He clicked on it and the name shifted to Wandering Survivor

Seems relevant Randidly muttered and put his remaining 3 PPs into it And to his surprise he received something each time

Congratulations You have earned +2 to Health

Congratulations You have earned +2 to Stamina

Apparently it was a rather helpful path as well

Pleased Randidly wandered over to view his growing plants His initially planted berry bush was beginning to bud Fruit would come soon The others were growing to a good size except

Randidly frowned at the final banana plant which was around double the size of the others and about twice as tall Abruptly realizing something Randidly got out his dagger and began to dig After about 5 minutes he leaned back on his heels As he thought the red crystal that had been nearest in the ground to the banana was gone The lone blue crystal and the red and blue together with both still there

So the red crystal had been absorbed somehow by the plant And that was likely where the Plant Breeding skill had came from

Thinking this Randidly looked around abruptly realizing that the room seemed slightly larger than he remembered But he ignored it instead going to the side and digging 6 holes very far from one another 3 were bananas 3 were nuts He did the same line of crystals one red one blue and one both just to see the effects

Satisfied he laid out the bedroll from the satchel and prepared for a nap

Chapter 8

When Randidly awoke he realized that he honestly had no idea how long he was asleep and awake for so there was no way of knowing how much time had passed He believed it had been 4 or 5 days but it was hard to know for sure

But then he turned his attention to the notifications Farming had risen to 13 Plant Breeding had risen to 5

Expectantly Randidly threw those points into the Wandering Survivor Path

Congratulations You have earned +1 to Stat

Congratulations You have earned +1 to Perception and Reaction

Although not receiving a skill was somewhat of a letdown the extra stats also helped The extra stat he put into Intelligence committing entirely to his new grinding plan

The morning proceeded as usual with physical exertion interspaced with Iron Skin and Mana Bolt Even though it had reached the point that Mana Bolt could be cast every 15 minutes Randidly could tell that he was reaching the limit of what could be really grinded out here Mana Bolt only increased 1 Lvl Iron Skin increased two but that too was slowing Running and Physical Fitness didn’t go up but Sprint went up by 1

What was disappointing was that getting Mana Bolt to 10 didn’t unlock a path for it But Randidly supposed that it hadn’t worked that way with farming either Focusing on the now he threw his 4 PP into the Wandering Survivor

The nice surprise that Randidly did receive was that his Equip also leveled up while he was applying PP giving him enough to get the +2 Stamina boost from the Wandering Survivor Path again The stat point again went into intelligence

Next Randidly proceeded outside to start his new type of afternoon grinding having rocks thrown at him by the monkeys Although the rocks could do about 50 60 damage Randidly believed that the combination of an improved Mana Shield and Iron Skin he could shrug off most of the damage

Randidly also noticed that there were no longer patrols of frogs in the opposite direction which made him feel better That fat frog was welcome to the berries He was growing plenty of his own or would be soon

There were three Howler Monkeys waiting for Randidly this time which made him nervous but he figured he could handle it They hooted to each other pointing at him knowingly and the smallest ran to the ground to fetch some rocks When the small one returned the bigger two smacked it then took the rocks from its arms and started throwing them at Randidly

The first was a bit off in terms of the target namely him and simply glance off the shield But the second struck it squarely sending long cracks through the shield of mana But apparently it had leveled enough to handle a hit because it barely survived This seemed to annoy the first monkey and the second hooted its glee

Furious the first monkey grabbed another stone and whipped it as hard as it could Which it turned out was a lot harder than Randidly was ready for The shield broke and even with activating Iron Skin Randidly fell to his back He checked his stats and the stone had done 60 damage

But also both Mana Shield and Iron Skin leveled up from that one stone

This was of course ignoring the significant ache in Randidly’s chest but he ignored that slowly straightening Or he planned to slowly straighten but the viciously thrown rocks meant he hastily rolled to the side causing his throbbing chest to tighten

Congratulations You have gained the skill Dodge Lvl 1

Hopping side to side Randidly sighed Well at least he was still grinding a skill

He also raised his hands and shot a few mana bolts keeping the monkeys on their toes However even when they took them directly to their body it only seemed to annoy them causing them to throw stones faster

After 10 minutes which felt like an eternity one of the monkey’s finally hopped down lumbering towards Randidly and he took this chance to quickly check his mana It was unfortunately only 27 and that 8 would take forever to regenerate Frustrated Randidly blasted the monkey twice in its face with Mana Bolts and then turned to run

But as he did so a stone struck his leg sending him sprawling The monkey that was on the ground jumped forward aiming for Randidly’s scrambling form but he managed to get his feet out from under him and roll forward Then he started sprinting not stopping until he was safely back in the Safe Room

However as he entered he froze Sitting in the pond with his back turned to Randidly was an extremely tall and broad individual From the way his gaze was pointed it looked like he was looking at Randidly’s plants Based on the blood stains on the floor the figure was heavily wounded but he currently was healing

As quietly as he could Randidly closed the door behind him He even got another point in sneak

But still the figure turned His skin had a strange bluish tint and he was bald but other than that he was a rather typical looking fellow Except for the third eye in his forehead

He said something in another language and Randidly felt something happen in his head the sounds he made twisting in his mind and suddenly they snapped together

ah you had not met Travelers from other worlds before There now you can understand yes Hello little friend Are you the one who brought these things here

He pointed at the plants Randidly nodded wary

The man shook his head laughing slightly Do not worry friend we are both Travelers And you are from one of the newly acquired world yes For you to proceed into a Lvl 35 dungeon after such a short amount of time is truly a wonder

Randidly sat down sighing He had expected that the world had drastically changed due to the arrival of the system but this was all a little much wasn’t it

Chapter 9

In very general terms Randidly explained his situation spawning directly in the dungeon by the safe room and doing his best to hole up here these past few days Then 3 eyed man whose name was Shal seemed rather shocked

Extraordinary He muttered looking Randidly up and down So you do not have a class Or a level That would make things difficult Normally I would not mind helping you some secure some kills in the area so you can find your feet but

Then the man paused However I could do you the favor of escorting you to the entrance if you would bring me food while I recover here It will take several days and to rid myself of this curse I cannot leave the pool

That would be appreciated Randidly said slowly Satisfied with the exchange Shal turned back away sitting calmly in the pool

After meditating for about an hour Randidly took stock of himself Dodge had become Lvl 3 while Iron Skin and Mana Shield also increased by 1 Equip too went up The biggest gain was Mana Bolt once more gaining two levels With these 7 PPs Randidly could finish off Wandering Survivor

Congratulations You have earned +2 to Stat

Congratulations You have earned +1 to all Stats

Congratulations You have completed the Wandering Survivor Path +2 to all Regeneration

Randidly barely stifled a gasp While it wasn’t a per level up gain the increase in regeneration across the board was incredibly powerful Especially as he strengthened his Iron Skin further If his stamina regeneration was so high that he could maintain the skill almost constantly

Of the 3 Stats he got all of them went into Intelligence boosting that Mana pool just a little bit more Then he admired his new stats

Health(/R per hour) 138/153 (58 5)

Mana(/R per hour) 50/84 (23 5)

Stam(/R per min) 66/78 (23)

Vit 16

End 18

Str 7

Agi 15

Perception 14

Reaction 12

Resistance 9

Willpower 9

Inteligence 15

Wisdom 12

Control 14

Focus 9

Paths Newbie 7/7 P Def 10/10 M Supp 10/10 Risk Taker 15/15 Basic Physical Fitness 20/20 Trainee 15/15 Wandering Survivor 20/20

Skills Running Lvl 7 Physical Fitness Lvl 10 Sneak Lvl 4 Farming Lvl 13 Mana Bolt Lvl 12 Heavy Blow Lvl 9 Acid Resistance Lvl 4 Poison Resistance Lvl 4 Sprinting Lvl 7 Iron Skin Lvl 9 Equip Lvl 8 Plant Breeding Lvl 5 Meditation Lvl 5 Dagger Mastery Lvl 5 Entangling Roots Lvl 1 Mana Shield Lvl 4 Dodge Lvl 3

When he returned to the path screen he received another notification

0/5

Rolling his eyes Randidly selected the second option

You have selected the Pathless I Path

well at least it will be short

Feeling slightly awkward about the stranger sitting there in what Randidly had grown to consider his pond he went around behind the now medium sized tree and practiced Heavy Blow Dagger Mastery and Entangling Roots

Although he hadn’t put any points directly into Str the +1 all stats had started adding up and Randidly was beginning to cut chunks out of the tree with his blows When he was out of stamina and mana he would meditate then go check on his plants trying to investigate the differences between the different breeds

The berry bush was now heavy with fruit so Randidly ate several and took others to plant by the far wall By now he was sure this place was getting bigger he just wasn’t sure how

In this way most of the evening passed Randidly’s Entangling Roots finally making it to Lvl 2 Heavy Blow went up 1 and Dagger Mastery rose two Randidly was finally starting to feel comfortable swinging the weapon Randidly even got a level for farming out of the blue likely due to his ministrations on them

With that he had enough PP to finish off the path

Strangely he didn’t receive anything for any of the points even the 5th He only got a bonus with the completion notification

Congratulations You have completed the Pathless I Path +1 stat You have received 1 Random Chest

Congratulations You have received a Medium Chest ©

A white box the size of a microwave appeared in front of Randidly When he opened it he found a leather tunic And when Randidly inspected it it actually worked

Average Leather Tunic Lvl 5 Basic article of clothing +5% resistance to Physical Damage +2 Vit while Equipped

Putting it on Randidly didn’t feel that different but checking his stats sure enough the extra stat from the equipment was there Pleased he stopped training and went outside the safe room to fetch some more food just his planted fruit wouldn’t be enough to support them both

As he crept outward Randidly sighed resigned himself to another few days of fruits and nuts He really missed meat and cheese

Sneaking gained two levels as a strange monstrous spider scuttled past while Randidly was prying the crystals from the tree It was heading directly towards him but he quickly cast his first live Entangling Roots

It was only distracted for a split second before it ripped right through the bindings but that was enough for Randidly to stop what he was doing and throw himself off the tree sprinting away He heard a wet hiss and sensed more than saw something heading his way and leapt to the side A large wad of what could only be spider web smashing into the tree above him strands falling towards him

Scrambling forward he got out of the area of it and sprinted all the way back to the safe room

In that final scrum it seemed Entangling Roots Sprinting Running and Dodging had all leveled up Real experience really did do more than repetitive grinding

Feeling slightly giddy Randidly sat down and meditated deciding not to enter the room He very quickly entered into an introspective state and stayed there until he had regained all of his mana When he awoke to his surprise Meditation had gained two levels and was now Lvl 7 With this 7 PP Randidly turned to his path screen

There was once again two question mark options both costing only 5 Feeling lucky Randidly once more picked the second option

You have selected the Pathless II Path

Randidly speechlessly put 5 PP into it Once more the only reward was the final completion notification

Congratulations You have completed the Pathless II Path +2 stat You have received 1 Random Chest

Congratulations You have received a Tiny Chest ®

Oh Was this a rare tiny chest

Because Randidly hadn’t gotten any size duplicates he couldn’t tell if the chest sizes themselves had relative rarity or the items inside had that rarity Either way it was at least nice that this was a rare chest and the amount of stats he got had increased He put the two stats into Int and then opened the tiny chest

It wasn’t a piece of equipment which was a disappointment It was just a basic mortar and pestle Although when he inspected it he wasn’t able to see what it was so at least it was a decent level

Feeling as if he had tested his luck enough for one day Randidly returned to the Safe Room before he assigned his other two PP But Shal gestured to him before he had the chance

Come bring me some of your food Recovering has taken more strength than anticipated

Rather dutifully Randidly handed over bananas and nuts He had briefly considered demanding higher payment for his delivery but Randidly was growing increasingly desperate to know what was going on with his friends Especially Ace and Sydney

Randidly wasn’t very close to his family But he had found a new one here at college And if something happened to them while he was gone

Shaking his head Randidly turned to Shal Excuse me do you know what these are

Randidly put out a hand holding one of the red and blue glowing crystals

Shal spared the crystals a glance before returning to his regular sitting position Yes they are basic vigor crystals They can be refined into Health and Mana potions But although they are in a Lvl 35 dungeon they are just the basic kind put next to a safe room to help truly desperate individuals I would say even a master Alchemist could only create potions that restore 100 Health or Mana from them

Randidly just stared Mana potions

Ho how do you refine them

Shrugging Shal gestured dismissively Unrelated to my class I cannot learn this skill Give me some time I must heal

But even as Randidly walked slowly away his eyes were bright If he had mana and health potions even if they weren’t as efficient as Shal stated they would still be invaluable to training up his skills

And surviving he added to himself a bit belatedly

Chapter 10

6 hours later Randidly had it or at least thought he had it He had experimented with the red crystals first because what he really wanted was mana potions and he didn’t want to waste the materials for them After playing around with them and applying pressure he realized that they were quite brittle and crumbled quite easily

So being of a determined sort Randidly put some of the crystal dust into his mouth Instantly heat flooded his body and he began sweating But his poison resistance did climb a level so it wasn’t a useless attempt Also wasn’t it true that too much medicine is poison

The next several hours saw Randidly cutting off smaller and smaller bits of crystal and his poison resistance climbing another level

It was only after becoming dejected and rummaging through his satchel that he found the old vials from the original owner of the dagger Trembling with the possible simplicity of it Randidly added water to the vial then put some red powder from the crystal in it

Then he inspected it

Amateur’s Potion Lvl 1 Will restore 10 Health over 5 seconds

Congratulations You have gained the skill Potion Making Lvl 1

With an explosive sigh Randidly used the rest of his mana and then prepared for bed It had been a long day

Randidly woke up to another level in farming and after he had fed Shal he set to experimenting with potions He had only used a fraction of a single crystal to make his first Amateur potion and he had over 50 crystals of each color to play with

He started simply just trying to find the best potion he could make Randidly swiftly realized two things were the primary determinants of whether the potion would heal more That was the ratio of crystal to water and then the uniformity of the crystal grain size It didn’t appear to matter what size the grains were as long as they were uniform

But for some reason it also didn’t work to just drop a single chunk into the water It needed to be split into a certain number of pieces which was a high enough count that it was rather impossible to ensure uniformity

So then Randidly started grinding them up with the mortar and pestle and achieved a pretty even consistency

The ratio was even easier if slightly unscientific due to the lack of available equipment Eventually Randidly had his ultimate creation and a Lvl 5 Potion Making skill

Apprentice’s Potion A potion made by an inexperienced but serious apprentice Will restore 48 health over 3 seconds

Although it was a far cry from 100 48 health was still quite a bit and Randidly was pleased with himself He had even only used about a dozen of the red crystals and had made a fair amount of potions that could restore 30 some health But the problem was that he only had 15 vials to fill with health potion So 5 became health and then 8 he filled with mana Most of these were in the low 40s but Randidly did manage to make one that restored 61 mana He tucked that one away for emergency situations

For the final two Randidly experimented with different combinations of health and mana This was much more difficult because if they were either 50/50 or 75/25 the potion turned into a foaming grey mess that he quickly dumped out 75/25 with red in the majority was a stamina potion and it restored a staggering 80 stamina but Randidly suspected that was a rather poor result After all that would come back in 4 minutes anyway

50/50 was something that can only be described as a concentration potion Under it even the tiniest detail seemed to stick out While under its influence Randidly’s speed of potion making and accuracy of measurements skyrocketed He remixed most of the potions and soon everyone of his vials was filled with liquid that restored between 50 and 60

But when it wore off it left him with a staggering headache that lasted for about an hour He took that time to practice jogging sweating out the weird potion And although it was strange it certainly was useful in small doses so Randidly filled one of the vials with it

75/25 with blue in the majority created the following potion

Lesser Restore Lvl 7 Weakens the effects of foreign influences on the body Cures minor status ailments

That potion was not only the highest level he had yet made but it also pushed his potion making up to Lvl 12 Blinking Randidly couldn’t believe that he had persisted so long without noticing the passage of time Then he frowned

He also didn’t feel tired Did End or Vit also affect a person’s need for breaks Or even sleep

But still in the hopes of leaving the dungeon sooner Randidly approached Shal

Uh excuse me Will something like this help you recover Randidly hated how weak he sounded but he had to admit he really was in the weak position here And he was desperate to escape the dungeon

Shal spared him a glance then beckoned him closer Randidly tossed the potion which Shal deftly caught After sparing it a glance with his third eye Shal grunted and swallowed the contents then tossed the vial back

For several seconds Shal was quiet Then he said in a small way yes If you had 1000 of such things I would be cured almost immediately

Grimacing Randidly walked away It had seemed to help but it wasn’t enough Even though he had been expecting something similar to this reaction the rejection still felt rather fresh 1000 such vials Although possible it would be rather slow going 15 at a time And he would be forced to dump out his precious potions

Shaking his head Randidly refocused on the moment Better to do what he can do now and leave the worrying for later Bringing up his path screen Randidly noticed that he had two new options for the staggering 15 PP he had gathered while making potions

But seeing them gave a sense of foreboding

0/10

Why did both change Shouldn’t I still have access to the old one Unles

Resigning himself Randidly picked the first option

You have selected the Pathless III Path

Sighing Randidly instantly maxed out the path Quite surprising was that he earned 1 stat at 5 as well as 1 at 10 in addition to the completion bonus

Congratulations You have completed the Pathless III Path +2 stat You have realized that all paths are the same and all paths lead to the same place You have gained the skill Pathfinder Lvl 1

Pathfinder Lvl 1 It is very difficult for you to lose your sense of direction Landmarks and interesting locations that you pass will be automatically added to maps you possess

4 stats and a random skill wasn’t such a bad hall all things considered Without a thought Randidly dumped all the points in Int He needed his spells to be stronger Learning to fight and handle close combat was too distant a goal

And with that Randidly returned to the Path Screen Surprisingly the options weren’t mirrors of each other

0/15

Shrugging Randidly selected the 15 options

You have selected the Pathfinder Path

1 4 PP got Randidly nothing but 5 got him +1 to P Supp which was a nice boost With these improvements Randidly left the safe room heading towards the monkey area

By now dodging was relatively simple but he kept still for a while allowing the rocks to hit his shield leveling mana shield twice It was almost enough to withstand a full power throw from the monkeys Mana Bolt improved one level as he threw some back at the monkeys to keep them honest

It was when they finally dropped down that he finally began using the mana potions Randidly practically chugged them casting Entangling Roots over and over again It was still barely enough to stop them for a split second but it delayed them enough that he was never in any danger

And he also gained 3 levels in Entangling Roots

The only disappointment was whatever that spider was that had scared Randidly previously it had set up shop around the crystal tree covering the surrounding area with thick web that Randidly didn’t dare touch It even had taken over the banana tree

Making a mental note to venture a little farther for food next time Randidly returned to the Safe Room

Chapter 11

Back at the base Randidly once more checked on the plants The second generation plants mixed with the crystals had fully grown and now had fruit but he set that to the side for now It did mean that Farming and Plant Breeding both increased a level

With his 8 PP Randidly tossed the rest of it into the Pathfinder class At 10 he earned +1 all M Supp which was helpful for his spells Then he turned to the fruit He began with the bananas because he basically knew what to expect The red bananas were bigger and had a strange spicy savoriness that was a quite welcome switch from the regular sweetness

The straight blue crystal bananas were tingy and were strangely spongy almost like a cake But they certainly seemed like they kept longer without going bad

It was the mixed crystal bananas that were really peculiar When he touched most of the bananas hanging from the slender tree most of them turned to ash Except for one that seemed to pulse with light At the same time it was strangely dripping juices vibrant and alive And quite sticky Slightly nervous Randidly took that one and took a small nibble

Instantly warm waves of heat washed through his body He smiled and flexed his hand He felt powerful Acting purely on instinct Randidly produced the knife and made it dance across his fingers slashing left and right

Almost immediately he gained a level of Equip which just made him smile wider and soon he was leaping back and forth cutting invisible enemies to pieces Very quickly Randidly was filled with a strange confidence that he was wrong about hand to hand fighting Although he wasn’t experienced that didn’t necessarily mean that he couldn’t defeat a lousy monkey

He was quick he was strong he was smart he could spot the monkey’s weaknesses

An increase in the level of his Physical Fitness made his confidence swell He definitely felt stronger and more resilient and it wasn’t just the stats It was the lifestyle it was the diet His body was changing He was changing

Then Dagger Mastery gained a level and he was so sure in that moment He could do this

Hell if he wasn’t babysitting this dumbass Shal

Then all at once the confidence departed a empty coolness suffusing his body Randidly shivered What What was that

Trembling he breathed in and then breathed out The previous few minutes were a heady blur

Perhaps the most disturbing thing about the whole situation was the confidence that buoyed him after he took the small nibble And the fact he had gained 3 skill levels in about 5 minutes Although it might have been a coincidence it didn’t feel like one

Being careful not to breath any stray fumes from the banana Randidly peered closely at the banana trying to figure out why it had such a profound effect on him

Congratulations You have learned the active skill Analyze Lvl 1

Analyze Closely examine materials and rare items Works primarily to determine the crafting potential of base materials Can also give some insight into completed projects

Congratulations Analyze Lvl 1 has risen to Analyze Lvl 2

Lesser Origin Banana Made from a tree that grows rich in both yin and yang energies only one Origin Banana blooms per tree The concentrated energy within it has great potential to increase the efficacy of most effects

It even could increase the efficiency of training But more than that it doesn’t explain that monstrous confidence that appeared so quickly

Still another skill and skill level were useful and Randidly tucked the banana away for safekeeping Meanwhile he walked over to the middle of the nut trees having high hopes for another origin food

Unfortunately his luck was not that good When he pulled off a nut and unpleasant scent wafted up from it

Warped Halnut Strange energies have warped this Halnut Can be refined into a poison with unpredictable effects

Unpredictable wasn’t exactly what Randidly was looking for so he turned to the blue Halnuts Popping one off of the tree he cracked one open and gazed inside Although it was oddly cool it was otherwise quite normal It was also more oily the flesh on the inside shifting when he pressed it Analyzed hit the level going up once again

Cool Halnut A variant of the Halnut with a unique taste It’s core is useful for crafting

Randidly nibbled on the edge To his surprise it tasted oddly mintly He took a bigger bite enjoying the strange peanut butter like consistency combined with the minty flavor He took another bite his teeth smashing against what could only be the core

A thread of cold energy got into his mouth numbing him and Randidly spat out the whole thing

After the numb sensation went away Randidly carefully cleared away the flesh revealing a small blue bead

Blue Energy Bead A refined version of a blue energy shard Not edible

Ignoring the strange insult from the description Randidly pulled out one of the glowing blue crystal he had harvested from the tree

Blue Energy Shard Basic low grade material Can be refined into various potions

With glittering eyes Randidly turned to the red Halnut bush

4 hours later having gained two more levels in Analyze and two in Potion Making Randidly returned to the pool

Shal I think this might be more powerful Randidly’s voice was carefully controlled because whatever it was that he had created it had leveled him twice in potion making in one go And when he tried to analyze it he had failed

Instead of regular red and blue energy shards Randidly had used the beads And he had used water with a few drops of the Origin Bananas juice as a base He had failed 3 times getting the ratios just slightly off It seemed that as the level of the potion increased the requirements were even more exact But on the 4th try

Once more Shal beckoned and Randidly threw him the potion This time when his third eye gazed at it his entire gaze sharpened his two normal eyes opening

This even I do not recognize it But After a few moments of hesitation Shal threw it back Immediately he huddled lower in the pond submerging even his head

For several seconds nothing happened Then the water began to bubble and boil around him Randidly cautiously backed away Which turned out to be a wise decision because a giant black bat made of a black mist erupted upwards from Shal It screeched and gazed around its ethereal eyes finally finding Randidly With a roar it charged

But before it had moved an inch a spear shot up and skewered it With a weird explosion the bat deflated and disappeared With a huge grin Shal leaped out of the pool laughing

Wonderful wonderful You have saved me many days in this terrible room I shall repay you immediately are you ready to leave the dungeon

The trip to the entrance was surreal Randidly barely had time to harvest all his plants until he was dragged out Shal explained that you passively lost experience while in a safe room which is why no one in there right mind would stay there

And also why me being there didn’t matter ’ Randidly thought

Most of the way Shal carried Randidly leaping large distances through the forest Shal explained that the enemies around here were below 30 mostly meant to grind down weaklings’ resources It was only in the area right after Randidly’s safe room where the forest gave way to plains that the dungeon became difficult It was there that Shal was cursed by a Orc Shaman Mini Boss after sustaining serious injuries leaving him in such a wounded state that he was forced to take shelter in the safe room

Then Shal sighed However it is hard The mental attacks of the Shaman are too confusing I might need to spend a few months leveling to get my Willpower high enough to withstand them

For the rest of the journey Shal was silent

It only took about 5 hours with Randidly riding on Shal’s back To distract himself Randidly had been meditating and even got a skill level

Then they arrived at a set of huge iron doors

Here friend just press your hand against the doors and click yes Shal smiled good naturedly at Randidly Honestly Shal’s whole outlook had changed since Randidly had given him that potion

After a small hesitation as Randidly wondered how to thank this strange alien man This action of bringing him to the entrance of the dungeon likely had saved his life If he had been left to his own devices in here

Randidly just nodded He wasn’t really a sappy sort

But when he pressed his hand to the door the notification made the blood drain from his face

You are unable to enter the dungeon Please choose a class and reach level 10 before proceeding (There is no further level requirement but please see Dungeon Level for a guideline of the necessary strength)

but Randidly said aloud I’m trying to leave

Chapter 12

It seems Shal said slowly That this turn of events was never considered You must be level 10 to use the door to a dungeon But while you are in here you cannot gain a class and therefore cannot level

Randidly just stared at the floor Was he really stuck here It had been over a week since the change had happened He wasn’t sure what was happening outside of the dungeon but it couldn’t be good Although the monsters out there in a normal area might be lower level They were still monsters Monsters that tried to kill you

For Shal he felt slightly awkward He didn’t want to abandon this little friend who had helped him but he also didn’t want to babysit him Sighing Shal considered his own troubles Leveling wasn’t so difficult but he was a physical focused class so getting enough points into Willpower to survive would be slightly difficult Shal only got 2 free points per level and Paths required skills to increase and most of his were above Lvl 50 and almost impossible

But then Shal froze his eyes going wide

No class

Kid what are your skills Shal asked abruptly

Randidly opened his mouth then closed it He knew he had no reason not to trust Shal but revealing something like that so freely

But Shal was already waving his hand No no that is not it you misunderstand How many skill do you have

After a quick count Randidly answered 19

Shal burst out laughing his face once more suffused with a grin Let me tell you a secret kid When you receive a class you are given a skill cap That it the maximum number of skills you can learn You can keep the skills you have from before but it limits what you can learn afterwards with the system My cap is 12 and my class is rather rare Yet you having 19 skills already

Then Shal began to do some mental map in his head Honestly It seemed too easy

With a wide grin Shal turned to Randidly There is of course another way to get out if you are interested

Perking up Randidly asked There is another entrance I didn’t see it on my map

No no no Shal said waving his hand There are no more avenues of retreat But you can always move forward

Shal extended his hand Help me defeat the boss of this Dungeon the Acid Salamander and I will carry you out of this place

Defeat the boss Randidly just looked at him

Well you won’t be doing anything as grand as that Before the boss there are those Orc Shamans that so grievously wounded me in the past you shall help me get past them It shouldn’t be that difficult if we concentrate and get your Willpower up to 50 it will be a simple task Ah I had forgotten You can learn as many skills as you need A measly Willpower of 35 will be sufficient if you learn mental attack resistance and train it up some

A Willpower of 35 How will we

Shal patted Randidly’s back a strange twinkle in his eyes Now now don’t worry about the details But we must hurry The sooner we begin the sooner we get out yes

Within the day Randidly had been carried rapidly back to the safe room Shal seemed to be an immensely good mood and it made Randidly hesitate Although he was happy to have a thread of hope for escaping this dungeon he couldn’t help but wonder whether it would really be as easy as Shal said

After dropping him on the ground in front of the safe room Shal said How many more PP do you need to finish off your current Path

Randidly checked 2 and I have enough to do it now

Then finish it but then don’t select another path

For 14 Randidly received nothing but 15 gave him +2 stat and +2 Perception and Reaction as well as the skill Mapmaking Lvl 1 Feeling slightly swayed by Shal Randidly put the two points into Willpower

Health(/R per hour) 157/153 (+4) (58 5 (+6

Mana(/R per hour) 50/96 (25)

Stam(/R per min) 66/78 (23 (+2

Vit 16 (+2)

Perception 17

Reaction 15

Willpower 11

Inteligence 21

Control 15

Focus 10

Alright now what Randidly asked

Shal reached out and put his hand on Randidly’s head Now we enter into a bargain If I do this you must promise to assist me in defeating the Shaman’s and all other troubles I encounter in the dungeon If we escape I shall consider your debt paid

But more than that Shal continued You must consent to the training I will give you It will not be easy It will hurt but you need this strength Both the strength to persist through the pain and to use the skills I will give you To this do you agree

Randidly looked up at this strange alien his mind quiet and cool And then one thought unbidden rose to the surface

I want to be strong ’

Randidly nodded

Then go to your Path menu and select the option to be my disciple

Opening the menu Randidly did so looking at the strange option

Disciple of Shal 0/X

it goes to X

Shal nodded Yes it will continue to my level Currently I am 36 When you catch up you will receive a skill and the path will end Depending on your performance it might be a skill I have or a superior evolved version or even a partial simplified version

Randidly clicked on it and dumped his points into it What was shocking was that each level gave a distributable stat point At 5 he received a stat point and 1 point in End and Agi Immediately impressed Randidly threw all the earned points into Willpower pushing it up to 19

Alright now what Randidly said

Shal just smiled

Shal had given Randidly a spear told him to play around with it while he made some preparations Randidly had done so learned the skill Spear Mastery Lvl 1 and even leveled it up 3 Perhaps even more pleasing than these developments was that his equip skill rose to 10

When it did so Randidly was finally able to Equip and received the bonus from the leather gloves he had gotten from the small chest

Gloves of Quickness Gloves made from the leather of a Wind Deer Adds speed to the wearer Vit +1 Agi +3

Although the boost couldn’t be considered significant it was still a big bump at the level of his stats More than that the 3 PP he earned pushed him up to 11 which allowed him to get 3 more stats into Willpower and at 10 He received +2 Agi +1 Str and +1 React as well as the skill Phantom Thrust

Becoming a disciple is definitely a good thing ’ Randidly thought trying out the skill It cost 15 Stamina but the training spear Shal had given him moved so fast that Randidly couldn’t even control it The stabs went wide more often than not But they were undoubtedly powerful

That was around when Shal returned and the training changed

Chapter 13

Let us begin the training There was something very different about Shal’s tone of voice now but Randidly didn’t notice too excited about his new skill He was about to show Shal but there was a coldness in his eyes that stopped him

Put down the spear Shal said coolly holding a box in his arms

Randidly did so but slowly When he had finished Shal beckoned him over You must do something for me Stay still

There was iron in that voice and the hairs on the back of Randidly’s neck sensed something was coming that he wouldn’t like but he was still taken by surprise when Shal dumped green goop on Randidly’s leg and his flesh began to flake and sizzle

Randidly screamed all hopes for the future and pride forgotten He fell to the ground and clutched his leg the pain overwhelming him

Shal kicked him Stand This is nothing

Hah hah and as the shock wore off Randidly realized that it wasn’t so bad just a jarring burning sensation at the edge of his consciousness

Frantically he checked his health to find that it was rapidly decreasing With wide eyes he looked at Shal My health

You have health potions do you not And you have the materials and ability to make more Stay here and survive

Randidly’s Acid Resistance rose a level and abruptly he remembered why he was here It raise his skill levels to train Although it was slightly barbaric it seemed it might be effective

Hurrying Randidly fixed a health potion and drank it satisfied even though it was only 37 health it was still pretty good for wildly shaking hands The acid continued to rip away at his focus with daggers of pain but the rate at which his health decreased was slowing giving him some hope He still had 60 some health and he drank another 40 potion getting him back over 100

Randidly gained another point in Acid Resistance and cashed both PPs in getting 2 more points of Willpower Instantly he felt slightly steadier able to control the pain It seemed like Willpower was a pretty useful

Another splash of Acid hit him catching him in the chest and face Some of it got into Randidly’s mouth and he began coughing up blood

Acid has reached your blood stream You have poisoned Poison Resistance has increased to Lvl 6

You better hurry It was slightly infuriating how calm Shal’s voice was If you do not work quickly acid and poison shall kill you before you can brew more potions

Gagging on his own blood and bile Randidly forced himself to drink two potions to restore his health to safe levels Even so the acid and poison ate at him pushing his health back below 80 and then 50

He gained a point in Acid Resistance

With shaking hands Randidly tried to mix another health potion He succeeded and his potion mixing went up but it was only for 29 health barely above a failure but he still drank it as quickly as possible and began work on the next one his hands steadying

With a sigh Shal grabbed Randidly and dragged him into the safe room Since it is your first day and you are weak I will be merciful But you will regret forcing me to do this

Even though the movement jarred Randidly’s healing skin it was still relieving to be back within the safe room where regeneration was doubled His regeneration rose now barely letting the poison take away any health at all and Randidly made another potion this time for 50 which he immediately drank

Just as his hands began to work on the second one another wave of acid hit him but Randidly gritted his teeth and did his best to ignore it Just when it ended he began moving again but then another wave of acid hit basically covering every inch of him The pain was an incessant buzzing grinding away at his focus His hands could barely move he wanted to vomit

Shivering it was the best Randidly could do to simply continue to exist

Three things affect how quickly you earn skill levels Shal said simply setting his box down and giving Randidly a long look First repetition More is better That is simple Second The theoretical difficulty The more difficult it should be to accomplish the more of your effort goes towards raising the skill level

Finally And Shal punctuated this with another wave of acid that splashed across Randidly The actual difficulty

His chest heaving his eyes bloodshot Randidly began to slowly move carefully mixing the amounts of ground crystal Although every second was agony he did his best to focus He wanted to live He needed to live Sydney

Ace

There is some disagreement on why it is so Some say that the world knows your true plight not just the theoretical one Others say that the more an individual wants it needs it the more the world responds You warp the world with your wish

Randidly mixed almost ignoring the pain Then a drop of goop slid down his face and dripped into his eye It began to burn like a thin rod of iron was shoved into the soft flesh at the edge of the eye

Even though it was twitching Randidly kept it open He gained the skill Pain Resistance Lvl 1 but ignored it

Both Acid Resistance and Poison Resistance rose a level

I believe that is what it is The want The need Do you want it What did you call yourself Ghosthound Do you really want to get out enough to push through this Do you crave that strength

Randidly was on fire inside and out It hurt and burned and deep down he hated Why the fuck was he doing this Why did he need to go through this Was was every moment longer than the previous one What would be at the end of this road Would he get a rest after this

No it never end Shal answered as if he could read his thoughts If you start walking you continue to accelerate or you die Do you have that strength

Randidly finished the potion The result floated in front of him taunting It would restore 71 health points after drinking it He had gained a level in potion making too

Randidly silently drank it stoically choking down his screams as he was splashed with more acid this dose seemingly more concentrated and vicious than the previous

His pain resistance and acid resistance went up as he brought out more supplies to make the next health potion

Belatedly his poison resistance went up

Randidly wasn’t sure if he had that strength now

He furrowed his brow focusing

But he would find it

Randidly settled in a routine

The morning was acid and agony and potions He would make and make attempting to keep up with the veritable vats of acid that Shal would bring back each a strange painful variation Some days he wouldn’t be allowed to make potions simply meditating Focusing on that hair thin bonus it granted him

Several times it was very close to killing him But Shal somehow knew the edges of his willpower his sanity and endurance even as he pushed him

His health would often drop down to something like 8 and then level off as Randidly trembled and tried his best to ignore the tears in the corners of his eyes

His health would be plummeting below 20 crashing towards 0 and Randidly would finally manage to successfully finish a potion healing 40 health buying himself a brief respite Half of those times he could use that time to recover his mental state

As days passed though more and more that would be when more acid was splashed on him and he frantically would need to brew additional potions

The afternoons were Randidly’s favorite It was spell practice with Shal as the target A target who moved like a ghost dodging Randidly’s Entangling Roots and mana bolts effortlessly closing the distance and brutally knocking the wind out of Randidly or throwing him into the forest where Randidly would be forced to jump up with a yelp and rush back out fearful of the monsters there

This would continue until Randidly had run out of mana and had meditated back to full too many times for Shal’s taste and then would come the third and final training period of the day

And the one that was the worst Spear training

The Spear Shal had explained giving Randidly a simple light weapon that he had been able to identify as being Lvl 10 Is the greatest weapon It is versatile It can be quick it can be powerful It can stab it can sweep But most of all it is wielded by a spearman the most powerful warrior of all

You are weak you have no hope of being a spearman But like my master still dutifully tried to drill the moves into me I shall ravage your body until it knows the moves

So that is how you become a spearman Randidly asked uncertainly This day had largely numbed his fear of pain but still the entrancing grace of Shal handling his spear gave him pause

Shal chuckled No But it is a way that non spearman can slowly come to know the spear Even I am not yet even close to being spearman I am a man with a spear But to you

His spear blurred and Randidly felt his left arm which was lightly holding onto the spear shatter from the impact But to you such concerns are too far in the future For now do you best to survive

And through mana shields and Iron Skin Randidly did his best

Chapter 14

Time had lost meaning There was only opening of his eyes in the morning the training and closing the eyes at night

Randidly wondered about whether even that was an accurate way to tell time As time passed as one week of the hellish training turned to two the time they spent training grew And yet night never came before Randidly laid his head down on the ground There was a strange magic in the place that the day would continue for as long as necessary for it to be filled

Which made him realize that time meant increasingly little and that the span of time he spent inside this dungeon was growing much faster than could be anticipated

But even as his worries mounted Randidly did not try and rush things nor ask Shal It was all that Randidly could do it survive the exponential increase in difficulty His skills grew at a prodigious rate under the large strain Each day Shal had found some new way to torture him to push his limits

Randidly swiftly gained the skills Fighting Proficiency First Aid and Block And Shal seemed to know and to change up his strategies to isolate those new skills forcing them upwards

It only took a week and a half for Randidly to gather enough PP to finish off the Shal’s disciple path Shal had recommended that he refrain from putting the PP in until all at once so he could experience how the stat changes affected him by feeling it all at once rather than gradually So Randidly had putting the last 24 PP in all at once

So starting with 14 it was

Congratulations +3 End +2 Agi

Congratulations +1 Vit +1 Agi +1 Int +2 Reaction You have learned the skill Spear Phantom’s Footwork Lvl 1

Congratulations +4 Agi +1 Per

Congratulations +1 Agi You have Eyes of the Spear Phantom Lvl 1

Congratulations You have earned 5 stat point

Congratulations You have completed the Disciple of Shal Path You have learned Phantom Half Step Lvl 1

It was 24 distributable points in total and upon Shal’s urging Randidly chose to put it all into Willpower Immediately he felt his mind sharp and clear There was a focus that he hadn’t possessed before Although focus isn’t such a good word for it due to the stat labeled focus

With firm eyes he met Shal’s gaze

Shal grinned Good Finally some spunk What skills did you learn

At the end Shal grunted Your luck is pretty good Those are all core skills Now show me this half step It appears to be an inferior version of the Step of the Spear Phantom’

Randidly did so It was a skill that needed a target so Randidly targeted Shal Immediately Randidly felt something strange He could use it in two ways away or towards Deciding to do towards Randidly stepped

He immediately appeared halfway between his original position and Shal He tried again stepping backwards But unfortunately the skill took 80 stamina and he barely had enough to use it once

But Shal didn’t require anymore demonstrations and grim faced began the training

The great weakness of the Step of the Spear Phantom is the lack of utility It can cross vast gulfs to appear before an opponent but the distance is such that you must immediately attack or risk the opponent getting within you guard But this Half Step of his Although it is clearly a strange mutation Its potential is limitless ’

Although Randidly’s Willpower had reached the level Shal desired the training continued focusing on the new skills that Randidly had learned If anything it intensified

It was brutal and every day the training ended not because of weariness but that Randidly’s injuries had reached the point where he couldn’t continue

There was a small part of Randidly’s heart that was unsatisfied at the continued trainings but one day as if sensing this Shal allowed Randidly to fight against a howler monkey

The experience quickly dispelled any lingering doubts in Randidly’s heart he remained weak Although he had mana skills the howler monkey’s vastly superior health let it force health trades that Randidly could not keep up with Very soon Randidly was out of mana and only Mana Shield and Entangling Roots allowed Randidly to escape fleeing back to Shal who watched on with cool eyes

Why did you lose Shal spared the monkey a glance and it was enough to send it stumbling backwards unwilling but intimidated by the obvious power of Shal

The difference in stats Randidly finally said unwillingly

Nodding slowly Shal finally said and it will continue as such until you leave this place and find a Guide to give you a class So what will you do

Clenching his fist Randidly said Raise my skill level to the point that stats become meaningless

Shall simply laughed

Chapter 15

Randidly began ripping through paths as his skill level shot up He began with Pathless IV which gave him 1 stat point at 5 and 10

Congratulations You have completed the Pathless IV Path +3 stat You have realized that all paths are the same and all paths lead to the same place

In a rare conversation between them during training Randidly asked Shal whether he had any further recommendations about stat distribution Shall just snorted and spun his spear the spearhead ripping through the muscle of Randidly’s shoulder

So after careful consideration Randidly decided to return to his initial plans of raising his skills at mage craft So 3 of the stats went into Int 1 into Control and Focus

But Randidly didn’t stop there The training had had truly unfathomable results Randidly had more than enough PP to complete Pathless V Pathless VI and Pathless VII

Altogether they gave 25 stats 10 went into Int and 5 to Control Focus and End End was due to the fact that as Randidly’s skills expanded he began to use an increasing amount of stamina just to fight The brief skirmish with the howler monkey had disturbed him

The day after Randidly unleashed his magic with wild abandon throwing out Mana Bolts as fast as he could None of them landed but their strength definitely caught Shal’s eye And the boost in power was enough to give Shal pause

That day Randidly’s mana based training shifted and the Howler Monkey’s became his new training partners It was less of an exercise in him overcoming but more of him surviving Entangling Roots and Mana Shield underwent a baptism of constant use their skill level rising quickly

Mana Bolt became Randidly’s bread and butter the increase in his Int was enough that a direct hit to the face of a Howler Monkey would stun them giving him time to escape

Struggling in this new environment Randidly completed Pathless VIII which netted him 11 stat points to distribute These all went into Control Shal began forcing Randidly deeper and deeper into the forest and now it was a common occurrence for 7 8 monkeys to be chasing him down He couldn’t afford to miss That would mean being caught And being caught led to one thing

Death

There was only one time that this was close to happening The combined rock throws and a tackle by a monkey had broken through his mana shield and brought him to the ground

The monkey had a rock in hand and brought it smashing down towards Randidly’s head He reflexively activated Iron Skin but he still felt something crack when the rock struck him

Although Randidly was dizzy he still instantly produced the dagger he had found inside the snake but the monkey reacted quickly using his free arm to catch Randidly’s wrist Because it was so unexpected Randidly did nothing for several seconds he just laid there gaping

The howler monkey screaming its glee raised its stone and brought it down again

Again Randidly activated Iron Skin but the pain in his head grew only larger the vision in his left eye fading to black

For a split second Randidly wondered whether this would be the point that he died He felt somehow instinctively that Shal would not save him

So as the monkey lifted the rock up Randidly used his free hand to withdraw the snake tooth he had taken from the dead snake and stuffed it into the eye of the Howler Monkey’s eye

Immediately it began screaming and Randidly shoved it off him and scrambled to his feet Gritting his teeth to resist the nausea Randidly glanced at Shal who watched him coolly in the distance and used the Phantom Half Step to cross half the distance Immediately he turned to the right using his good eye to land a couple Entangling Roots on those monkeys close enough to be a threat

Then he stumbled the rest of the way passed Shal and back to the safe room where he meditated for several hours to recover

When he opened his eyes Shal was standing there

You were not going to save me Randidly said slowly watching for a reaction from Shal Shal simply shrugged

If you had died it was only because you are too weak

So the training continued At around 2 and a half weeks a few days after the monkey incident Randidly reached the point that he could meditate while doing most actions Using active skills broke it but otherwise he could maintain the passive bonus while generally sparing with Shal

Sparring was a strong word for it honestly mostly it was just Randidly blocking and dodging but still He could now survive a lot longer against the onslaught of attacks from Shal

The next big change came when Randidly got his mana bolt skill to 20 unlocking the mana bolt path Still Randidly continued to go the the pathless paths feeling strangely connected to them now after grinding his way to here

Pathless IX was 25 and earned Randidly 14 stat points After some thought he ended up throwing all of the points in wisdom which provided a pretty significant boost to his mana regeneration

Pathless X jumped all the way up to 50 and it filled Randidly with a thread of excitement He threw himself into training working his way through the different spear moves focusing on the Spear Phantom’s footwork and Phantom thrust That combined with marginal improvements in the level of Physical Fitness and Meditation was enough to finish the Path

Congratulations You have completed the Pathless X Path +2 Health/Mana/Stamina per level +1 Stat per level You have realized that all paths are the same and all paths lead to the same place And that the path continues ever onward

Randidly allowed himself a wry grin So he still had more to go

Inside his path screen he saw that he now had access to the path Pathless without a roman numeral and it had 100 next to it He had a few spare PP after finishing it but

But then he just laughed out loud If he would get it it would only be by going all the way one step at a time No reason to hold back now

He put 3 PP into Pathless and followed Shal deeper into the forest to find more monkeys

Chapter 16

Shal gave Randidly a long look then finally sighed I suppose it is time You now have enough strength not to embarrass me Let us leave this place

It had reached the point that Randidly was about to fight against several Howler Monkeys and win His mana bolts sizzled their flesh and stunned them his phantom thrusts and heavy blows slowly whittling down their health

Randidly glanced at his status screen

Health(/R per hour) 206/200 (+6) (63 75 (+9

Mana(/R per hour) 139/139 (43 5)

Stam(/R per min) 105/105 (24 (+3

Vit 17 (+3)

End 27

Str 8

Agi 26 (+3)

Perception 18

Reaction 23

Willpower 50

Inteligence 39

Wisdom 26

Control 21

Focus 16

Equipment Average Leather Tunic Lvl 5 (+2 Vit) Gloves of Quickness (Vit +1 Agi +3)

Paths Newbie 7/7 P Def 10/10 M Supp 10/10 Risk Taker 15/15 Basic Physical Fitness 20/20 Trainee 15/15 Wandering Survivor 20/20 Pathless I 5/5 Pathless II 5/5 Pathless III 10/10 Pathfinder 15/15 Disciple of Shal 37/37 Pathless IV 10/10 Pathless V 15/15 Pathless VI 15/15 Pathless VII 20/20 Pathless VIII 20/20 Pathless IX 25/25 Pathless X 50/50 Pathless 79/100

Skills Running Lvl 9 Physical Fitness Lvl 17 Sneak Lvl 6 Farming Lvl 17 Mana Bolt Lvl 20 Heavy Blow Lvl 14 Acid Resistance Lvl 13 Poison Resistance Lvl 9 Sprinting Lvl 11 Iron Skin Lvl 19 Equip Lvl 12 Plant Breeding Lvl 9 Meditation Lvl 23 Dagger Mastery Lvl 8 Entangling Roots Lvl 21 Mana Shield Lvl 16 Dodge Lvl 22 Potion Making Lvl 18 Analyze Lvl 7 Pathfinding Lvl 3 Mapmaker Lvl 1 Spear Mastery Lvl 33 Phantom Thrust Lvl 27 Pain Resistance Lvl 9 Fighting Proficiency Lvl 19 First Aid Lvl 13 Block Lvl 23 Spear Phantom’s Footwork Lvl 19 Eyes of the Spear Phantom Lvl 9 Phantom Half Step Lvl 3

He was getting close to finishing the Pathless path but the rate of improvement was definitely slowing It had been almost 2 months since the training had began and whether it was physique mindset or work ethic Randidly was incomparable to the way he was before

Gathering his things Randidly followed Shal away from the safe room To his surprise they went towards the webbing covered area where the strange giant spider had set up shop As they passed through the groves of trees wrapped in webs Randidly reflexively activated the skill Eyes of the Spear Phantom burning a small amount of stamina but sharpening his vision to a degree he would have believed impossible before the strange system descended over the world

But things had changed He had changed

So when the first spiderling leapt out from the brush Randidly had seen it coming a mile away and speared it cleanly through the chest killing it instantly The small things were only Lvl 12 and Randidly wasn’t sure how much status point one gained while leveling up but his skill levels made this sort of enemy just too simple

Shal didn’t even look up calmly striding forward while the spiderlings began leaping out in twos or threes But he did calmly remark Although if one touches even the hem of my cloak perhaps we can revisit the sufficiency of your current pain tolerance training

Had he been the same Randidly as he had been two extremely long months ago he might have paled If he had been the Randidly a few weeks after that as the training started he might have gasped

The current Randidly just narrowed his eyes and got to work his spear blurring to intercept all comers

As they stepped over the corpses of dozens of spiderlings to reach the inner sanctum of the spider the tree that had grown the source of Randidly’s potions Shal stopped

You are running low on resources for your potion yes Fetch some And bring me the head of the guardian

There was a demand in Shal’s voice but Randidly just nodded and walked forward slowly His sharpened eyes immediately picked out the camouflaged form of the giant spider hiding in the canopy of the largest tree The fearsome Lvl 37 hovered above its head in Randidly’s vision as well as a strange purple coloring to its name

Clearly this type of enemy was unusual

As if sensing his thoughts Shal spoke from the edge of the clearing The coloring is something you will come to know White Green Blue Purple Red Orange Common Uncommon Rare Ancient Runic Legendary It describes items as well enemies There is also pink which is unique but that is reserved for extremely rare spawns and the Dungeon Boss The fact that an Ancient enemy is here in a level 35 dungeon well It must have wandered in from somewhere else Somewhere much more dangerous Good luck

Randidly stepped forward without hesitation raising his spear After training with Shal’s merciless attacks he couldn’t even help himself As he walked closer the spider first hissed and then began to slowly climb down spiderlings skittering out of the surrounding trees to rush towards Randidly

Without batting an eye 5 mana bolts shot forward slamming into the giant spider It howled in annoyance the speed of its descent increasing Randidly calmly dispatched any approaching spiderlings always advancing Shal’s voice whispering into the back of his mind

He who stops dies ’

Then the spiderlings were all dead and the spider reared up and spat acid towards Randidly He stepped to the side employing the foot work taught to him by Shal and then stepped closer Although some splashed on him and stung slightly his acid resistance was high enough that he could almost completely ignored non direct contact with that substance The spider spun its body and lashed out with its legs but Randidly just ducked under and calmly executed a phantom thrust the spider’s carapace cracking slightly It hissed and lashed out again

An hour later the spider’s armor was covered in dents and cracks its moves sluggish as it slowly tired out Randidly was also tired mentally but his controlled movements kept his stamina high enough for him to continuously perform Dodge dodge approach thrust Dodge Dodge approach thrust And while each hit was negligible the damage continued to accumulate

This time when Randidly struck he punctured forward enough that a strange green fluid began dripping out of the hole in the spider’s carapace

Three hours later there was a large hole in the armor that Randidly began to target to inflict more damage

An hour after that the spider had began keeping the legs on that side close together protecting the wound

By the time another half hour had passed the reduced mobility on the spider’s part due to its leg strategy meant there were two fresh holes in its armor

Filled with fury the spider spat acid everywhere Randidly felt his health start to fall but he ignored the pain and coldly calculated the damage and came to a single conclusion He would survive Ignoring the vicious acid that would give most others pause he continued to chip away

Fully 9 hours later with a sigh the spider collapsed

Randidly instinctively leaped backwards his mind dull but his responses drilled into him But when the spider did not move he blinked and straightened

Good A little over 15 hours is embarrassing but it is better to have a worthless pupil than a dead one Rest we depart in 5 hours

Boneless Randidly fell to the ground But in his mind he felt a hint of glee

It is possible ’ he thought to himself To make up the difference in power with just skill ’

Chapter 17

When Shal kicked him awake Randidly was happy to see that he had some impressive gains during the fight Physical fitness rose 3 levels to 20 Heavy Blow rose 1 Dodge rose 2 to 24 Spear Mastery rose 1 to 34 and Phantom Thrust rose 3 to 30

Throwing all these points into his path earned him two stat points which he put into Intelligence to increase his maximum mana

Then he followed Shal through the forest and out onto the plains

This area was dominated by orcs who wielded stone axes and road a strange ram creature the size of a small car which Randidly abruptly realized must have been what had hit him to start this adventure

Shal ripped through these enemies with ease calmly speaking over his shoulder

Unlike that spider resistances cannot save you from these enemies You may shoot your magic if you wish but try not to catch their attention I will not save you

At first Randidly dutifully stood around and did nothing But then a strange itch began to take hold of him He wanted to fight

Finally he spotted an enemy that had been heavily wounded by Shal’s thrust but was staggering to his feet Randidly cast Entangling Roots which gratefully leveled up Then with a combination of Mana Bolts Heavy Blows and Phantom Thrusts Randidly killed the orc watching as the light in its eyes dimmed

Inwardly he felt nothing and that disturbed him somehow Unlike the howler monkeys or the spiders this creature was obviously intelligent and yet he took its life But then Randidly shook his head These were just spawns He couldn’t look any more deeply than that They would kill him otherwise

Pupil prepare it is time to show your usefulness And just like that Randidly looked up to see an enemy named Orc Shaman with a blue name throwing a skull made of smoke at Shal

Feeling dubious Randidly stepped forward and blocked it with his spear but it passed right through Immediately afterwards Randidly froze as strange thoughts flooded his brain

Kill ’

kill now’

Worthless’

kill self’

Dead worthless’

Kill now blood ’

Randidly stared at the blade of his own spear fascinated

Maybe

But then a slap on his back woke him from his stupor Good you did not succumb I was worried You have the same Willpower as me yet you are so puny and weak Let us continue

Feeling more than a little disturbed Randidly followed woodenly after Shal noticing that he had learned both the skills Mental Strength and Curse Resistance Mental strength had even increased to 2

As it happened this got him to 90 in Pathless X giving him another stat point which Randidly surreptitiously placed into Willpower

Better safe than sorry He muttered

Time passed strangely the sunlight until you drop climate throwing off Randidly’s perception He supposed that was part of the point to keep you pushing if you could go further To extend your boundaries and make you forget about your former limits

Feeling strangely observed Randidly glanced around then continued on after Shal

They continued to plow through groups of orcs at a rapid rate It didn’t seem like any of the wandering groups had shamans but after you killed three groups a group lead by a shaman would show up and Randidly would offer his body to their strange curse

Do to the exposure Mental Strength increased to 7 while Curse Resistance rose to 3 Mana Bolt increased a level and running did as well as Randidly struggled to keep up with Shal’s long strides leaving him only one point away from completing this path

In a good mood Randidly didn’t even really pay attention to the orcs that Shal was fighting and instead was doing some quick calculations in his head Based on the map if they continued to mow through the orcs at this rate

Oy worthless student

Randidly looked up finding Shal surrounded by three new arrivals named Elite Orc Guards their names green Beyond them two Orc Shamans chuckled evilly muttering to themselves and spreading a thick purple smoke on the ground around them

Get over here and stop them I can overcome these three but not if my legs melt off Shal complained jumping up onto a large stone slightly raised off the ground Immediately the three elite guards circled around him grinning evilly but they were taken completely by surprise when Randidly cast Grasping Roots holding one down for a few seconds and hit the middle one in the side of the face with a mana bolt The two hit with his spells turned to glare at him but Shal had already cut off the arm of the last remaining elite that paid attention to him and then turned to the two regarding Randidly

Unfortunately the purple mist reached the legs of the one just as it was ripping away the roots Randidly had conjured He was fast and strong but not fast enough The mist reached him and his flesh began to boil With a scream he fell face first into the knee high mist but quickly fell silent

Randidly felt some sweat drip down his back

Bah he has no poison resistance worthless apprentice You do Go stop those two stick bags and I will crush them

Randidly raised his hand and shot a mana bolt narrowly missing the Shamans who hissed at him One raised his staff and shot a grey skull at Randidly which took him in the chest It only took up a second but he quickly banished the strange violent voices earning him another point in mental strength Although he wanted to complete his Pathless it was rather foolish to do it now

Unfortunately it was clear that he wasn’t accurate enough at this range to simply snipe his opponents So with gritted teeth he stepped into the creeping purple mist

His pants soon disintegrated to nothing and then his shoes He had to grind his teeth to withstand the pain

Poison Resistance and Pain Resistance both rose a level but Randidly simply trudged forward throwing back a health potion to stay above the damage

As Randidly grew closer the thickness of the mist increased as did the height leading to increased pain By the time it reached mid thigh Randidly stopped sweating If it went any higher

Praying silently he raised his hand and shot off a mana bolt It struck the Shaman in the chest disrupting the spell and making him take a step back The Other Shaman was shocked and glared at Randidly furiously But as Randidly raised his hand for the second shot the Shaman had already completed whatever strange incantation it was doing and the purple smoke began to rush backwards towards it forming a huge skull the size of a fast food restaurant Its mouth opening soundlessly its rushed forward losing its shape but becoming a wide flood of purple energy as tall as a man

Even Shal paled swearing colorfully

The wave hit Randidly first submerging him completely The pain was horrendous enough to make him sway barely holding onto consciousness He opened his eyes and immediately regretted it the strange poison eating away at his eyes But still he kept them open using Phantom’s Eyes to stare at Shal waiting for something

Shal frowned and then started running towards the oncoming rush of purple smoke At the last moment he thrust his spear into the ground vaulting up and over the skull

The monstrous thing turned and howled soundlessly and then collapsed

But then Randidly’s bloodshot eyes widened as it reformed growing from the middle of the purple smoke area rising up to devour Shal

With a worried expression Shal considered his options

Gritting his teeth Randidly raised his hand and pointed invoking mana

As Shal descended to the wide open mouth of this poison mist skull he saw something A weak and sickly series of vines quickly rotting wrapping up forming a foothold Shal softly landed and kicked off leaping again over the smoke even as the vines collapsed from his weight

It had been enough and the Shamans were both killed before they could do more than stare stupidly at the descending god of death wielding a spear

Chapter 18

Randidly woke up with a start Then realizing Shal stood only a little ways away cooking stew he calmed himself and immediately began meditating To his surprise it increased a level But more than that Randidly was shocked to see that Entangling Roots had gained a level and he had a new skill Root Manipulation

Root Manipulation Lvl 1 Control roots in the surrounding area by sensing them and infusing them with mana Duration of control and distance increases mana expenditure By using more mana you can increase the size and strength of the roots you control

Before looking at his path screen Randidly took a few minutes to experiment with this new skill earning himself another level in it increasing it to two

Although there was only grass in the immediate area on this strange plain Randidly could still sense several larger roots deeper in the earth But moving them basically emptied his mana pool immediately

Shifting his attention the smaller grass roots he marveled at his ability to control every single one causing them to reach up out of the ground and grip tightly at the toes of his bare feet

Ruefully he shook his head This was basically useless currently The mana expenditure was much higher than Entangling Roots and the power wouldn’t stop anything But at the same time

Randidly shrugged inwardly He kinda liked it that way It was versatile and would only get stronger as he trained it

Then with a rapidly beating heart Randidly returned to the path screen and placed the last point into Pathless

Congratulations You have completed the Pathless Path You have realized that all paths are the same and all paths lead to the same place

But after this utterly worthless notification came up another one appeared

Although all paths lead to the same place you have realized that different feet traverse them and as different footsteps echo the whole world shifts You have unlocked the Soul Path Skill Green Spear Mastery Lvl 1 A Soul Path Skill will gain a skill level anytime you consume a PP moving forward on another path PP cannot be used to advance a Soul Path Skill Remember that as the path extends before you ever onward ever changing sometimes you will change too

Warning At any point you may only have one Soul Skill Gaining another will cause you to lose the previous skill as well as all associated gains

Curious Randidly brought up his stat screen Sure enough he had a new skill although it appeared slightly different underlined on his screen

Green Spear Mastery Utilize insights into the spear to understand the earth and insight into the natural world to advance with your spear Success at crafting with materials from the natural world increases with skill level High skill levels makes it marginally easier to learn spear crafting earth and life related skills

Just a passive buff Although it would grow naturally Randidly was still somewhat disappointed At first he thought it was something similar to a class but now it just seemed like an affinity skill

Still like his new Root Manipulation it would grow to be extremely strong (he hoped) after a short while so no use complaining

Soon Randidly’s attention returned to the rest of the path screen and his plethora of options

Physical Fitness Path 0/25 Mana Bolt Path 0/25 Evasion Path 0/35 Phantom Thrust Path 0/40 Spear Mastery I Path 0/50 0/

All of theses had paths except the last one had been unlocked when he reached certain levels in his current skills The question was which he wanted to do first

Immediately he eliminated the mystery path and Spear Mastery I The former because it was probably more pathless stuff and Randidly was tired of that The latter because it would cost so much PP

For the same reason Randidly hesitantly set aside Evasion and Phantom Thrust even though those were his bread and butter The real reason that Randidly was leaning towards these smaller paths was the possibility he entertained that they would reward him with a skill Because Mana Bolt seemed more likely to do so and would likely give him mana Randidly decided on that one

Immediately he put 5 PP into it earning him 1 mana on levels 1 4 then +1 of any M stat on 5 Randidly put that into Intelligence

But what was really surprising was the notification that had followed

Green Spear Mastery has reached Lvl 5 +5 Mana Spear Affinity Increased

So it was a skill that behaved like a path And it would level every time he used PP

Feeling oddly pleased with himself and peaceful Randidly looked again at his status screen

Mana(/R per hour) 139/159 (44 25)

Willpower 52

Inteligence 42

PP

Paths Newbie 7/7 P Def 10/10 M Supp 10/10 Risk Taker 15/15 Basic Physical Fitness 20/20 Trainee 15/15 Wandering Survivor 20/20 Pathless I 5/5 Pathless II 5/5 Pathless III 10/10 Pathfinder 15/15 Disciple of Shal 37/37 Pathless IV 10/10 Pathless V 15/15 Pathless VI 15/15 Pathless VII 20/20 Pathless VIII 20/20 Pathless IX 25/25 Pathless X 50/50 Pathless 100/100 Mana Bolt Path 5/25

Skills Running Lvl 10 Physical Fitness Lvl 20 Sneak Lvl 6 Farming Lvl 17 Mana Bolt Lvl 21 Heavy Blow Lvl 15 Acid Resistance Lvl 13 Poison Resistance Lvl 10 Sprinting Lvl 11 Iron Skin Lvl 19 Equip Lvl 12 Plant Breeding Lvl 9 Meditation Lvl 24 Dagger Mastery Lvl 8 Entangling Roots Lvl 23 Mana Shield Lvl 16 Dodge Lvl 24 Potion Making Lvl 18 Analyze Lvl 7 Pathfinding Lvl 3 Mapmaker Lvl 1 Spear Mastery Lvl 34 Phantom Thrust Lvl 30 Pain Resistance Lvl 10 Fighting Proficiency Lvl 19 First Aid Lvl 13 Block Lvl 23 Spear Phantom’s Footwork Lvl 19 Eyes of the Spear Phantom Lvl 9 Phantom Half Step Lvl 3 Mental Strength Lvl 8 Curse Resistance Lvl 3 Root Manipulation Lvl 2 Green Spear Mastery Lvl 5

His Intelligence and Willpower seemed pretty respectable even if his physical stats especially strength had fallen by the wayside What was really impressive was his long list of skills

Randidly walked over to Shal Now what

Shal gave him a dismissive look Obviously we continue until every enemy in front of us is dead

Chapter 19

The dungeon boss a Poisonous Salamander oddly reminiscent of one of the first creatures that Randidly had encountered lay dead behind them A glowing yellow portal floated before Randidly

7 Months had passed since Randidly had started training under Shal The end part of the plains had been a grind pushing through increasing numbers of Elite Guards and Shamans and then the Orc Chieftain had left them stumped for a month before Shal gained two levels and worked on his skills finally allowing him to take on several of the guards at once

Beyond were the swamps filled with frogs and pythons where Randidly had finished the Mana Bolt and Physical Fitness paths earning him the skills Arcane Orb and Haste

The Arcane Orb was finally a powerful attack spell and Haste doubled normal stamina consumption to slightly increase speed Combined with his resistances Randidly led the way through the swamp slowly wandering through taking another 3 months

But the final month and a half was repeated attempts at the boss Salamander

Randidly had gained a lot of skill levels improving himself and methodically completing the paths available to him But what was more delightful was that Green Spear Mastery Every 5 levels he would gain something on a 20 point rotation First was 5 mana then a point in Vitality then 5 stamina then two freely distributable stats

Still even then against that final boss he was nothing but a meat shield for Shal rapidly mopping up

Randidly shook his head No point in thinking of that now He turned to Shal feeling strangely reluctant Thank you for everything You allowed me to collect all the plant samples and rare crafting materials and you taught me how to protect myself If it wasn’t for you I

It was nothing It is every spear user’s duty to tell the tale of the spearman Shal said simply Then he cocked his head Why do you hesitate now You are free Did you not worry for your friends

Randidly pictured Sydney and Ace but only smiled ruefully shaking his head It has been more than 7 months If they still live a few more minutes

Ah Shal said patting his shoulder as he did when he noticed something This makes sense I was foolish and didn’t connect the dots Of course you would not know Time in Dungeons is strange It is accelerated so it is almost impossible for one to find an emptied dungeon when entering it and impossible to enter at the same time as someone else I believe they are roughly 1000x faster than normal speed The time that occurred outside is but a fraction of what you experienced here

Randidly’s jaw dropped Then with his now much higher intelligence he began doing some mental math

some of the days are long but if it really is around 7 months Only 5 hours has passed in the outside

For several seconds Randidly just stared at the ground Then he leapt through the portal without a backwards glance

Shal laughed at his disciple’s impulsive actions then tensed up before looking at the portal with a guilty glance Ah I should have told him about the system

Well it is no matter Shal concluded his eyes burning as he looked at the portal He has a spear The problems will sort themselves out

With a slight feeling of nausea Randidly found himself standing on a road

The first thing he noticed was the noise Car alarms were blaring and he could hear screams from several directions around him Below that a lower hum was the sound of mechanical engines and the roars of beasts

Then he felt the heat and he turned to find the building behind him was consumed by flames

Randidly’s mouth formed a grim line It seemed like the system’s arrival had hit hard outside of the dungeons too Then he noticed a series of notifications that popped up

You are currently within an area of Newbie Zone in side of Earth’s Zone 32 Original geography within this Zone 32 has been scrambled Within the Newbie Zone only monsters under level 20 will appear To survive slay rare monsters to obtain golden coins which can be used to found a Newbie Village At the Newbie Village you can obtain a class which will allow you to grow and obtain power

Warning founding a Newbie Village will automatically cause the Newbie Zone in the surrounding area to degrade within 7 days Grow strong quickly or you will die Monsters will invade Newbie Villages periodically threatening its survival

Fallen Newbie Villages will become infested by Monsters and turn into dungeons Dungeons house great treasure but also great peril so enter at your own risk If a village formed dungeon is not cleared within a month of its formation a vast wave of monsters will spill out and attack nearby areas It is advised that you pacify dungeons as quickly as possible

Randidly scanned the notifications then raised a Mana Shield blocking a fireball from a small imp like thing wearing a red robe A sizzling mana bolt shot back towards the creature hitting it in the chest and smashing it into the wall

Randidly smiled It was oddly satisfying finally facing enemies that he was supposed to be facing Although he didn’t want to assume he was grossly overpowered right now if these enemies were supposed to be survivable with starting stats

On reflex Randidly went over to the body and scoured its pockets and was pleased to find several small red crystal shards in the pockets of the thing A shocking amount But Randidly supposed that most people wouldn’t realize they were worth anything unless they were flooded with things

Right now Randidly had a few goals The main one was to find Sydney and Ace The second was to find his parents and brother Finally he wanted to kill one of the rare monsters which he suspected shouldn’t be too hard and finally obtain a class Unfortunately

Original geography had been scrambled

For a moment Randidly was stumped as he looked around and truthfully based on the place where he thought he was the mountains should be looming above them not far to the east

But he was NOT near the University like he should have been Was this a side effect of entering the dungeon But then Randidly had an idea He walked around the block covering a fair amount of ground

The block itself was extremely strange The place Randidly had come out of the dungeon was in the middle of the street in front of an apartment building on the one side and a flaming storefront on the other But apparently wherever the apartment building had teleported from nothing else had come So beside it was only grass That whole side of the street was grass aside from the one extremely tall apartment building

Meanwhile the other side of the street appeared to have been taken from a small sleepy town Strangely named restaurants and antique shops were the only buildings As Randidly walked around he saw the source of the screaming Several wolverine looking animals were slowly dragging a woman across the street while she bled slowly out and reached for a stroller

Immediately Randidly leapt forward activating Haste and appearing next to the enemies his spear ripping holes in their bodies As soon as their claws fell out of the woman she scrambled forward crying

My baby My baby

But before she could cross the 8 feet to the stroller something inside of her gave out and she collapsed Coughing up blood With dull eyes she rolled onto her back and died

Solemn Randidly walked up to the stroller then grimaced

Inside was a silent bloody mass of gore

Turning away Randidly’s attention was grabbed by gunshots that sounded reasonably near on the other side of the small town But he was hesitant to proceed deeper without checking something So Randidly walked to the end of the street and opened his menu selecting maps

As he had hoped his map maker skill was active pushing away the fog on the map marking things down coincidentally how he named them But as he zoomed out he frowned and then swore mightily

The newbie zone was huge Too huge Based on what he could tell it was at least a 200 mile by 200 mile area

Perhaps if it had been a Randidly fresh from the apocalypse he would have hesitated lost for a while But this Randidly had been tempered for 7 months with death hanging over him He had been trained by Shal He had stood against enemies far more powerful than this

Guess we are just going to go out of order He muttered to himself hefting his spear and activating Eyes of the Spear Phantom his enhanced gaze scanning the area

It was not a good day to be a Rare Monster in this area of the Newbie Zone

Chapter 20

Several gunshots made Randidly pause considering his options Although he had gone solo thus far he had to admit that was mostly out of necessity If he could obtain some assistance it would likely make searching the surrounding areas much easier At the same time

Randidly wondered what he would say to people to explain to them what to do Should he teach them the spear Would anybody listen to him

Suddenly feeling a bit leary Randidly turned away from the gunshots and spared the stroller a glance The gore there reminded him that this wasn’t a nice world With a hardened heart he walked away from from the town and headed into the wilderness

Randidly settled down on his haunches rubbing his chin and surveying the area He picked a spot around two miles outside of town to set up Having searched for a few hours and seen no sign of the rare bosses he had decided to start a small base Eventually he had chosen this spot for several reasons

First there were no people in the area The valley that Randidly was looking at had a small cabin but it appeared to have been abandoned rather hastily when the strange wolverine creatures moved into the area Randidly mopped the wolverines up without a thought Most people seemed to have the crazy idea that fleeing to the city was the right answer so the wild places like this were completely devoid of other souls

Second this was around the spot that 4 different types of enemies intersected The wolverines were the big presence here but Randidly had killed dozens of them without finding any rare mobs Also present were strange komodo dragon sized lizards that belched thunder and those imps that Randidly had encountered when he had arrived And while Randidly was searching he noticed small sharp goblin eyes watching him from the brush All enemies were confounded by his Mana Shield and fled from his Mana Bolts so the exploration nearby had gone smoothly

Third the cabin and nearby farm If he was going to spend some time here Randidly wanted to experiment First to see if plants would grow as quickly as they did inside the dungeon but also to try experimenting with different combinations of farming Randidly had found some strange plants deeper in the dungeon and was itching to see what they could do

So Randidly began taking stock of the area clearing out wolverine bodies Randidly found a relatively clear track of land and looked at the supplies he had brought in his satchel Some were poisonous that he wanted to experiment with in making potions but Randidly had brought several food stuffs

The first two were the banana style fruit and the Halnuts In addition he had seeds for Stal Berry Bushes Much more interesting was a plant that grew up almost like bamboo but where the stock could be eaten and tasted like radishes His ultimate find were tiny red potatoes

Randidly supposed he would need to learn how to clean and dress an animal maybe even these wolverines for meat although they looked quite stringy For now he planted his five crops in the areas around the wooden cabin and then sat and meditated while practicing his control with Root Manipulation

His progress from where he started was impressive because he could now transform tiny grass roots into knobbly things the size of caterpillars by flooding them with his mana They extended upwards waving softly at him and Randidly’s mouth curved in a grin

Then the sound of someone approaching made him look up Slowly Randidly stood keeping his spear within his satchel Briefly he considered hiding but he was sitting in the middle of the field between his precious plants

An extremely skinny looking teenager stumbled out of the woods glancing warily around He had small beady eyes and thin brown hair Randidly’s eyes narrowed when he noticed that the kid was using what looked like gloves with claws attached which he had seen drop from some of the wolverines he had killed But after inspecting it it was only a level 1 equipment that simply gave +1 Strength so Randidly hadn’t bothered to collect them

But he supposed that to a person who started with 2 or 3 strength +1 was quite a lot

The kid gave him a surprisingly frank look then narrowed his eyes Oy you think you can move in on my spot while I’m away

Randidly was honestly taken aback Was this really the right time to quibble about a spot Wasn’t the human race in jeopardy

Swaggering aggressively forward the kid gave him a dismissive look Weakling If you must you can hang around and do odd jobs for me but get in my way don’t be surprised if I hmph hmph well

The kid was interrupted twice by screeches coming from the nearby forest covered hill Stumbling forward the kid ran to Randidly’s side

Haha as my f first o o order investigate that noise

Sighing Randidly was considering what to do when he heard a high human yelp of pain Picturing that eviscerated hunk of flesh in the stroller Randidly slowly walked forward removing his spear from his satchel Although he didn’t want to purposefully seek strangers out that didn’t mean he was willing to just let them suffer right in front of him

In a second he had accelerated forward into the treeline leaving the stunned kid behind

At the very least hopefully he would keep wolverines away from digging up the seeds that Randidly had planted

As he raced through the trees the sounds of combat grew more loud Deciding that timing was more important than stealth Randidly burst out through a bush onto a mountain road Immediately he saw that a truck had been forced to swerve to avoid a falling tree and was now swarmed by goblins Several hooded figures huddled in the bed of the truck were the source of the screams batting at the approaching goblins while a man near the front of the pickup truck was swinging a wood cutting axe A shotgun and empty casings lay at his feet as well as several moaning bodies of wounded goblins

Still there were at least 4 dozen of the goblins still living and only 4 or 5 turned to face Randidly as he arrived His lip curled upward in derision

He immediately activated the skill he had learned when he had maxed out the Phantom Thrust Path Phantom Onslaught Instantly his spear blurred dozens of lightning quick stabs ripping forward goring the goblins that noticed him to pieces and plowing through several of the ones that weren’t paying close enough attention

As they all slowly turned to him Randidly raised his hand and poured mana into his palm launching a large Arcane orb which slid forward into the thickest concentration of goblins and exploded with a wave of concussive force

Those nearest were torn to pieces while the remainder fell back stunned

And Randidly wielding a spear like a god of death reaping lives moved among them

After he had dispatched most of them Randidly noticed that the man wielding the axe who Randidly now noticed had short grey hair and seemed about 50 years old had taken the opportunity to kill several of the nearby goblins his axe crushing their smaller bodies But several more crept up behind him stone weapons in hand

Grasping Roots

Instantly huge roots sprung from the ground slithering up the goblins and gripping their necks Then they squeezed shattering their spines

Looking around at the mangled body and the few scared survivors even Randidly was slightly surprised at his own strength He supposed that these enemies really were designed for it to be possible to overcome by the average person but still

As the old man chased away the last goblin he turned and met Randidly’s eyes Both were silent for several seconds

And then several more

Randidly’s eyes flicked to the side and he noticed that the figures in the bed of the pickup truck had pressed themselves down out of sight His eyes slid back to the old man who had noticed the shift in Randidly’s attention and had narrowed his own eyes

As the old man opened his mouth to finally speak Randidly threw something at him and he reflexively raised his hand to catch it When he looked at it the old man was surprised to find a small bottle filled with red liquid

Health Potion Randidly said shortly And then after a second of thought added The world is like a game now That will help you heal faster

I’m uninjured The man growled

Randidly looked at the truck bed and the shrugged tired of the conversation Honestly this was too much of a hassle then in case of future injuries I’m leaving

Wait

Randidly paused his back to the old man his senses sharpening

But the old man just sighed and asked where are you staying The town Is there anywhere safe Did you get a class at one of those Newbie Towns Is that why you are so strong

Randidly turned back around his tongue feeling abruptly thick What to say I’m staying in a cabin in a nearby valley I have avoided the town but I doubt it’s safe I don’t have a class I was just lucky

It made Randidly want to laugh calling what happened to him luck 7 months of agony and strife But he supposed it paid dividends Then seeing the old man’s thoughtful face Randidly fled returning to the cabin and his planted seeds

Chapter 21

To Randidly’s dismay when he returned to the cabin and the field the punk kid was not alone He was facing off against an asian girl who looked to be around 17 and a chubby looking teen standing next to her Those two were both glowering at the punk

Back off Tera The punk spat This is me and my buddy’s spot We will kick your ass if you hang around

Tera the girl snorted Oh please I saw you steal that claw off a dead wolverine You probably haven’t even figured out skill levels and path points yet huh You little pussy

Fucking bitch The punk said spitting at the ground and getting red faced

At around that moment the three teens noticed Randidly standing there He supposed from the way their eyes widened he struck quite a figure standing with a spear in his hand looking completely pristine

But his weapon was soaked in blood

Randidly coughed quietly and walked past the group sitting back in the spot among his fields The punk kid hurried over pleased but Randidly hissed at him noticing his path

Wait Randidly said and then got up and drew lines in the ground with the butt of his spear around the spots where his seeds were planted The punk kid stumbled back out of the way Don’t walk here

Then he placed his spear back into his bag and sat down in his spot Only then did he noticed the shocked looks they were giving him Ah the satchel

He studiously closed his eyes and ignored them Tera and her follower were engaged in a heated whisper discussion and the punk kid was loitering around Randidly looking unbelievably smug for someone who had just gotten yelled at for walking

Sighing Randidly slipped back into meditation and root manipulation while simultaneously activating Iron Skin Raising skill he had discovered was about difficulty and the stress but it was also about familiarity and control Even if the skill level didn’t necessarily improve just increasing the usage efficiency would

Hey

The girl spoke interrupting Randidly’s train of thought He opened his eyes and glared at her which caused her to stumble as she approached but then her mouth firmed into a line and she walked forward

Hey you You are strong How did you do it

Randidly inwardly sighed but the punk answered for him

Heh you want to talk to one of my minions You will need to go through me first And make sure you don’t walk on our spots The punk kid puffed up self importantly gesturing to the areas Randidly had outlined on the ground

Tera just gave him a look You must be joking You are saying that YOU are in charge You pissed your bed until you were

No he is Talk to him Randidly said feeling suddenly inspired Leaving now would be annoying because it would waste all of his seeds But continually interacting with people who came to him would also be tiring Having this punk stay here and hold the base while Randidly searched for rare mobs would kill two birds with one stone

At Randidly’s words the punk kid chuckled coolly As I said I Dusk am the boss around here

Tera rolled her eyes What the fuck is that Dusk shit Donny Anyways why is he so strong

Donny turned to Randidly You heard her why are you so strong

A vein in Randidly’s temple began to throb

Randidly briefly explained skill points PP and paths to them as well as that obtaining a class would make them more powerful Then he informed them that they couldn’t get a class until they founded a Newbie Town and the only way to do that was to defeat certain monsters

In this regard Randidly finally was rewarded with good news The chubby teen imaginatively named Chubbs said he had seen a huge group of goblins farther east away from the city a little bit north from where they were now

Donny then imperiously told Randidly to go get the item for the town the next morning so he could discover what great class he was meant to have

What was annoying was that was exactly Randidly’s plan so he remained silent Pleased Donny called dibs on the cabin and went inside to sleep while Tera and Chubbs brought out a backpack and produced a small tent and sleeping bags from inside The sun was yet to set but they all seemed so dead tired that it didn’t matter

But before she laid down Tera came over to Randidly Should we take turns keeping watch or something like in the movies

Randidly considered this Then shook his head No for tonight I will be sufficient

Giving him a weird look Tera walked away And honestly Randidly thought it would definitely be fine He had apparently grossly underestimated the time passage of time in the dungeon He had come out several hours later than he had calculated and the only way to make up that time was to assume that days were longer than he believed Almost double as long Staying up a night or two would cause him no trouble

Just as the sun was setting another event occurred a familiar looking pickup truck drove down the dirt track to near their position After turning off the engine the old man got out of the truck and walked over to Randidly

They stood there for a few minutes just looking at the nearby fields Chubbs who had been kicked out of the tent by Tera looked on curiously

Not many monsters to be seen on the way over The man commented

Randidly nodded his mouth curling up in a grin If they want to die let them come

Seemingly satisfied the man turned and headed back to his truck

Chapter 22

And come they did in the dead of night a column of goblins and wolverines seemingly working together What was most interesting was that a goblin with a green name to lead them Lvl 7 Goblin Warband Leader

It wasn’t what he needed to found the Newbie Town but it at least proved that higher level monsters among the goblins existed

The darkness was nothing for his Eyes of the Spear Phantom and when they had come within range he abruptly stood shooting 20 mana bolts off in quick succession In the cloudy night the bolts burned like lightning across the goblins retinas and those not struck and killed screeched in confusion blinded

Randidly rapidly downed three mana potions and strode forward as the goblins gathered more tightly together rushing towards him

With a grin he raised a hand and shot an arcane orb towards the group which exploded in a mass of gore And apparently the sound had finally awoken the people behind Randidly who began to come out confused and blinded by the dark

Strangely the green named goblin barked something in its language and most of the goblins turned and fled Incensed the wolverines still rushed forward their eyes covered in a haze of bloodlust and Randidly moved forward calmly ripping the remaining monsters to pieces Haste enabled to give him a small extra edge

By the end of the night Randidly was delighted to discover that he had gained points in Spear Mastery Mana Bolt and Haste Using the 3 pp raised the level of Green Spear Mastery to 170 granting him another point in Vitality

Randidly took a quick glance at his status

Health(/R per hour) 206/255 (+6) (102 75 (+9

Mana(/R per hour) 139/228 (50 25)

Stam(/R per min) 105/186 (37 (+3

Vit 30 (+3)

Str 16

Agi 40 (+3)

Perception 22

Reaction 24

Inteligence 50

Wisdom 30

Paths Newbie 7/7 P Def 10/10 M Supp 10/10 Risk Taker 15/15 Basic Physical Fitness 20/20 Trainee 15/15 Wandering Survivor 20/20 Pathless I 5/5 Pathless II 5/5 Pathless III 10/10 Pathfinder 15/15 Disciple of Shal 37/37 Pathless IV 10/10 Pathless V 15/15 Pathless VI 15/15 Pathless VII 20/20 Pathless VIII 20/20 Pathless IX 25/25 Pathless X 50/50 Pathless 100/100 Mana Bolt Path 25/25 Phys Fitness 25/25 Evasion 35/35 Phantom Thrust Path 40/40 Spear Mastery I 48/50

Skills Running Lvl 16 Physical Fitness Lvl 23 Sneak Lvl 19 Farming Lvl 17 Mana Bolt Lvl 28 Heavy Blow Lvl 19 Acid Resistance Lvl 22 Poison Resistance Lvl 14 Sprinting Lvl 13 Iron Skin Lvl 24 Equip Lvl 15 Plant Breeding Lvl 9 Meditation Lvl 26 Dagger Mastery Lvl 8 Entangling Roots Lvl 26 Mana Shield Lvl 21 Dodge Lvl 25 Potion Making Lvl 19 Analyze Lvl 24 Pathfinding Lvl 6 Mapmaker Lvl 3 Spear Mastery Lvl 38 Phantom Thrust Lvl 37 Pain Resistance Lvl 11 Fighting Proficiency Lvl 27 First Aid Lvl 12 Block Lvl 24 Spear Phantom’s Footwork Lvl 21 Eyes of the Spear Phantom Lvl 14 Phantom Half Step Lvl 4 Mental Strength Lvl 8 Curse Resistance Lvl 3 Root Manipulation Lvl 19 Green Spear Mastery Lvl 170 Arcane Orb Lvl 14 Haste Lvl 10 Phantom Onslaught Lvl 9

Even without a class the addition of Green Spear Mastery giving him bonuses every 5 PP used had begun to add up in terms of stats And with all his skills

Still feeling the fire in his blood from battle Randidly settled back moving slowly through the spear forms taught to him by Shal The point he reached now was good but it wasn’t enough He needed strength Strength to find Sydney and Ace out here in this huge area And that would only come by squeezing as much benefit out of the down time as possible

Roots began to wiggle underneath his feet pleased to feel the flow of his mana

Randidly made a mental note to ask about glass containers for potions later

The greatest pleasure of the morning was that moment when he got a notification that his farming had increased to 18 Grinning he looked over at his farming area to see that several sprouts had come up

The rest of the people who were staying in the area were also up and awake and Tera Donny and Chubbs were looking with open mouths at the piles of bodies The old man just folded his arms his reaction to be even more inscrutable

Randidly nodded in satisfaction I’m going to go find the goblin boss

Uh before you go Donny said his voice rather high pitched Can you give us some pointers on Skill Levels I know you said practice but To get that strong

Simply practice Raise Skill Levels Randidly answered reflexively

But Donny kept pushing Well what sort of skills are there

After a bit of hesitation Randidly answered I believe they can be anything I have skills for using the spear and for casting spells but also strange things Farming Running Physical Fitness

Woodcutting Cooking Cleaning anything The old man said noncommittally spitting over to the side

Then he nodded towards Randidly I’d like to speak with you when you return

He turned and walked away and Randidly left the three teens with their thoughts

Covered in gore in possession of several more items than he had departed with and very pleased about the whole trip Randidly returned to the valley to find some very dramatic changes had happened in a short amount of time

Someone had constructed a short wooden fence around most of the area that Randidly had planted his seeds in which were now visibly sprouting and growing leaving small openings to enter the tiny fields There was also a raised platform made from cut wood in the center of the field area which would provide a good view of the surroundings The surrounding area was now strew with large logs and piles of firewood Someone had dug out a fire pit and lined it with stones and now a wolverine was spitted over it roasting slowly

Most interest was that a second smaller dwelling or at least the bones of one had gone up next to the cabin Tera Chubs and Donny were furiously dragging smaller cut saplings over to stack serving as the walls

Their constant bickering could be heard from far away but Randidly ignored it heading to the fire pit where the old man stood

The old man grunted in acknowledgement as Randidly arrived Wood Cutting Lvl 4 Wood Working Lvl 5 Construction Level 3 Animal Skinning Level 4 Hunting Lvl 2 Axe Mastery Lvl 4 I currently have 16 PP I haven’t spent any of them Any recommendations

Randidly frowned casting his memory back you have the Newbie path available

The old man nodded As well as Woodsman and something with question marks

Nodding Randidly said Finish off the Newbie path it should only take 7 pp Then you will get mana bolt and heavy blow two active skills that you can use while you raise your passive skills From there you will just need to continue to practice

And for the stats The old man asked

Randidly briefly explained his understanding on what the stats affected Then he asked Is this what you wanted to talk about

No but The old man removed the skinned wolverine and checked it Perhaps it won’t matter Did you find whatever you were looking for

Randidly smiled and produced a glowing golden coin

You have 1 Gold Nexus coin Use Y/N

Without thinking about it too much Randidly selected yes

Chapter 23

Instantly a smartly dressed man appeared in front of him He smiled serenely at Randidly

Hello I am your guide Nul Congratulations you now have the qualifications to found a Newbie village To do so you simply need to receive your class As the first person to receive a class from me you will receive the Soul Skill Village Chieftain which will help you survive in this world Are you ready to proceed

Randidly’s eyes were practically sparkling as he nodded With a class he could finally level And then

Another notification popped up

You are about to be taken to the class screen Once you enter the class screen you cannot leave without picking a class You will have the option of choosing from three classes The first will be a general class based on the system’s initial impression of your skills and personality when the system first initialized The second will be a random class The third will be a class generated based on your current natural gifts and disposition Do you wish to proceed Y/N

Randidly frowned turning to Nul When it says current gifts what does that mean

Nul gave him an innocent smile Different individuals are naturally blessed At the time of the class selection the system will examine you and recommend a class based on that

Do your natural blessings include skill levels Current stat levels

Nul only continued to smile ignoring the question Randidly sighed and selected no So it was that sort of system

If Randidly did select a class it likely wouldn’t be the first choice because that class would be based on the him from several months ago Or at least that’s how it would seem to him A 23 year old who hadn’t ever had to struggle in his life Similarly the 2nd random option seemed unreliable and not a real choice at all

So the third option would be what he was betting on a current scan of his Natural Blessings Anyone else fighting for their lives wouldn’t think anything of that phrasing but Randidly had noticed it immediately If it scanned them now perhaps scant days after the scan for the first choice what was it scanning for Natural blessings

No that would have been caught on the system initialization recommendation If by natural blessings they meant stats and skills bestowed by the system In addition it would likely take most people more time than Randidly to strengthen themselves and work up the nerve to found a Newbie Village In this time they would be relying solely on paths to grow stronger

And also hanging over Randidly’s head was Shal’s statement that you can only learn a set number of skills once you have a class

Although likely less detailed it seemed the old man’s thoughts were on a similar track So it’s a game of chicken huh Are you gonna gamble on learning new skills so you get a better class or are you going to take the class to grow strong

Nul turned from Randidly to the old man Since he has rejected this opportunity I know offer it to you Remember gaining the first class from me would mean that you also gain the Soul Skill Village Chieftain

The old man just snorted and spat Not interested

Hey who is that Chubbs asked wandering over with a bickering Tera and Donny in tow

Nul instantly beamed at the new arrivals Which of you would like to be Village Chiefta

For the second time his pitch was interrupted but this time by Donny’s yell Mee

Donny immediately rushed forward to a bowing Nul

Do you choose to select a class no

I do Donny said practically salivating Randidly and the old man exchanged glances

Do you know anything about what a class gets you The old man asked in a quiet voice Randidly shook his head slightly They both looked at Donny

Since Randidly was already letting him be the one who dealt with people he saw no reason to stop him from being the Village Chieftain Although Nul was talking it up the slimy way they almost explicitly refused to indicate methods to get better classes made Randidly rather skeptical

And if it did turn out to be a good thing it’s not like it would be that hard to kill another rare mob once he found one

Nul gestured and suddenly they all could see a giant floating screen On it were three choices

The first choice is Nul began to explain but Donny just waved his hand ignoring him

No need He said imperiously I choose the second option I am Dusk Knight No wait Knight of the Dusk

Randidly had a hard time suppressing his smile based on the first and third options But he supposed it was a good thing the random class ended up being so official and gamey sounding like the rest of the world Hopefully the level up gains would give them an idea of what a class could provide

Instantly motes of gold flew from Nul’s hand to Donny and as the group watched a short sword and shield appeared in Donny’s hands Grinning from ear to ear Donny began to swing them around but promptly underestimated the weight and fell on his face

What did the class give you Tera asked jealousy clear in her voice

Even sitting on his butt his face covered in dirt still Donny was glowing and he waggled his fingers at Nul Show them the same notification you showed me so they can stand and be awed in my brilliance

Shrugging Nul complied Randidly looked closely at the notification that appeared

Congratulations You have received the class of Knight You have gained the Skill Ride Lvl 1 You have received the skill Honorable Charge Lvl 1 You have received the skill Stalwart Defense Lvl 1 You may learn 7 additional skills to these and those you already possess Skills may be forgotten to learn new skills +12 Health per Level +1 Mana Per Level +7 Stamina per level +2 Vit End or Str per level (these points may be distributed between 2) +1 Resist per level

The old man blinked then shook his head looking at Randidly Those numbers just make my eyes water How good is that It seems like a hell of a lot

Randidly nodded slowly Once he completes the Newbie path and gets that bonus that’s 16 health 3 mana and 9 stamina plus 4 stat points per level 2 Among Vit End and Str 1 to Resist one freely distributed Hard to gauge how much the stats mean but all that extra health and stamina will add up Do a lot to keep him alive After 15 levels he will have comparable health and stamina to me and that’s not even counting the bonuses he would get putting it into Vit and End

Frowning the old man nodded So it really is hard to tell how useful it is Well I’ll try the skill level route for a while and then revisit the issue

You must hurry Nul said with a smile looking at Randidly and the old man Remember the Newbie Zone protection will wear off on this area in 7 days and stronger monsters will come You should select your class immediately

When he saw that neither of them really cared Nul turned back to Donny smile attached So where would you like your village to be

Chapter 24

Because Nul begrudgingly admitted that the village would take up a fair amount of space and have an indeterminate effect on the previous geography within its zone Donny proudly marched about half a mile along the valley up from their original spot with the cabin

Curious Randidly and the old man followed When Donny finally indicated a spot a blinding light immediately robbed them of their vision Acting on instinct built on months of struggle Randidly dropped into a crouch and drew his spear his senses sharpening But when no attacks came and after several seconds the light slowly faded resolving itself into a clearing with several buildings

Perhaps the strangest feature was the pillar of light that rose from the center of the village But as Randidly saw the notification that had appeared in front of him and everyone elses based on their expression his visage darkened

Congratulations A Newbie Village has been founded near your location A pillar of light has been placed there and will remain there for 7 days so it may be conveniently found Due to the founding of a Newbie Village the starter protections in the surrounding area will disperse in exactly 7 days At that time monsters Level 20 and over will begin to appear It is recommended that you proceed to the Newbie Village and acquire a class as fast as possible

But it seemed the implications of this notification did not worry Donny instead he was laughing

Haha This is so cool Because I was the first one to found a Newbie Village I get an extra 500 Soul Points towards upgrading it I’m fucking first This is so awesome

Soul points Tera asked looking at Donny But he just continued to giggle to himself Instead Nul stepped forward his bland smile in place

Yes Soul Points which are used to strengthen and upgrade your Newbie Village Besides turning in other golden coins for 500 Soul Points you gain Soul Points for your village anytime you level up And eventually the Newbie Village too can expand giving greater benefits for the people who choose to have their class based here

How much would it take to upgrade a Newbie Village into a Randidly hesitated then went with his gut a Trainee Village

10 000 Soul Points Nul gave Randidly a strange glance There was something there It was not fear but Almost annoyance But then the bland smile returned more blanketing and numbing than ever However a Trainee Village possesses the possibility of allowing you to reclass increasing your growth rates monstrously with the stats and skills you have gained by leveling

And instantly he shifts what he is saying trying to sway me to get a class Well I will be thinking this over very carefully ’ Randidly thought nodding calmly and walking away towards the treeline

Casually he looked over his shoulder and said You all should rest now and prepare I suspect that we shall have a lot of company soon Donny you are going to need to decide about who you want to let into your village

Then Randidly walked away wanting a bit of insurance for later

Almost exactly three hours later Randidly returned having gained quite a few things The first was a skill point in Running and a skill point in Pathfinding which was enough to finish off Spear Mastery netting him two new skills Sweep and Spear Deflect Sweep was a powerful area of effect attack a wide swing of the spear while Spear Deflect was effectively spinning the spear in front of oneself knocking away smaller projectiles and reducing the strength of magical attacks

Both skills had Randidly excited First for their utility but also for their ability to be leveled The higher a skill got the harder it would be to level which had become especially clear since he had left the dungeon and came here where monsters were quite weak in comparison to himself

Even just a few minutes previously when he had searched and found the Mother Wolverine which was level 13 it had been able to withstand several of Randidly’s attacks but was ultimately killed rather simply

As Randidly walked back to the cabin area and the nearby obnoxious pillar of light he considered his path situation He had used all of the paths he had gotten by leveling skills and was now left with two similar options

0/

One included the zero but they were essentially the same Rather than over think what was happening Randidly just chose the one with the 0 showing

Monster Slayer I 0/1

But the 1 point that Randidly had put into it was enough to instantly finish it off

Congratulations You have completed the Monster Hunter I Path +1 stat Sometimes the path you walk is stained by the blood of those who would stand against you

Immediately Randidly went back and checked the path screen again even though there was no more PP to spend at the moment and sure enough waiting for him

Monster Slayer II 0/3 Watcher 0/

Looks like Monster Slayer would be another chain series of paths and cheap ones too What was interesting was that he now also had the Watcher path in addition to the question mark option

Shaking his head Randidly walked out of the tree line and towards the cabin

The second group of things he had brought back were various fruits and vegetables that he had been able to find wild in the area There wasn’t anything exceedingly strange but he had found a new variety of nut and a mushroom that he was quite sure was poisonous Still growing it under the influence of the mana crystals would hopefully result in new species with interesting effects

Included in that group was a large quantity of Red and Blue energy shards that he had found in the local area often guarded by more comically weak imps or wolverines

As Randidly continued to think be brought out a large stick he had found and began to crudely till the surrounding area by his first fields which were beginning to grow upwards at a shocking pace He wanted to get all of his seeds down and growing as soon as possible

What was slightly disturbing is that goblins had all but vanished from the surrounding area and wolverines were also currently in the decline The lizards and imps were growing stronger both in numbers and in levels and were able to force Randidly to be wary of large groups

Not needlessly so but he now paid attention to his surroundings where his guard had begun to drop previously After all as far as he could tell he was the strongest thing for quite a few miles and honestly Randidly could get used to this feeling

But at the same time he never forgot it The edge of death that he had danced next to in the dungeon Nul’s bland smile and subtle directions

Frowning Randidly looked up towards the pillar of light This Newbie Town was not what he had hoped it would be

Chapter 25

Raised voices eventually distracted Randidly from his farming and he looked up with a frown As he trudged up towards the Newbie Village Randidly used the 2 PP he had earned from Farming levels and the 1 Root Manipulation skill levels to open and instantly complete Monster Slayer II

Congratulations You have completed the Monster Hunter II Path +2 stat +1 to Health Mana and Stamina Sometimes the path you walk is stained by the blood of those who would stand against you but you cannot hesitate

Snorting at the tiny gains Randidly threw the points into agility and walked towards the source of the commotion

To Randidly’s surprise there actually hadn’t been that many people who turned up at the pillar of light seeking the ability to get a class But perhaps he had underestimated and overestimated humanity simultaneously

First underestimated how much of a pack animal they really were If there was a large group it was sufficient to send a small group to investigate

Second overestimated humanity’s ability to cope with huge changes in their situation and appreciate how necessary the thing called Classes would be Or at least their potential

There were several gaunt eyed and bloody people standing in the outskirts looking on warily These were likely the lone wolves who had killed the monsters before and came to seek more power But they were not the source of the noise

The Newbie Village couldn’t really be called a village it was simply a large building seeming to be an Inn next to a statue In a slightly disturbing twist that statue was Donny hefting his sword and shield looking quite a lot more mature and capable than he really was

Standing in front of the statue was Donny who glared at a tall well muscled dark skinned man

That man also happened to have an assault rifle strapped to his back

I’m just saying what do you expect The man said with a shrug Sure son what you did was very admirable and we are all very curious about what having a class means for the world but didn’t you also recognize the danger If in a week bigger and stronger monsters come you

Will kill them effortlessly I’m going to level up before then and handle it And if you want to get a class from my village you need to agree that I am your boss beforehand That’s all I’m saying Donny added pompously continuing to glare at the man

Look kid The man said finally losing his patience and stepping forward I’ve tried being nice And I know a lot has happened in the past few days so I’m willing to look the other way on some things But don’t be unreasonable The Shellton Police Department has the situation controlled inside the town Now we are looking into ways to protect the citizens It seems like gaining a class is an effective one So I’ll ask you again will you let me see this class thing without any of your stupid

Donny just turned away Hmph you’ll be back

Scowling the well muscled man turned and walked away Several of the more even looking loners around the Newbie Village hurried over to him and began to speak with him as he left

He’s right about one thing The old man muttered He had walked quietly over to Randidly when he had come up They certainly will be back Especially as that 7 day window closes

Randidly grunted warily eyeing the rest of the loners There was one in particular that caught his eye and as he examined him that one was walking forward with a small smile on his face He was an almost skeletally skinny man with greasy red hair From his shirt he worked in a fast food chain before the system changed things

Excuse me are you the guy who founded the first Newbie Village His voice came out high and nasally but Donny visibly puffed up in front of his attentions

Hahaha yes I am I’m actually looking for capable subordinates to handle some of the lesser matters if you think you have what it takes Donny grinned

The greasy man gave him a cheesy smile back Oh I’ll do anything if it means working with you boss

Clapping him on the back with a happy laugh Donny took the man over towards Nul As he did so several of the seedier looking men who were standing around the outside of the clearing exchanged glances and then trailed after them towards the central building

Randidly had a strange feeling about the group but set it aside for now Instead he turned to the old man a question at the tip of his tongue But then he paused and asked a different one What’s your name

Sam The old man answered simply Randidly nodded

What do you plan on doing then Sam Choosing the class or waiting I cannot give any guidance on whether any advantages you can get by waiting will be worth it

Sam grunted and then spat to the side at any rate for now I can afford to take my time Raise some skill levels Sound out the surrounding area Those police types will be back and honestly we might need it A certain type of person thrives in this sort of environment and Makes it more difficult for others

Silently Randidly remembered the 3 hooded figures he had seen in the back of Sam’s truck

Are you just going to let them go like that Sam asked tilting his head towards the gaggle of hungry and violent looking men that were around Donny

Randidly shrugged He deals with them so I don’t have to If he can’t handle it I’ll find someone else

Sam gave Randidly a long look Some would say that’s a very cold view to take

Again Randidly shrugged Some people are welcome not to take it

As night fell Randidly began to move Although he hadn’t necessarily been slacking being around other normal people who bothered to sit and rest had made Randidly stop training so frantically That stopped tonight

Randidly had a spear in one hand spinning his spear around in Spear Deflect while his other hand punched against a tree utilizing Heavy Blow His eyes constantly sharpened with Eyes of the Spear Phantom During all of this due to his high level of meditation he continued to meditate increasing the rate of Stamina regeneration by 26%

Meanwhile Randidly alternated between Arcane Orbs and Mana bolts shooting his projectiles high up into the sky in order to keep the noise to a minimum

When his mana or stamina ran low he would pause and work his way through the forms taught to him by Shal depicting the moves of a true spearman

While he was training Randidly pondered whether saving up and waiting for a class really was worth it Sure best case scenario he would have the points from his large skill list while reaching a high level and it would give him a definite advantage when it came to fighting someone of a similar level but what about the people who had been leveling while he was training up his foundation

It really depended what kind of RPG game the system was based on and how high the level cap was His experience with Shal raised more questions than it answered Based on the difference in results Shal had stats much higher than Randidly’s current physical stats Especially in Agility and Vitality It was awe inspiring how quickly that man could have worked his spear and how serious of injuries he could recover from faster than should be possible

But that also might have been exacerbated by the difference in skill levels His current Spear Mastery Lvl 38 demonstrated nowhere near his finesse with the spear

And that clearly wasn’t something that could be made up with class levels

Sighing Randidly switched from Spear Deflect to practicing Sweep It was comically easy for him to exert himself all night carefully studying these different moves and improving them It was now becoming evident to Randidly that it wasn’t just knowledge and capability that raised skill level and skill level raising capability It was a little of both And him training now with some skill in the spear made these spear based skills increase by leaps and bounds

An hour before dawn Randidly’s eyes snapped open

He had gained 1 skill point in Mana Shield 2 in Arcane Orb 1 in Root Manipulation 1 in Meditation 2 in Eyes of the Spear Phantom 3 in Heavy Blow 1 in Physical Fitness 4 in Spear Deflect and 6 in Sweep

But Randidly just put those PP on reserve for now and stood glowering at the darkness

Monsters were coming And there were a lot of them

Chapter 26

Randidly coolly removed some empty potion bottles and brewed 3 mana potions while sitting and meditating The monsters appeared to be massing on one of the ridges above them some distance away Inwardly Randidly made another mental note to ask about glass containers

After he finished he looked to his left and right frowning

Ultimately though he turned to the right and padded quietly up towards the Newbie Village It seemed as if that was the monsters target and Randidly trusted Sam not to get himself ambushed much more than he trusted Donny

When he approached the village the remnants of a fire had burnt low and several men lay sprawled around beer bottles rolling between them Randidly stepped over them and headed to the main building Neither Donny Tera Chubbs nor the red haired man was among the prone forms on the ground

As he approached the main building Randidly saw that Chubbs was asleep his back against the main door Snorting at the quality of the watch Randidly just hopped up to a nearby window and pushed it open dropping to the floor in a dark room

Two forms lay entwined in the darkness and Randidly felt a small pang of embarrassment for interrupting them In the darkness he saw very clearly one pair of eyes flicker open as he landed quietly

Their gazes locked

Then the figure stood his emaciated limbs and red hair clear even in the darkness

I wanted to meet you You have such a great smell about you You were the one who found and beat the boss to get the golden coin weren’t you Are you strong Donny is just there as a front eh

Randidly ignored the man and spared a glance to the other person Tera rolled sideways yawning and blinked upward in the darkness frowning towards the man Decklan wha

What is your class Randidly asked looking back up towards the man Although he gave him a distasteful feeling his curiosity got the better of him

Randidly could see the flash of yellowed teeth even in the darkness See This is why I liked you before I even knew you What will you give me for that knowledge

After a thoughtful moment Randidly removed the dagger he had found stuffed into the head of the giant snake all those months ago Even now with an equip level of 15 he was unable to receive the bonus from it As such

Will this suffice Randidly flicked his fingers and threw the curved dagger lazily and the man snatched it out of the air Clear to Randidly’s gaze in the darkness the man took the dagger and drew it along his forearm drawing a thin line of blood

The man’s body shuddered in the darkness Oh yes this is perfect Hahaha My class is Killer Only a +3 to Stamina boost per level but I steal the growth rates of the strongest thing I’ve killed since I last leveled up everytime Hahaha what a fun class right

In a way it made sense and it was certainly versatile especially if he could find powerful enemies to kill Although he wasn’t quite disturbed by the class as much as he thought he would be Randidly’s eyes sharpened taking in every inch of this man Then he walked past him

Donny is a buffer I don’t have time for most of these problems I am the Ghosthound And prepare that dagger plenty of enemies to test it out on are coming

Decklan began to laugh and Randidly left and searched through the rooms until he found Donny shaking him awake

Up and at’em village chieftain Randidly said grimly We have company

As the rather drunk rabble that had taken an oath to call Donny boss roused themselves Randidly slipped back past the cabin into the small camp area that Sam had set up by his truck For a moment Randidly slowed as he approached but he figured that whoever those figures were they would be sleeping within the wooden shelter Sam had made

The spot that would grant the watcher the most visibility was the bed of the truck so Randidly walked there As he approached he saw movement in the truck bed but the figure that sat up was small and covered in a camo rain coat

For several seconds the two regarded each other

As Randidly opened his mouth to ask after Sam the other figure spoke the voice feminine and lyrical it looked like fireworks

Huh

Fireworks You were doing magic earlier right The girl said her voice a strange combination of eager and wistful Mine don’t look like that at all

As if it was the most natural thing in the world she raised her hand and a thin bolt of energy shot forward sliding over the grass until it hit a tree with a dull thump leaving a small scorch mark Randidly tilted his head to the side

Your skill level is just low As you raise it and your Intelligence it will get stronger and brighter

The hooded figure nodded as if that was profound wisdom I’m working on it You want Mr Hoss

Dubiously assuming Sam was Mr Hoss Randidly nodded The figure hopped down off the truck and walked away leaving Randidly to wonder about this masked girl She definitely seemed a teenager Maybe 15 But why was she and the two others kept hidden

Sam hurried out moments later with his mouth open to say something but Randidly just shook his head Now’s not the time Something’s coming I don’t think Nul has properly explained all of the rules about Newbie Villages to us

Chapter 27

Several hours later Decklan picked blood out from under his nails waiting for his hands to stop trembling Tera sat huddled up next to him dull eyed and unfocused her blood stained daggers laying next to her

Although she was cute enough Decklan was already tiring of her flimsy bravado and her excitable personality Still if he would be forced to wake up to a horde of monsters every morning he definitely needed someone to vent his nervous energy on

Not that Decklan minded looking at delight at his status screen

Decklan Hyde

Class Killer

Level 7

Health(/R per hour) 9/80 (44)

Mana(/R per hour) 22/33 (8 5)

Stam(/R per min) 14/50 (16)

Vit 11

End 4

Str 9

Agi 18

Perception 7

Reaction 9

Willpower 2

Wisdom 6

Control 7

Skills Sneak Lvl 5 Slash Lvl 7 Dagger Mastery Lvl 5 Backstab Lvl 12 Feint Lvl 1 Dual Wielding Mastery Lvl 4

Most of his stat points he had put directly into agility and that had let him move freely among the three dozen or so wolverines that had streamed out of the woods coming for the Newbie Village 11 People had gotten Classes the previous day and those 11 men had generally gotten rather bland classes like Minuteman or Subordinate Thug Still they all gathered nervous and excited at the prospect of strengthening themselves

Of those 11 Decklan and Donny made it out alright staying close to each other As much as the little shit was annoying he could slow several down with his shield work and handle the attacks of several at once

A few of the other people who had obtained classes had broken and ran quickly hamstrung and eviscerated by the wolverines Decklan had been considering fleeing himself when that Ghosthound had come out of the hills

With a wave of his hand blasts of energy accurately smashed several Wolverines to the side Even more frustratingly the guy moved like a ghost his spear lashing outwards leaving only dead bodies in its wake He cleared out the bulk of their forces and then left them to thin out the stragglers

By that time only 6 of the 11 Classed individuals were still breathing

After they had killed the rest Decklan had walked to the forest curious where the Ghosthound had come from What he saw had even left the man with the class Killer nauseous It looked like less than half of the wolverines had made it passed the Ghosthound reaching the rest of them The bodies were caking the forest floor headless blasted burnt impaled on thorns

Some of them appeared to have been splashed with acid most of their bodies melting away

And so now Decklan sat trying to contain his rising excitement barely keeping his hands from trembling The Ghosthound was talking with the old man he was often with who was carrying a bloody axe They seemed to be talking about using the wolverine bodies for something

I’ve decided Tera said next to him looking up at him I’m going to get a class Even if I could get a better class by getting stronger first I need strength now

Decklan nodded lightly watching the Ghosthound As the Ghosthound waved his hand roots sprouted out of the ground and began slowly gathering the bodies of the wolverines into a pile

His face splitting into a wide grin Decklan turned to Tera Good Do it as quickly as possible and we will go hunting immediately

Her face brightened Really Can Chubbs come

Sure sure whatever Decklan said already turning back towards the Ghosthound who seemed completely uninjured

That level of strength He would do anything to have it

You want to skin them Randidly asked hesitantly looking at the impressive pile of bodies And then his eyes shifted to the spear holes ripping through most of their pelts and he shifted slightly uncomfortably

Sam nodded Both for the skins and for the meat I suspect we can get something akin to a Tannery skill which will be useful Also the rations we brought are starting to run low Are your plants safe to eat

Yea the first batch will probably be done later today Randidly answered the hairs on the back of his neck prickling upwards Glancing over his shoulder he saw that Decklan was staring at him again Resolving to ignore it Randidly turned back forward to see Sam making an uncomfortable expression

Hmm Then perhaps you could come to my uh camp for dinner We could have discussions Sam finished with atypical awkwardness

Shrugging in confirmation Randidly switched the subject I did a rough count of the amount of wolverines that were here while I was fighting them About 80 or 90 How many did you get by you

Sam grimaced Quite a few Nowhere near what you had up here just some stragglers Maybe two dozen Lucky you warned me in time I was able to set up enough traps to stall them while I got to work with my axe

Randidly said nothing about the numerous arrows that he had seen sticking out of the wolverines down by Sam’s camp If that puts it right about 100 just a theory but I suspect there were 110

Glancing at him Sam’s eyes suddenly sharpened as he made the connection 10 for each of the 11 people who obtained classes

I already asked Nul and he said that we would be forced to discover the rules as we went along But if this gets worse or if more people come for classes

Or if you hadn’t been here Sam muttered his eyes glittering The village would probably have been wiped out before it even got off the ground

Well Randidly said with a nasty glint in his eye Hopefully most people wouldn’t have gotten drunk immediately after obtaining a class If they had leveled a few times

Enough to fight off 10 wolverines each All at once

Sam’s statement hung in the air and the shared a long glance

Then I guess it’s back to work so it doesn’t happen to us next Randidly said raising his hand to block the rays of the rising sun coming up over the horizon

Chapter 28

In addition to the 21 PP he had from earlier he had also gained 2 more levels in Sweep and 1 in Entangling Roots as he repulsed most of the wolverines in the pre dawn fight putting him at 24 in total

Monster Hunter III would take 6 PP but when he went to the path screen another option caught his eye He had unlocked the Heavy Blow Path 0/20 at Lvl 20 of the skill and there was a high chance of him receiving another skill if he completed it

After a slight hesitation he put 20 PP into it finishing it instantly netting him 2 Str and 10 Stamina as well as the following notification

Congratulations You have completed the Heavy Blow Path +1 stat +20 Stamina You have learned the skill Empower Lvl 1 You have learned the skill Calculated Blow Lvl 1

Empower Lvl 1 Cost 30 Stamina Infuse any physical movement with effort very slightly increasing its speed and power Effectiveness improves with skill level