Delve

Rain woke to the pleasant sound of his alarm. Pleasant in comparison to having his eyes melted from his skull, that is. Rolling out of bed, he immediately activated purify to clean his teeth and empty his bladder. This is so awesome.

He had gone shopping in the afternoon the day before, securing a few essential items such as a belt, a waterskin, a flint and steel, a second-hand knife, and a coil of rope. The knife was in its sheath at his hip, the crude spear discarded now that it was no longer needed. Rain fully intended to rely on his refrigeration aura to fight now that the range was sufficient, the knife being more for utility than combat. It was a good backup, though Rain wasn’t sure it would be much use against anything that his aura couldn’t handle.

Today he was testing a theory. Pulling on his boots and grabbing his now slightly heavier pack, he rushed from the room. When he reached the quest hall, he went straight to the board. To his satisfaction, there was a selection of low-level quests available.

Thought so. They put them up overnight, and all the good ones go first thing. I've been spending too long lazing about in bed.

A quest in the bottom row with the sword icon and a picture of a tailless beaver-looking thing caught his eye. Snagging it, Rain brought it over to Gus. The portly man looked wide awake despite the early hour. Rain somehow wasn't the first to the counter and he had to wait, but soon enough he reached Gus and handed him the paper. Taking it, Gus nodded, then marked his plate number down in the ledger and grabbed a piece of paper. Consulting the ledger, he sketched Rain a crude map. The city was simply a circle with the guild marked near the east end. The river was shown, and Gus proceeded to draw an arrow from the guild out towards the river, following it upstream. He then drew a patch of trees and circled them, tapping the map with a finger.

Handing him the paper, Gus attempted to clarify, working laboriously around Rain’s limited vocabulary. Rain gathered that the creature, called a ‘Skiffun’, was damaging some trees outside of the city. It had been spotted by someone and reported to the guild. The bounty was 20 Tel, and the creature was level three or four. Rain jotted down some notes in his nice new leather-bound notebook, recording new words and their phonetic pronunciation moreso than details about the quest.

Satisfied that he knew what to do, Rain thanked Gus and retreated across the room towards a bench. He winced when he noticed the line that built up behind him at Gus's counter. It had taken quite a while to get the details of the quest right, Gus starting to look a bit annoyed towards the end. The adventurers waiting in line at the counter gave him dirty looks but didn't hassle him as he passed.

Quest secured, Rain pulled up his notifications to review yesterday’s progress now that he wasn’t in a rush.

Training Overview

General Experience Earned

Stamina Use: 30

Mana Use: 175

Skill Experience Earned

Refrigerate: 21

Extend Aura: 15

Purify: 130

Winter: 9

Intrinsic Clarity: 175 [Rank Up]

Attributes

Richmond Rain Stroudwater

Level 4

Experience: 536/700

Unclassed

Health

200

Stamina

200

Mana

200

Strength

10

Recovery

10

Endurance

10

Vigor

10

Focus

10

Clarity

60

Free Stat Points

0

Statistics

Total

Base

Modifier

Health

200

200

0 | 0%

H.Regen

100/day

100/day

0 | 0%

Stamina

200

200

0 | 0%

S.Regen

100/day

100/day

0 | 0%

Mana

200

200

0 | 0%

M.Regen

37.5/hr

35/hr

-1/hr | 10%

Movement Speed

10

Perception

10

Resistances

Heat

Cold

Light

Dark

1 | 0%

1 | 0%

1 | 0%

1 | 0%

Force

Arcane

Mental

Chemical

1 | 0%

1 | 0%

1 | 0%

1 | 0%

Skills

Refrigerate (2/10) Exp: 104/200

15-17 cold (fcs) damage per second to entities and environment

Sufficient damage causes slow

Range: 2 meters

Cost: 10 mp/s

Extend Aura (1/10) Exp: 60/100

Extend aura range by 1 meter

Multiply aura mana cost by 120%

Purify (2/10) Exp: 164/200

Purify poison, corruption, and contamination

Range: 2 meters

Cost: 20 mp/min

Winter (1/10) Exp: 20/100

Multiply M.Regen by 110% for all entities

Range: 1 meter

Cost: 1 mp/hr

Intrinsic Clarity (2/10) Exp: 75/200

Multiply base mana regeneration by 140%

Free Skill Points: 0

Nice! Ranked up intrinsic clarity, and now it gives another 20% regeneration. Looks like it got a ton of experience without me doing anything special. Must be passive based on mana regeneration or something. The more mana I use, the faster it will level! I knew I was right about this build!

Selecting winter and maximizing the range, Rain set out, seeing no reason to wait around in the guild. He would eat on the road once he made it out of the city. He wasn't sure how long he would have to hike to reach the copse of trees, so he decided to start early.

The city was just starting to wake up as he exited the gates, passing by a pair of armored guards with bronze plates stamped with the shield emblem. His guess was that they belonged to some sort of guard or militia and that the plates marked rank, just like they did for the adventurers’ guild. Idly, Rain wondered if there were other guilds too, such as a wizards’ guild or a thieves’ guild. The thieves in the city probably don’t use bronze plates to identify themselves. That would be pretty stupid.

The walk to the grove was pleasant in the crisp morning air. Much better than traipsing through the sewers. Rain occasionally activated purify to use up a bit of mana and level his skills, but he was careful to keep plenty left in his tank should anything jump out and attack him. The area was patrolled, so he felt safe enough, but there was no harm in a little caution.

The river road was largely deserted, but he did see an occasional traveler other than the infrequent mounted patrols. There weren’t any farms out here; instead, the road seemed to be leading into some hills. However, before he reached the hills proper, he spotted the grove off to one side of the road. It was not a full forest by any means, but it was big enough to get lost in. He left the road and headed for it cautiously.

The hunt for the Skiffun was less pleasant than the walk along the river. Rain spent the rest of the morning and a good part of the afternoon hunting through the trees looking for the beast. It wasn't a large patch of woodland, but it wasn't small either, and the underbrush was quite thick. Eventually, he found a tree that looked like it had been gnawed down to the stump. There was another similar tree off in the distance, and he proceeded to follow the trail of damage to the den of the beast.

The fight with the overgrown rodent was.... anticlimactic. The beast was about twice the size of a normal beaver, but it was slow, and it hadn't been able to get anywhere near Rain as he froze it with his refrigeration aura at maximum range. It took nearly all of his mana, but he managed to kill it without it even touching him. He almost felt bad, but the way the creature had immediately leaped to attack him with its gigantic teeth had settled his moral issue, turning it into kill-or-be-killed.

He delayed checking his kill notification until after he finished making a horrible mess of skinning and cleaning the Skiffun. He had only tried because he was hungry and thought the pelt might have been worth something. He also built a small fire and skewered a slab of meat over it to roast, hoping that his stomach would have recovered enough by the time it was done. Removing the Skiffun’s intestines had been particularly upsetting.

I still feel kind of bad for killing the little guy, but I can at least make it so the meat doesn’t go to waste.

Sitting back to let his meal cook, Rain pulled up his notification log to see how much experience the fight had gotten him.

You have defeated [Skiffun], Level 4

182 Experience Earned

[Level Up]

Class Selection Unlocked

The level up was expected, but the line about class selection was a bit of a surprise.

I guess I'm about to learn what that whole ‘unclassed’ thing on my attributes page was all about.

Opening his attributes panel with anticipation, Rain saw that there was a (+) next to his ‘Unclassed’ status. Pressing it, he was greeted with a new panel.

Select a Class

Worker (+)

Common

Primary Requirements

None

Effects

50% boost to non-combat skills

Notes

Warning: Experience may no longer be gained through combat

Warrior

Common

Primary Requirements

Strength greater than Endurance and Focus

Secondary Requirements

At least 10 kills by physical means

Effects

50% boost to the effects of Strength

Mage

Common

Primary Requirements

Focus greater than Strength and Endurance

Secondary Requirements

At least 10 kills by magical means

Effects

50% boost to the effects of Focus

Defender

Common

Primary Requirements

Endurance greater than Strength and Focus

Secondary Requirements

Absorb at least 1,000 total points of damage

Effects

50% boost to the effects of Endurance

Jack

Uncommon

Primary Requirements

Strength, Endurance, and Focus equal

Secondary Requirements

At least 5 kills by physical means

At least 5 kills by magical means

Absorb at least 500 total points of damage

Effects

40% boost to the effects of Strength, Endurance, and Focus

Notes

Hidden class, revealed by meeting primary requirements

Dynamo (+)

Rare

Primary Requirements

Clarity at least 5 times greater than Focus

Secondary Requirements

Recover at least 1,000 total points of mana

Effects

200% boost to the effects of Clarity

Notes

Warning: Rare classes have higher experience requirements for progression

Hidden class, revealed by meeting primary requirements

After taking his time reading through the panel, Rain felt like the choice was obvious.

Jack gives a 40% boost to three attributes, so a total of 120%. That is a straight upgrade over warrior, mage, and defender. Dynamo wins hands down with the massive 200% boost to clarity, which is the stat that I actually have. What the heck does a ‘higher experience requirement’ mean? How much higher? Still, with the boost to clarity, I should get a ton more experience to make up for it.

Rain only debated for few more seconds, then grinned and selected Dynamo.

Ha, as if I'd pick worker. I could try to meet the other requirements for Jack, but...no.

The menu disappeared, leaving Rain back at his status screen. He invested his 10 free points in clarity but didn't apply them yet, pausing to review the changes.

Attributes

Richmond Rain Stroudwater

Level 5

Experience: 18/2022

Dynamo

Health

200

Stamina

200

Mana

200

Strength

10

Recovery

10

Endurance

10

Vigor

10

Focus

10

Clarity

70

Free Stat Points

0

Statistics

Total

Base

Modifier

Health

200

200

0 | 0%

H.Regen

100/day

100/day

0 | 0%

Stamina

200

200

0 | 0%

S.Regen

100/day

100/day

0 | 0%

Mana

200

200

0 | 0%

M.Regen

134/hr

123/hr

-1/hr | 10%

Movement Speed

10

Perception

10

Resistances

Heat

Cold

Light

Dark

1 | 0%

1 | 0%

1 | 0%

1 | 0%

Force

Arcane

Mental

Chemical

1 | 0%

1 | 0%

1 | 0%

1 | 0%

Now we are talking! I can recover to full in around an hour and a half, up from two days when I started! I still can't leave my attack aura on 24-7. Nowhere close. Should I really try for that? I'm starting to get a bit concerned at my low health pool. A few points in strength could go a long way... No, not yet. I'll just have to be extra careful. More mana regen means I can use my skills more, which means they will level faster. I'll stick it out to 100 clarity at least.

His plan set, Rain applied his points and then pulled up his skills to consider what to do with his skill point.

If I want to level up winter, I need to be able to pump more mana into it. Extend helps, I think. I wonder if I can use amplify at the same time? Do they add, or multiply? Either way, looks like something I'd want eventually, so I might as well take it. There, done.

Skills

Refrigerate (2/10) Exp: 104/200

15-17 cold (fcs) damage per second to entities and environment

Sufficient damage causes slow

Range: 2 meters

Cost: 10 mp/s

Extend Aura (1/10) Exp: 60/100

Extend aura range by 1 meter

Multiply aura mana cost by 120%

Purify (2/10) Exp: 164/200

Purify poison, corruption, and contamination

Range: 2 meters

Cost: 20 mp/min

Winter (1/10) Exp: 20/100

Multiply M.Regen by 110% for all entities

Range: 1 meter

Cost: 1 mp/hr

Intrinsic Clarity (2/10) Exp: 75/200

Multiply base mana regeneration by 140%

Amplify Aura (1/10) Exp: 0/100

Multiply aura intensity by 110%

Multiply aura mana cost by 120%

Free Skill Points: 0

Rain closed out the menu. Already running winter in the background, he focused on the skill, trying to amplify the effect. It took him a minute, but he soon figured out how to apply the effects of amplify and extend at the same time. It wasn't as simple as just pumping more mana into the spell. By focusing on what he wanted, power or range, he could select one or both to activate. It was an unfamiliar sensation, but he knew it would become second nature in time. Winter was already starting to feel that way, with him needing less and less attention to maintain it. He played around with the skill a bit more, pulling open his statistics panel to check the numbers.

Up to 135/hr with amplify alone. Doesn't help much. Yet. And the cost multiplies, so it uses 1.44 per hour with both amplify and extend active.

Deciding to take his new resolution to be careful to heart, Rain closed out of all of his menus and kept watch over the edge of his campsite while he waited for the meat to cook. He didn't think it was likely that something big like the musk wolf would be around, not with him being in range of the city's patrols. Nonetheless, he kept a careful watch as he rested.

He wanted to test out amplify on his other auras but forced himself to wait as his mana regenerated. After a while, the meat over the fire was starting to burn, so he took it off and eyed it skeptically. Figuring that overcooked was better than undercooked, he took a hesitant bite. As the meat met his tongue he immediately choked and spluttered at the aggressively pungent flavor that assailed his taste buds. He ejected the meat from his mouth in a spray of saliva and dove for his waterskin.

Gah! What the shit?! It tastes worse than a slime! How is that even possible?

Belatedly, Rain remembered his purification aura could deal with this sort of thing, so he activated it, using amplify to quicken the effect slightly. The oily taste in his mouth seemed resistant to the aura, but it did begin to fade. Rain canceled the aura after around a minute once all trace of the flavor had been scoured from his mouth.

No eating monsters. Anton was right; Hegar was an idiot for trying to cook that musk wolf. Blech, that was awful.

Rain angrily kicked the fallen piece of meat into the fire and started packing up. He scraped at the tattered Skiffun hide with his knife to remove the last bits of flesh. He then blasted it with purify for a couple minutes, leaving it looking clean, if a bit ragged from his amateur attempt at skinning.

I'm never doing that again, not even if this dang fur is worth 10 Tel. I'm not a fan of fur coats, even if they are made from murder beavers. It might be a different world, but I am sure as hell not going to start clubbing baby seals.

Once it was clean enough, Rain tucked the fur into his pack, then turned to the fire. He tried an amplified refrigerate, but the ring of frost didn't even make it all the way to the flames before losing to the heat. He canceled it once he saw that it wasn't working and that his mana was starting to drop too low for his comfort. He kicked dirt onto the flames instead until they went out, then started pushing back through the brush towards the road.

He slowly made his way back to the city, draining his mana by alternating purify and refrigerate when it got close to full. He was being careful not to use his skills while there were other travelers in sight and also making sure not to let his mana drop below a quarter. Reaching the city as the sun was starting to go down, he approached the guards at the gate. With the armor masking their faces, he couldn't tell if it was the same pair that had been there when he left. They waved him through when he showed his adventurer's plate though they didn't seem happy about it for some reason.

Rain dragged his aching feet to the guild to turn in his quest. Gus wasn't there, so he instead went to a line staffed by the old man who had guided him to the bunk-room on his very first night in the guild. The quest was accepted and he was paid his 20 Tel, but he had needed to show the man the fur as proof that he had killed the beast. The guild refused to buy the pelt, but Rain was happy that it hadn't been totally worthless to bring along.

Feeling rich, Rain made his way to the tavern for meat and mead. Now safe in the guild, he was a bit freer with his mana, blasting passers-by with full-powered purification. This was met with mild alarm followed by confusion, the effect of the aura being pretty subtle if you weren't covered in excrement. Still, Rain felt no need to experience the scent of medieval hygiene if he didn't have to.

He enjoyed his supper, then spent the evening in the tavern, trying to hold a conversation with the group that had gathered around him once they caught on to the effect of his white aura. Looks like I'm pretty popular, Rain thought, looking at the clean faces of his admirers. Nah, they just love me for my aura.

Eventually, everyone in the tavern had gotten a good cleaning as well as several of the tables and a good section of the floor. Rain had learned a bunch of new words, taking copious notes in his notebook with the adventurers even filling in the written forms of a few things for him. By the time Khurt came over to kick everyone out or get them to cough up for the bunk room, Rain was dead tired. He paid his two Tel and decided to call it a night, relieved at his much improved financial situation.