Chapter 14: Finally, a useful ability. Fork no longer?

(POV Ferdinand)

I watch as Richard looks through the eyeglass at the ship on the horizon. As he drops it in shock, turns and roars at his crew to pursue it. He turns to me, almost as an afterthought, and apologises.

“I’m sorry this happened while you are on board, lad. But it’s likely there’s going to be a fight in a bit. Best if you stay below decks for a while.”

I stand rooted in place for a second, then slowly turn to walk to my bunk in the ship. This was just a normal fishing trip a minute ago, why did it have to turn into a battle again?

I look out from one of the thick windows in the hull as we drift over the waves, going far faster than we had been before. The ship on horizon increases in size as we move towards it, every wave our ship crests bringing us one step closer to combat.

‘So, why are we heading towards another ship? I thought this was a fishing trip?’

Gerald’s voice pops into my mind suddenly, his light-hearted voice only worsening my grim mood.

‘I don’t know’ I say sadly, ‘but it looks like we’ll be fighting it. Or rather, the others will.’

‘Oh.’ He said, then says nothing for a short while, making me wonder if he is still there. Then his voice comes back, and it is considerably more serious.

‘You might want to know that many of the things on that ship aren’t humanoids, then?’

‘They aren’t human…oids?’

‘They don’t look anything like a human. Lots of things with more than two arms or legs, or both. A few blobs, a few tiny things… And that’s not even counting all the tails and horns I’m seeing here. Heck, there’s only one thing on that ship that looks normal.’

If that’s the case… ‘If that’s the case, Richard needs to know immediately!’

I get up from the window, quickly moving towards the stairs to the deck. Gerald’s voice comes again as I go.

‘Woah there, how are you going to explain knowing this?’

He has a point, but I can’t just not warn a friend about something like this. I struggle for a moment to think up a suitable solution, then realise that I don’t have to.

‘If they all die because they don’t know this, we will die along with them. What point would caution have then?’

‘You’re right, but stop anyway. I’ll tell him with telepathy. That way, at least, he won’t know where to start looking.’

It’s a reasonable suggestion, and besides. Gerald knows more than I could tell them. He speaks again.

‘He’s the one at the steering wheel, right?’

‘Right.’ I think back.

Then he is gone again, leaving me to wonder what I should do now. I go back to the window, peering through it at the approaching ship. It’s close enough now that I can see the sails and rigging.

Strangely, I can’t see any figures moving about. It’s as if it’s a ghost ship.

I shiver at the thought. That wasn’t one of those jinxes, was it?

‘Alright, I’m done. He was surprisingly talkative, for someone so angry.’ Gerald’s voice comes out of nowhere again. I’ll never get used to that.

‘Angry?’ I think in reply. Why would he be angry?

‘Yeah, angry. Not at me, but I could feel it from him as he talked. He was incredibly angry… and even more sad. You have any idea why that would be?’

How strange. I thought this is just some pirate ship, but now it looks like it might be something else.

‘No, he was perfectly fine before that ship showed up. I’ve no clue why he would be like that.’

Distracted, I look out the window. And see the first cannonball come speeding towards me.

(POV Gerald)

Now, first thing I should mention…

This ship is forking awesome. Whatever it’s made of, it has a LOT of mana in it. Not only that, there are some badass spell formations all over the hull. How do I know that they’re spell formations?

I dunno, they’re magic and they’re circles and have all this neat cursive script n’ stuff. Not much else they could be.

Then that cannonball sped towards Ferdinand. I must admit, I freaked out a bit there. I could protect myself from that, but anybody else is way outside my abilities.

So, I was pretty darn glad when the ball just bounced off the window. I think Ferdinand almost fainted. Don’t blame him, we both thought he was dead meat there.

And honestly, there was pretty much nadda I could contribute to this combat besides that bit of info I gave the captain of the ship.

Which suuuucks!

I really need to get some long-range attacks. Like, y’know, some magic. Or perhaps some magic. Magic might be nice too.

Just give me magic already, will ya?

Looks like combat has broken out now. I mean, duh, cannons have been fired already.

But now people are jumping from deck to deck, whacking each other with their weapons – which I can actually see this time. Yay.

Must be made of mithril or something.

Still, at the speeds they are going, I can’t even see their fights. Perhaps I should distribute a few more points into dexterity?

Eh, another level is still a bit off.

I enjoyed what little I could see, however. In fact, I was so engrossed that I barely noticed Ferdinand wandering up the stairs.

“Are you suicidal?” I ask him.

“What? No.” He sounds confused.

“Then why are you wandering into a battlefield that’s probably entirely populated with people that are at higher levels than you?” I ask.

“The battle is finished, right?” Now he sounds even more confused, which makes me confused.

“No, everyone’s still fighting.”

“I can’t hear anything, or see anything out the window.” He says uncertainly.

I sigh internally. “And I can see everything. They’re still fighting.”

Talking about fighting…

“You should get away from the stairs. Like, now.”

He’s confused, but he backs up quick enough. Something is dripping down the stairs, falling into a puddle below them.

Now, normally I would think this is just blood or water, but that stuff doesn’t have this concentration of mana.

Also, they don’t stick together like some sort of slime.

Apparently, Ferdinand here still hasn’t noticed anything, so I tell him that there’s an enemy a few meters in front of him. That makes him get out his weapon real fast.

“It’s some sort of slime, a sword isn’t going to cut it. Literally.” I tell him, unintentionally making a pun half-way through.

“All right, I’ll try throwing you at it again then…”

Now he’s getting it!

The puddle below the stairs wobbles and draws itself up into a vaguely human shape, walking through the stairs as if they aren’t even there.

Then Ferdinand hurls me right at its head.

Nice shot, man.

Sadly, the slime just reforms its head to leave a massive gap in my path of travel.

Crap.

I land on the floor boards behind it, and it starts walking towards Ferdinand. I suppose he’s currently trying to slash at it, but it just keeps changing its shape, the blade completely unable to touch it. I think.

Meanwhile, here I am on the floor, trying to get a hang of moving around with ki blasts. Even a small amount of ki, say 5, can make me move around a small amount.

I try increasing my next attempt by a small amount.

All of a sudden, I’m speeding towards the slime, sinking slowly into its head. I can feel the strange, viscous substance that its body is made up of moulding around me, exerting a light pressure. This is weird.

I must have really surprised the thing, because it takes a second before it starts trying to dissolve me. Being mithril, I’m quite resistant against acid, but it’s still doing some damage.

Then, I flip on absorb, and the thing’s head disappears.

Y’know, I only remembered recently, but my absorb skill’s range scales with INT and WIS. As it is right now, my range is sitting at a neat 19 and a half centimetres. What this meant is that, provided I am in the center of it, I can absorb a whole basketball in one go.

Not that I will ever do that.

But now that I’m in mid-air, good ol’ gravity comes along to help me out, and I start falling.

As I fall, I continue absorbing the gelatinous… stuff that the body of this peculiar creature is composed of. When nearing the floor, I hurriedly retract the absorption skill from below me.

I don’t want to leave some strange hole in the ship.

When I hit the deck, I can just imagine the light ‘clink’ sound I’m making, and the expression on Ferdinand’s face.

There is a bit of goo splattered around the floor, remnants outside my range of absorption. But it’s definitely dead.

And… Holy crap. I got something awesome. Wait, multiple awesomes!

LVL 34 Mimic slime killed

Experience gained: 252.5

Fluid of LVL 34 Mimic slime absorbed

Experience gained: 5050

Durability recovered: 0.31 (Exceeds maximum durability, reducing to 0)

Skill proficiency increased: Absorb 0.21%, Mana sight 62.38% (Exceeds 100%, reduced to 43.29%)

Skills gained: Mana sight (Expert), form manipulation - Self (Basic)

Traits gained: None

Level up! You are now level 29

4 Stat points gained

Well stick me in cereal and call me a spoon, I think it’s my lucky day.

Finally, through the use of form manipulation – self, I can transform myself into the true master race of cutlery – a spork.

HAHAHAha…ha…

Maybe not. But perhaps even more useful is the upgrade to mana sight. 3. 2. 1.

The world explodes into HD.

Now that’s what I’m talking about! It’s no substitute for true colour vision, but I can now see with approximately the vision of someone who is completely colour blind.

Can a person be completely colour blind? Eh, you know what I mean.

That being said, I can finally look at people’s faces. A whole heap of other things too, but faces are important. So, I take a glance over at Ferdinand, who is currently looking at me with eyes and mouth open wide.

Hey… is it just me, or is he actually… I know this may sound weird, being a genderless sentient fork who sexually identifies as a straight male, but I think he may be reasonably… handsome?

Eh, since when have I cared about other people’s looks anyway.

Another thing I notice is that I can now see tiny specks of mana drifting around in the air. I can see individual drops of water, the grain of wood… and hey, I can see Ferdinand’s sword now.

Oh, how I missed this clarity.

More importantly, with these four stat points, my WIS and INT are sitting at a nice even 45. Sweet.

Now, details of these skills, you say? Don’t mind if I do.

Mana sight (Expert) (Low Unique, Passive/toggled) 0.00% - You are capable of seeing smaller congregations of mana than before within (Intelligence*Wisdom)/1.75m. Their forms are now distinct. You can now differentiate mana by type.

Let me see here… 1.12km. Okay then.

Feeling a bit overwhelmed at that number, I just open up the next one.

Form manipulation – Self (Basic) (High Rare, Active) 0.00% - Through the use of mana, you can manipulate your own form at will, albeit slowly and roughly. Cannot change density or mass. Costs 5 mana/second while changing form, costs 10 mana/minute while in a form not your original.

WARNING! Do not use this ability if you are of a race with aspects that could result in death if you were to change them E.G. internal organs, mana pathways, et cetera.

Yeah, let me just manipulate my brain to make it bigger – How stupid do you think I am!?

I don’t have a brain, though.

Let’s take this baby for a test drive, shall we?

Activating the skill, I strive to mould myself into my desired form.

It’s unlike anything I have ever felt before – but just the sensation of being able to just move something after so long gives me an inexplicable sense of bliss.

It isn’t like stretching an arm or a leg, and I can’t exactly feel it, per se. No, it’s more like my existence itself is stretching. Like, if you close your eyes and put your hand near your face, you can still tell how far away it is. That, is stretching, and boy does it feel strange.

I only have three good minutes of this in me, so I try to hurry it up.

It isn’t very successful. It feels as if I’m moving treacle – it’s moving, but it’s not fast. Still, treacle speed is better than solid metal speed. And eventually, I transfork into… a slightly misshapen knife with a thin blade.

There isn’t much of me, after all. Underweight is an understatement. Not much I can change into. Still, just looking at this ability is enough to kick my imagination into hyperdrive.

But things like that are best left for later. At the current consumption of this skill, coupled with my regeneration, I’m losing 1 mana a minute. With the 300-odd mana I lost just there, that gives me 10 hours.

I think that should suffice for a battle or two.

(POV Richard)

My harpoon embeds itself into the black heart of another demon, its infernal wail cut short as it starts coughing blood.

The coughs shortly turns to mad laughter as it grabs the length of my harpoon, pulling itself closer to me as its red eyes glow with rage.

“You think I didn’t know you had two hearts, foul one?” I say, one hand dropping to my waist and retrieving the knife I keep there, before stabbing it up into the other side of its chest.

It draws one final pained breath, uttering its last words. “I… Curse… you…”

Black blood streamed from the deep wounds upon its body, writhing towards me and imprinting evil patterns on my skin. I feel my strength and stamina being sapped away… before it returns in a surge.

A golden ring on my hand glints slightly as I fall through the air towards the deck of the enemy ship. I knew buying this ring of weak curse immunity would pay off one day!

…But I never expected it to be here. Demons and monsters, this close to human lands? Are those young fools slacking off on the patrols again? Bloody idiots. Don’t they know that even if there hasn’t been an incident in a decade, it doesn’t mean there won’t be one tomorrow!

Landing heavily on the deck, the boards break beneath my feet, for the second time this battle. There was one enemy that managed to slip through to our ship, so I went back, but it was already taken care of before I got there. So I came straight back, nailing a passing demon as I went.

Half a dozen enemies surround me, already closing in and swinging weapons. Before they can get close to me, I lift my head to the sky and let loose a roar that blasts across the battlefield, even causing the surface of the water to churn. It sounds as if the waves and beasts of the sea themselves are roaring with me.

Voice of the Ocean!

Fighting spirit + 10

Demon and monster alike are sent stumbling back – and those are just the ones at the opposite end of this ship. The ones near me have collapsed with ears leaking blood, if they have them.

Meanwhile, my men have received a boost in fighting spirit and strength for a short time.

With ease, I dispatch those around me, and stride off deeper into the ship.

Who dares use the face of my son? WHO DARES BLASPHEME HIS MEMORY?

Fighting spirit + 20

That bastard had fled below decks as soon as combat started, and nobody had seen him since. I’m about to make sure nobody sees him ever again.

Striding through the corridors, I feel for the locations of enemies below me.

Rarely am I so enraged that I can use this skill, sense hostiles. It allows me to feel the position of anything that wishes me, or those in a party with me, harm within 100 metres.

I use it to find him. He’s the only enemy left below decks now. This position should be… the hold.

With the amount of ships I’ve been on, it doesn’t take me long to find it. I step cautiously – sense hostiles can’t detect traps.

When I enter, I can’t help but gag for a moment at the smell. Bloody monsters.

Fighting spirit + 20

The hold is littered with corpses of various races. At a glance, I can spot humans, elves, dwarves, halflings, lizardmen… the list goes on.

Not one of the corpses are intact.

I begin stepping in-between broken limbs and limp bodies. Avoiding the pools of blood is impossible, and my boots are gradually bathed in gore as I walk.

A red glow comes from ahead. An archway of twisted bodies has been erected on a pile of corpses, and demonic runes are scrawled across their skin.

An ominous portal twists darkly within the arch. In front of it stands the one with the face of my son, standing on the blank face of a dead man as he looks at me, smiling gently.

Seeing my son’s face again, his smile… In any other place it would bring a tear to my eye. Here, surrounded by death and cruelty, it just brings a chill to my spine.

“Hello again.” It said. “it’s been a long time. However, I’m afraid…” He turns around, walking towards the portal. “I really must be leaving now.”

It waves a hand in farewell.

Fighting spirit +20

My vision shakes, washed red in fury. Without a word, I hurl my harpoon at him. But in a whirl, the portal, and him with it, is gone.

My harpoon pierces through the hull of the ship and out into the water, slicing a trail of waves as it speeds off into the distance.

It comes back held in the mouth of a sea dragon. Gripping the edges of the hole I tear into the hull, I wrenching open a path with a mighty crack.

Taking my weapon back, I sit upon the scaly torso of the dragon.

“Let’s go back, Nevu.”

Despite being just a child, it’s more than strong enough to carry me along as it slithers along the surface of the water.

Behind us, the hole I left from flickered with flames, which spreads slowly but surely along the ship.

It’s all I could do to lay their troubled souls to rest.

Gerald: Dagger? Fork? Fogger?

Status

Name: Gerald

Race: Living Fork

Level: 29

Experience: 3841.03/6000

Gender: None

Age: 10 months (local time)

Allegiance: None

Fame: None

Strength: 6.5 (65.0)

Intelligence: 46.0

Dexterity: 5.0

Wisdom: 46.5

Charisma: 6.0

Luck: 12.1

Hardness: 25.2

Durability: 16.8/16.8

Mana: 920/920

Mana regen: 9.30/min

Psi: 465/465

Psi regen: 4.60/min

Ki: 2790/3022 (30225)

Ki regen: 3.02 (30.22)/day

Unspent stat points: 0

Titles*

Living – You are a living being, and as such, the energies of life heal you and the energies of death damage you.

-Trait: Average life energy absorption -Trait: Average death energy weakness

-Trait: minute life affinity -Trait: negative minute death affinity

Progenitor – The first of your species, and its forefather. Your reputation affects the reputation of your entire race.

-Trait: Minor fame gain enhancement -Trait: 50% of your fame is added to the fame of your race

Household object: Being an everyday, household object makes other beings less likely to notice you and mention you to others.

-Trait: Small fame gain reduction -Trait: Small presence reduction

Assumed inanimacy – Despite being a living entity and continually in the presence of other living entities, none have noticed your existence, assuming you to be an inanimate object. People are slightly less likely to notice you and less likely to notice your life energy.

-Trait: Minor presence reduction -Trait: Moderate life presence reduction

Fork – You are a fork. As such, you are designed to pierce, scoop and carry food.

-Trait: Minute taste enhancement -Trait: Minute piercing enhancement (restricted to food)

-Trait: Minute carry capacity increase (Restricted to food)

Second life – You have lived, and died, once before. While you died young, the experience nonetheless is an advantage over others. -Stats: Wisdom + 1, Intelligence + 2

Clinically sane - You have experienced insanity and overcome it, one way or another. The experience has changed you, for better or worse.

-Stats: Luck +5, Wisdom +1, Dexterity +0.5, Strength +0.5, Intelligence +1

Ouroboros – Like the serpent of legend, you bit your own tail. Then you ate it. Weirdo.

Stat – Luck +2, Charisma +1, Wisdom -1, Wisdom +2

Traits*

Life energy absorption (Average) – life energy heals you, causing you to regain durability.

Death energy weakness (Average) – death energy damages you, reducing your durability.

Life affinity (Minute) – You find it easier to gain life related skills and proficiencies than if you did not have this trait.

Negative death affinity (Minute) – You find it harder to gain death related skills and proficiencies than if you did not have this trait.

Fame gain reduction (Minor) – The amount of fame you gain is reduced.

Presence reduction (Small +1) – Others are less likely to notice you.

50% Fame added to racial fame – The fame of your race is equal to 50% of your fame plus the added fame of all other members of the species divided by the number of members in your species.

Life presence reduction (Moderate) – Others are less likely to notice that you are alive.

Taste enhancement (Minute) – All food that touches you tastes slightly better.

Piercing enhancement (Minute) (Restricted to food) – It is slightly easier for you to pierce food.

Carry capacity enhancement (Minute) (Restricted to food) – You can carry slightly more food than appearances would suggest.

Mana touched (Minor) – Mana permeates your body, changing it in some ways.

Herculean Strength (Large) – In possession of the ability to exert strength far beyond that of your peers. Multiplies base strength (Before using passive or active skills) by 10.

Structured sanity (Moderate) – a well-structured mind is a strong mind. You are resistant to mind affecting or altering affects, such as fear, charm and hypnosis.

Magic metal – You have gained the properties of the magic metal, Mithril. Your body conducts mana at twice the normal rate. Your passive mana absorption is doubled. Your maximum mana is now equal to Intelligence multiplied by 20 instead of Intelligence multiplied by 10. Your maximum durability is increased by your maximum mana divided by 100. Your hardness is increased by max mana divided by 100.

Psychic – You have unlocked the hidden potential of your mind. Stat unlock: psi.

Poison Resistance (Huge) – You are completely immune to weak and ordinary poisons. The effects of more potent poisons on you are greatly reduced.

Flea-bitten (Minor) – Fleas instinctively move towards you.

Physical damage reduction (Minute) – Damage taken that would do under 5% of your total durability as damage is reduced by 5%.

Ki Practitioner: You have gained the ability to control the energy within you, and to reinforce it with the energy around you, enabling you to perform far beyond the normal limits of your body.

Stat unlock: Ki.

Water-Proof (Minor) – Water, and many water based fluids, will slip from your surface with great ease.

Feather-weight (Minute) – You feel light as a feather. A feather that weighs slightly less than you originally did, that is. 1% weight reduction.

Skills*

Absorb (Advanced) (Racial, Low Unique) 18.23% - Allows the absorption of energy, or substances through the surface of the body or at a distance of (Int*Wis)/10mm. Rate of absorption can be controlled. Although this ability is magical in nature, as it is a form of mana control, and mana is also absorbed, mana cost is 0. Currently the only form of energy able to be absorbed is mana. Absorbing substances has a minor chance of giving traits, abilities and skills relating to the substance.

Mana sight (Expert) (Low Unique, Passive/toggled) 0.00% - You are capable of seeing smaller congregations of mana than before within (Intelligence*Wisdom)/1.75m. Their forms are now distinct. You can now differentiate mana by type.

Self-repair (Master) (Low Unique, Active) 10.86% - By expending a type of energy available to you, you can repair your own durability and recover your original form. Current energies able to be used: Mana, Psi, Ki. Exchange ratio: 5 mana: 0.1 durability, 10 Psi: 0.1 durability, 10 Ki: 0.1 durability.

Telepathy (Advanced) (High Rare, Active) 7.43% - Allows one to communicate with other beings in exchange for 0.5 Psi/sec*distance between user and target in meters, to a maximum range of (Wisdom*Intelligence)/5m. Allows the user to share emotions and thoughts with the recipient.

Body of deadly poison (Basic) (High rare, Passive) 13.63% – Deadly poison courses throughout your entire body. So potent is this poison that even touching you will cause great sickness and partial paralysis for a short period of time. Potency of poison scales a small amount with proficiency.

Flee (Basic) (Low Uncommon, Passive/Conditional) 0.00% - Multiplies base dexterity by 1.5 when running away from something. Will deactivate if offensive action is taken. Will not activate if you do not perceive the thing you are running away from as a threat.

Body of weak acid (Basic) (Low Uncommon, Passive) 7.27% - A weak acid courses throughout your body and on your skin. So weak is this acid that it acts better as a cleaning agent than a weapon. Acidity scales minutely with proficiency.

Magic edge (Basic) (Low Uncommon, Passive) 0.10% – You have discovered how to clad the edge of your blade in magic power, increasing the power of your strikes. However, you have little experience, and as such use most of your mana in a single powerful attack.

Gaming – Minesweeper (Expert) (Mid rare, passive) 13.24% - You’ve sunk way too much time into this game. And despite the statistics saying 0 wins, 306 losses, you are way better at this than almost everyone else. Slightly increased analytical abilities. Slight instinctive ability to correctly guess the outcome of a 50/50 gamble.

Meditation (Advanced) (Mid Rare, Active) 88.31%: Enter into a state unburdened by the worries of the physical world. There is only you, and your thoughts that exist in this world. While in this state, mana regeneration multiplied by 2, Psi regeneration multiplied by 2, Ki generated at 15 times the normal rate.

Ki blast (Basic) (Low Rare, Active) 3.28%: Expel Ki from your body in a concentrated blast. Power varies with ki infused. With your lack of experience, you are not able to accurately control the amount of ki you infuse into the skill, it may vary by up to 20 points.

Form manipulation – Self (Basic) (High Rare, Active) 2.46% - Through the use of mana, you can manipulate your own form at will, albeit slowly and roughly. Cannot change density or mass. Costs 5 mana/second while changing form, costs 10 mana/minute while in a form not your original.

WARNING! Do not use this ability if you are of a race with aspects that could result in death if you were to change them E.G. internal organs, mana pathways, et cetera.

Ferdinand: Has a shiny new dagger, and isn't sure what to make of it.

Status

Name: Ferdinand

Race: Human

Level: 24

Experience 4016.83/4500

Gender: Male

Age: 23 years

Allegiance: None

Fame: None

Strength: 38.1

Intelligence: 8.1

Dexterity: 34.7

Wisdom: 8.0

Charisma: 8.0

Luck: 37.8

Endurance: 30.4

Health: 304/304

Health regen: 1.824/hour

Stamina: 347/347

Stamina regen: 3.47/min

Mana: 81/81

Mana regen: 0.8/min

Unspent stat points: 0

Titles*

Living – You are a living being, and as such, the energies of life heal you and the energies of death damage you.

-Trait: Average life energy absorption -Trait: Average death energy weakness

-Trait: minute life affinity -Trait: negative minute death affinity

Human – Most of your ancestors were human, so you are too. The only noticeable advantages humans have over other species are their prolificity and creativity. Other than that, they have sub-par biological features – apart from their thumbs.

-Trait: Average prolificity -Trait: Average creativity -Trait: Minor light-based vision -Trait: Minor vibration-based hearing -Trait: Minute chemical-based sense of smell -Trait: Minor sense of pain/touch -Trait: Minute chemical-based sense of taste -Trait: Being of flesh and blood (Minor)

Insect bane – Killer of many creepy crawlies, you can instinctively sense nearby insects, especially those harmful to you. All stats increased by 1 when attacking insects.

Traits*

Life energy absorption (Average) – life energy heals you, causing you to regain health.

Death energy weakness (Average) – death energy damages you, reducing your health.

Life affinity (Minute) – You find it easier to gain life related skills and proficiencies than if you did not have this trait.

Negative death affinity (Minute) – You find it harder to gain death related skills and proficiencies than if you did not have this trait.

Prolificity (Average) – You are very good at making babies.

Creativity (Average) – You have a higher chance to imagine, invent, and create things.

Light-based vision (Minor) – Your vision is based on light. Your civilisation is not advanced enough to view more detailed information.

Vibration-based hearing (Minor) – Your hearing is based on vibrations. Your civilisation is not advanced enough to view more detailed information.

Chemical-based sense of smell (Minute) – Your sense of smell is based on chemical reactions. Your civilisation is not advanced enough to view more detailed information.

Chemical-based sense of taste (Minute) – Your sense of taste is based on chemical reactions. Your civilisation is not advanced enough to view more detailed information.

Sense of pain/touch (Minor) – You have a sense of pain/touch. Your civilisation is not advanced enough to view more detailed information.

Being of flesh and blood (Minor) – Your life is dependent on your body, which consists loosely of the aforementioned materials. Without enough of these, you die. You also rely on the consumption of foods edible to your species.

Skills*

Farming (Expert) (High Common, Passive) 21.28% - You have extensive knowledge in the tools and trade of farming. You instinctively know the fertility of the land you are standing on, and the current season. You also have an increased weather prediction ability.

Herbalism (Advanced) (High Common, Passive) 47.36% - You know well how to care for plants and herbs, and you can easily tell what common herbs and plants are, and what they do. You don’t know much about rarer herbs, but your experience means you will instinctively know if a plant is poisonous, as long as it isn’t too rare. Increased ability to notice rare herbs.

Sewing (Basic) (Low Common, Passive) 76.93% - You have a basic level of knowledge on how to sew. Allows you to notice loose threads and fraying material easier, and slightly increases your ability to differentiate the quality of thread and cloth.

Tool Repair (Basic) (Low Common, Passive) 46.11% - You can repair basic tools, but you might want to consider a replacement instead. Allows you to notice damage on tools easier.

Logging (Advanced) (Mid Common, Passive) 9.78% - You can wield an axe with skill – if your opponent is a tree. Increased strength and reduced stamina usage when cutting trees, increased ability to notice wood quality and damage.

Common language-Spoken (Advanced) (Low Common, Passive) 13.01% - You can speak common fluently, but you don’t know many longer or rarely used words.

Common language-Written (Basic) (Mid Common, Passive) 49.32% - You can read and write, but don’t expect good calligraphy. You read and write slowly, and will make frequent errors.

Digging (Advanced) (Mid Common, Passive) 83.00% - You’re no dwarf, but you can sure dig a hole. You also know the difference between a shovel, spade and trowel. Increased skill when wielding a shovel, spade or trowel, increased ability to determine soil hardness, small instinctive ability to avoid buried stones, or find them if needed.

Cooking (Advanced) (Low Common, Passive) 19.08% - You can cook, but you’re no gourmet chef. Minute increase to taste of cooked dish, according to your preferences.

Hunting (Basic) (Low Common, Passive) 93.10% - You have learnt the basics of hunting. Increased ability to conceal yourself in forests and area with much greenery. Slightly increased senses when hunting. Minute instinctive ability to sense danger. Slightly increased tracking ability.

Fishing (Basic) (Low Common, Passive) 27.01% - You are new to fishing, but you had a good teacher. Chance of catching fish with a fishing rod slightly increased.

Dismantling (Advanced) (Mid Common, Passive) 23.67% - Provided you have the right tools for the job, you can dismantle most common beasts. Increased knowledge of some weaknesses of a being after dismantling it.

First aid (Basic) (Low Common, Passive) 87.05% - You can treat and bandage a wound, even make a simple splint, but don’t expect anyone to come to you for medical advice. Slight increase to steadiness of hands when applying first aid.

Tracking (Basic) (Low Common, Passive) 65.41% - You can recognise some of the basic signs left behind by incautious beings. Minutely increased ability to conceal yourself from your target.

Concealment (Basic) (Mid Common, Passive) 26.41% - You know a few tricks to hide yourself. When concealed, your basic senses are minutely increased.

Ranged weaponry - Bow (Basic) (Mid Common, Passive) 42.42% - You are capable of using bow and arrow at a basic level. Wind, target movement and other distractions hinder your accuracy greatly. minutely increased vision when aiming at an enemy. +0.5 Strength and Dexterity when using a bow.

Ranged weaponry - Sling (Advanced) (Mid Common, Passive) 30.31% - You are experienced at using a sling and stones. Slightly increased ability to find stones or other items suitable as ammunition. +1 Strength and Dexterity when using a sling.

Thrown weaponry – Rock (Advanced) (Low Common, Passive) 40.07% - You can throw rocks alright. You’re a fair hand at skipping them over a lake, too. Slightly increased accuracy when throwing stones.

Thrown weaponry – Fork (Basic) (Mid Common, Passive) 1.23% - Why you’re throwing cutlery is anyone’s guess, but you clearly aren’t used to it.

Melee weaponry – Staff (Basic) (Low Common, Passive) 5.64% - You have used a staff in a fight a few times, but you still don’t know how to use it correctly.

Melee weaponry – Club (Basic) (Low Common, Passive) 38.20% - You have a small amount of experience using simple blunt weapons. +1 Strength when using a club.

Melee weaponry – Sword - Longsword (Basic) (Mid Common, Passive) 89.23% - You have some experience using a standard longsword. Minutely increased grip strength when wielding this weapon, and +0.5 to Strength and Dexterity while wielding this weapon.

Melee weaponry – Fork (Basic) (Mid Common, Passive) 1.23% - Why you’re using a fork as a weapon is anyone’s guess, but you clearly aren’t used to it.

Magic edge (Basic) (Low Uncommon, Passive) 29.01% – You have discovered how to clad the edge of your blade in magic power, increasing the power of your strikes. However, you have little experience, and as such use all your mana in a single powerful attack.