It was hard holding myself back from skipping over checking my Class and Profession skills to choose from having reached level 10, and going immediately to my race skills. Mainly because, I was incredibly curious as to what kind of skills that would entail. It made sense to have an increase in resource pools, maybe even a toughness skill available to everyone human. I'd yet to find any hard proof that was all race skills had to offer though. Sure this information was handily available to me on numerous occasions, but I had more pressing matters to attend to at the time…probably.
Regardless, I resolved myself to go about selecting these skills in order, hoping to maintain some semblance of discipline in the face of success. First was my class skills and hot DAMN was it a wondrous mixed bag.
Water Strike (common) - tap into water the affinity to amplify the speed and strength of a strike with water mana
+3 agility upon activation
+1% water affinity potency upon activation
Flow Filcher (common) - your inclination with the nature of Flow allows for you to seamlessly transfer a small amount of an outside source of Flow into your own. Stamina is taken while your also boosting next strikes damage output so long as both you and the said source move in harmony.
+2% endurance steal
+2% Flow potency for one following strike
(Costs 1% maximum endurance to activate)
Lightning Bolt (uncommon) - release a surge of Lightning mana, range and damage dependent on charge time andtotal mana exerted upon casting.
+5 intelligence (permanent)
Flow Supplementation(uncommon) - user can rely on the energy generated by their continuous Flow as they would mana for 50% of their total mana pool.
Flow must be created or stolen, cannot be regenerated by potions or mana skills.
The sheer volume of options alone was overwhelming, let alone the pure utility each skill offered respectively. Water Strike was a skill I'd been actively pursuing the last few days, leading me to develop a completely different water skill altogether, Tidal Flurry. While Tidal Flurry was higher in rarity than Water Strike, it also held a cooldown which limited its flexibility in combat. Not completely writing off the common ability, I moved onto the next.
While Flow Filcher made plenty of sense given how often I'd played with borrowing Steve's Flow throughout our many battles, it also felt rather redundant. I'd already felt sufficiently capable of borrowing Flow along its natural path. Quantifying the damage boost that followed also didn't feel right, considering 2% seemed low compared to how it felt whenever borrowing Flow into another strike naturally. Thus, my first skill candidate was removed from the race. Unfortunately, the final two choices would be the toughest to see go, given their rarities and overall utility.
My third class option was quite frankly an opportunity to shore up a weakness I'd hardly taken any serious consideration of. Lightning Strike would offer an official ranged attack, while providing a permanent boost to my utterly embarrassing intelligence stat as well. While I knew it wouldn't be a high priority stat given my class and overall path so far, the gap between intelligence and the rest of my stats was beginning to get absurd. After my equipment boosts, my endurance alone was 58. Meanwhile, Intelligence remained the measly 8 it started at.
By all credible metrics, I'm stupid as fuck. By no means would I have claimed myself a scholar before the integration, however I'm not shameless, I cared enough to learn that which was necessary. Being painfully unequipped mentally for life in general was no way to survive, much less live. Which is why I nearly selected the skill instantly after reading its description offering a permanent boost to my intelligence stat. That is until I read over the familiar skill I'd been offered at level 2, after the first Pylon defense during my exile from the beach for…failing.
Flow Supplementation was the second choice that became available the same time as Identify so long ago, though I'd certainly felt a tinge of regret for having not selected it instead. Don't get me wrong, Identify had more than proven its value, allowing me to estimate my efforts before each fight by knowing my foes level. However, my whimsically small mana pool had proven a massive hindrance on my potential in longstanding battles, something intelligence I imagined went hand in hand with given its a mage's favorite stat. Pacing my mana usage wasn't terribly difficult in truth. Yet, the possibility of suffering mana exhaustion mid-fight constantly looming over my head had grown tiresome.
One section of its description caught my eye that hadn't really registered the first time I'd been offered Flow Supplementation. "Flow must be created or stolen, cannot be regenerated by potions or mana skills." While I'd had plenty of practice in generating Flow on my own, I'd yet to truly 'steal' any. True, I could redirect it with Flow Inverse, and managed to naturally borrow Flow without affecting its path. However, I'd yet to steal any outright yet, something Korbin had always been incredibly talented at doing but hadn't really taught me yet.
Wouldn't this mean I couldn't utilize a key aspect of the skill? Or would it automatically provide the knowledge to steal Flow, much like Twinbladesman provided martial combinations intrinsically? While risks were inevitable whenever trying to accomplish anything meaningful, I'd never considered myself a gambling man. Meaning, while the skill itself sounds fantastic, it could prove a colossal waste until I learned how to steal Flow. Regeneration couldn't be terribly difficult, though the possibility of fighting with neither Flow or Mana at my disposal sent an uncomfortable chill down my spine.
It was difficult to see it pass me by yet again, promising myself to force Korbin to teach me how to efficiently steal flow before my next skill selection. Reluctantly, I made my selection.
*Congratulations!* You've unlocked a new class skill!
->
Lightning Bolt (uncommon) - release a surge of Lightning mana, range and damage dependent on charge time and total mana exerted upon casting.
+5 intelligence (permanent)
My hand weakly pressed against my head stumbling back, the 5 points added into intelligence exerting a massive wave of energy welling within my skull almost instantly. The world grew dimmer under the excruciating pressure built in my brain, now leaking deep into the pit of my stomach. Before fully achieving tunneling vision, a violent stretching sensation in the bottom of my stomach shocked me back to full consciousness.
A sharp pain tinged in my knee having collapsed under the weight of my intelligence increase, which had abruptly subsided altogether. Curious, I searched my thoughts for any inkling as to how to use my new skill. Having no luck, I decided to just try what felt natural. Raising my hand and focusing on building up Lightning mana brought a rush of electricity that shot down the length of my arm.
The energy compounded on itself for several seconds before I realized what I was doing. If the power was dependent on its charge time and mana exertion, there's no doubt this bolt would be rather large. Problem is, I'm still in settlement, surrounded by prisoners actively mulling over whether to join our conquest or be exiled entirely. Darting my head around looking desperately for anywhere safe to fire this at, panic crept finding none. Finally, my hand extended toward the sky seeing no safer place to let my first Lightning Bolt loose.
An odd relief washed over me watching the cylindrical beam of blue and white Lightning energy crackling wildly as it shot up into the sky, dispersing before reaching the clouds. The pressure from all of the mana concentrated into my arm drained euphorically, like clearing a full-body sinus. My eyes winced in preparation for the inevitable mana exhaustion I was sure to endure. Yet, there was no such aching emptiness. Confused, I checked my mana pool and…well, safe to say I was correct in assuming intelligence plays a role in it.
Mana:42/124
Holy shit?!
Having taken great pride in the two points earned into my previous mana pool, excitedly calculating the massive increase didn't take long. 47 more points were now permanently at my disposal. That was more than a 50% increase from my prior 77 maximum. In retrospect, I had added over half my prior intelligence stat onto itself with one skill. Such backlash from a mere 5 point addition rarely occurred in any of the stats I'd focused on. Though, a few wisdom boosts had caused some discomfort, with relatively smaller boosts as well.
Speaking of…
Not willing to leave a free point attained from my class upgrade collect dust in my statsheet, another small wave of power surged from just outside my skin adding it into Willpower as per usual. Sufficiently pleased with my class skill selection, and having attracted a few fearful stares, I scrolled through my Profession skill choices while heading for the barracks that the Porphynaen giants lined with beds from wall to wall.
Tamer Mastery (uncommon) - through a great deal of practice and repetition, you've honed your ability to tame and train your beasts, enhancing your already formidable will.
+5% Willpower during [subjugation]
+5% Willpower using Tamer Skills
Tamers Sanction (uncommon) - through sharing many perilous battles with only yourselves to care for one another, your spirits have bonded to find natural solace with each other whenever mortally threatened.
Beast health regenerates below 20% when in proximity of their tamer
- Tamer health regenerates below 20% when in proximity of their beasts (does not stack)
I'd be lying to say I wasn't thoroughly impressed with how good these first two profession skills were. In retrospect, Steve and I have done nothing except fight and grow since having met. Hell, Steve even grew wings and sprouted feathers along the way. In truth, the first skill alone would have sufficed my standards of quality I'd expected. Yet having read Tamers Sanctions' description evoked a previously neglected hypothetical of Steve or I ever falling past 20%. Actually, I'd done that already, Steve having saved me on multiple occasions now. Torn between utility and security, I continued reading the next two skills and…well, my decision didn't get any easier.
Serpent Tamer Adept (rare) - the blossoming kinship between man and serpent has subtly bridged their communicative gap, providing a medium for both species to enjoy dialogue freely with one another.
- Gain ability to speak with all serpent races
Bestiary Hunter (rare) - having accrued a taste for battle with nature's most exotic children, your pursuit for a wild mythical challenge has cultivated a particular skill set in combatting beastial foes.
+12% damage against all beasts
Hot DAMN?!
My shoulder bumped against a building along my walk having been so distracted reading the next two skills. They were both ranked rare. Having barely expected uncommon options, especially having skipped my first profession evolution, it felt like Christmas came early to our beautiful little dystopia. Though, the ability to talk to all snakes even being offered felt odd. Mostly because I'd never made a concerted effort to communicate with literally any of them. Steve just sort of said 'hi' and saved me, and the other snakes I'd encountered weren't aquatic. My profession was limited to water based beasts, and frankly I was okay with that.
That's yet to change either, making the rare skill oddly the first to be mentally discarded from contention. Steve was mentally mouthy enough, while many other oceanic beasts were often kinder, albeit simple minded. Even when they were hostile, they only fought until they saw it was futile. If they caught wind of another of their kind getting decimated, they'd just stay away. Some even seek to be tamed, in hopes to inherit some trickle down experience. All this to say, I had enough beasts blabbering in my head for favors. At least for now.
Reading the final profession skill, and the second 'rare' rarity one, I harbored conflicting feelings. Don't get me wrong, the sheer boost in percent damage was incredible, especially since percent boosts were something I was all too familiar with already. The problem isn't practicality per se, but more so my own morality. Its title alone carried rather heavy implications. 'Bestiary Hunter', didn't feel like a skill normally given to a beast tamer. To whatever awards these skills' credit, it wasn't like I hadn't exactly earned this sort of skill. I'd spent much of my time either slaying or subjugating beasts, outside of killing humanoids for territory.
Even then, every successful siege brought another bitter defense against insanely strong beasts that only grew in numbers and sheer might. In fact, one could argue tempering their populations as I had with the spiders that once resided near the Elysium, was a form of 'taming'. That same person would be coping, finding solace in delusions of psuedo-heroism committing blatantly selfish acts. In truth, I don't know where I stand in all that. All I knew for certain was that there were a lot of big, scary ass monsters that wanted us dead, and they were going to continue pursuing that want until they succeed or die trying.
Meaning, as badly as I feel taking a skill that improves the ability to kill beasts from a profession revolving around bridging the gap between man and beast kind, there wasn't a better option available. Not unless I didn't actually want to survive, or protect anyone I cared about. That included Steve.
*Congratulations! You've unlocked a new Profession Skill!
->
Bestiary Hunter (rare) - having accrued a taste for battle with nature's most exotic children, your pursuit for a wild mythical challenge has cultivated a particular skill set in dealing with inhuman opponents.
+12% damage against all beasts
Shame trickled down my throat, halting me from swallowing down the guilt of my selection. There simply wasn't a better choice available, especially with another pylon defense looming overhead tomorrow. We'd been cutting it too close, losing far too many to that damned Harpyja. That simply can't happen again. Though with that in mind, the skill was only meant to buy us time. At least enough to become self-sufficient immediately at every Pylon, not even Cassi would need to be present during a newly conquered area's Pylon defense. As of now, only Cassi's message from Barry delivered by way of flaming bird reassuring their comfort could convince me anyone was still alive at the Jaia Pylon. Not after what we had to deal with.
Shaking off the residual anxiety, my mind softened reading over my race skill option, hoping to find a solid first skill in that category to build off of. Unfortunately, my overall excitement over evolving my race dissipated reading over my options.
Conditioned Skin (common) - your anatomy has adapted to the demand of dangerous environments, healing stronger and stronger with every suffered injury. Such conditions have spurred man's skin to adapt, growing thicker to mitigate damage
+5 toughness
Evolved Vigor (common) - Nature's savage climates demand humanity to succumb further pain in order to earn its peace. You have only begun to answer its call.
+5 vitality
Ancestral Endurance (common) - humanity's greatest asset in its early stages was its capability for extended hunts, often tiring out larger game before pouncing.
+5 endurance
Man's Indomitable Spirit (common) - humanity has proven itself a pridefully spirited race, one renowned for its random displays of overcoming insurmountable odds powered only by their sheer will.
+5 willpower
Safe to say, my streak of badass skill options finally had come to a close. It only made sense I hadn't earned any better race options, if there even were any, considering how little I understood it in general. The fact it depended on Class and Profession levels muddied what it truly meant already, having no clear indication how to 'train' your race levels directly. The titles felt common enough, with concepts that were consistent with my basic understanding of man's capabilities anyhow.
As badly as I yearned to stop dumping free levels into my Willpower every level and finally balancing it with my wisdom stat as I'd sought out to, Conditioned Skin reminded me of a rather unfortunate weakness. My Toughness stat had become quite an eyesore, sitting exactly where it'd started at 12. Of course, my equipment boosts did add a little more to the stat, with a +2 from armor and a 10% boost from my Chosen Title. Though, if memory serves me correctly, I'd had that boost since day one after slaying those filthy necromancer rats.
Knowing the obvious 'correct' choice, I reluctantly selected Conditioned Skin, putting my Toughness at 17, just short of my 18 points in Vitality. Other than a rush of foreign energy traveling along my skin from head to toe sending a chill that halted at its apex and settled, the boost was relatively painless. Closing the menu, my hands thrusted forward barely stopping my momentum from walking headfirst into a metal wall. The wall echoed a blunt thump along its vibrating metal shell. Realizing I'd wandered to the backside of the barracks that looked more like a hanger than the mass sleeping quarters it was used for, my feet shuffled back toward the front entrance.
I'd rounded the corner when an armored figure bumped into me, my fingers pressed on blade sheaths before my eyes focused.
"Oh, Derrick! There you are, I haven't seen you since before the siege." I said, kneeling down to collect my discarded sheaths from the ground as I spoke.
"Yeah, got a little banged up dealing with a few beasts before we flanked those giants at their gateway. Had to take a spill for the beginning portion to let a few health potions do its thing." He explained casually.
"Oh damn, do health potions take a while to work?" I asked, having broken my supply with my pockets and neglecting ever replacing them. Felt like a waste until I could safely bring them with me.
"Well, not exactly. Drinking one will replenish whatever portion of health it's capable of in a few seconds. However, drinking two back to back won't provide any benefit. There's a cooldown of about 15 minutes between them based on my mental estimates." He explained as we walked into the barracks. Almost all of the beds were empty, as most of our soldiers were still busy with prisoner watch or seeking medical treatment. There were a few Porphynae giants tucked up in their large bunk, probably the few who were quick to abscond from their tribe to our cause.
"Is that just the rule for all potions?" I asked, fairly certain there had to be more than health potions if Alchemy was an entire Profession.
"I'm not sure. I'm just going off of what I've noticed, I augment runes not splash around in a cauldron." He joked, chuckling at his own humor.
"Alchemists have tiresome jobs feeding their soldiers their supply of potions I'm sure. Can't remember the last time I used a rune though." I snapped back. While my quickness to defend alchemist is due in part to knowing Terra, it wasn't unfair to point out either. I'd heard he leveled his Profession oh-so quickly, yet there hadn't been a single time I'd seen any utility in his 'job'.
"That's because Korbin didn't commission my work for you, or your men. My skill set was designated for bettering the Elysium. Whether that meant defensive structures that needed a powerful self sufficient power source, or augmenting builder tools to work more efficiently, my work proved vital." Derrick answered, maintaining his calm demeanor. To his credit, I had no clue the state of Savants Elysium at this point. There were few of us who'd ventured back since the conquest had begun, and even then they were there strictly for contract business.
"That's…fair. Sorry for snapping at you." I said, realizing how silly my outburst was.
"No worries, I take it you got an Alchemyst friend?" He asked, now stood outside the rows of bunk giant sized beds with his arms crossed. Clearly, he didn't mind continuing our dialogue, and I wasn't exactly excited to pass out early. Not with another Pylon defense waiting for me in the morning.
"Yeah, kind of." I answered, not entirely sure how to explain Terra and I'd friendship lightly.
"How do you 'kind of' know an alchemist?" Derrick asked, his face puzzled.
"Uh, I sort of killed her brother and a bunch of his friends to take their Pylon. Then I saved her, along with a few others. A few conversations later, I might've helped her out of a slump and she appreciated it. But, she got really manic before I left so, I don't know quite honestly." I answered, relief encompassing my mind having finally vocalized my conflicted feelings about Terra. Not like, feelings, I mean I literally don't know what to make of her. Whether we're friends, coworkers, or she's secretly plotting to be my assassin were all still equally feasible at this point.
"Ah, I see. 'Kind of' was actually fitting." Derrick remarked with a grin. I couldn't help but laugh hearing he too hadn't a clue what to make of the situation.
"Well, I'm not going to lie, I'm beat. Hitting Class level 7 in just a few days is far more draining than I remembered it being with my Profession." Derrick said, again rather casually. Though, this time it felt rather unfitting.
"I'm sorry, did you just say you're Class level 7 already? How in the fuck did you level that quickly?!" I asked, recalling he'd barely been with us a few days now. That kind of progress just felt untrue more than anything. Yet, Identify confirmed he told no tale and had indeed expedited his first 6 level ups.
"Yep, perks of fighting level 10+ beasts and giants I guess. It's a shame we don't have the time to spar today." He said, a devious smirk hidden under his feigned woes. He was clearly egging me on having accrued a little confidence from his quick progress.
"Tell you what, we deal with the Pylon defense tomorrow first. Depending on how we feel, you can come with me on a hunt. Hearing our attack was nearly thwarted by overconfident beasts concerns me, especially when we have places to be." I offered, hoping to find practicality in my pettiness. There was no way I wasn't going to blatantly show him up during our hunt. That is, if he's in well enough condition to join me anyway.
"I like that. Won't have to worry about accidentally hurting each other either. I'll see you in the morning, Captain. Good work today." Derrick said, patting my shoulder before heading back out to the settlement. Strange, I figured he was going to sleep considering he beat me here. Then again, he was leaving when I bumped into him, so maybe he was just claiming his bunk or something. In any case, my day was effectively over.
With no freedom to hunt, obligations to fulfill, nor anything worthwhile to hover about the settlement over, I tucked myself into a cozy top bunk in the back corner of the large hollow building. The blankets and pillows were lined with a rather soft fur I hadn't recognized based on its seemingly random color patterns. The only colors missing from were pink and orange, the rest of a full spectrum wrapped in uneven patterns and spots across the bedding.
Regardless of where it came from, the warmth was more than sufficient enough to quickly drift to sleep. While I wasn't particularly excited for another drawn out defense against unforeseeable variants of beasts, my day had been eventful enough. Better to soak in the little time I have to rest now while I can. Still, Father Leonard's vague final warning silently poked at my mind, his voice playing over and over in my head before fully falling asleep.
"No. She's coming. For all of us."