Chapter 17: Fork Gets Skillz

(POV Gerald)

At first glance, the status windows look like the menus in a game. Second and third glance too.

But the thing about a game, y’see, is that everything is pre-programmed. Sure, there are AIs and all that, but even they are limited. In their speech options, the different animations, how they act… you look at them long enough, and things begin to repeat.

Now, I’m not about to say that I think the people here are like AIs or something, that’d be stupid. But menus are the same way as well. All your stats have limits, upper and lower ones. There are a limited range of skills and abilities you can obtain.

And titles are generally only obtained from quests or by performing special feats – they’re also pre-programmed. And the descriptions. And skills themselves are programmed to do certain things.

Now, while in a game, say there’s a fireball spell and a firebolt spell. Generally, you can get one without the other, and the only relation between the two is the similar effects.

Here though, everything is caused by something. It’s not just, ‘cast x skill, y mana deducted’, the mana actually goes somewhere and carries out the skill. And the descriptions… some of them almost feel tailored specifically for me.

Eh, enough of that. What I’m getting at here, is that the energies: mana, psi, ki, they all go and do something when I use the telepathy skill or ki blast skill or whatever.

And that’s mostly automatic.

But… It doesn’t have to be. I can cancel it or direct it however I want. And if I’m doing that, doesn’t it mean I’m manipulating the energies themselves?

And if I can manipulate those energies, why the heck am I restricted to the few skills I know? It’s not like the first mages got taught magic, or warriors were born with their skills.

So, here I am, trying to figure out how to use my energies in a different way than my skills dictate. Right now, I’m trying to get a feel for how telepathy works, to sense how the psi moves when I use it.

I can feel… almost like a link of energy between me and Ferdinand. I can control it, but anything I do just disrupts the skill. And what little I can sense is faint. Well, right now there’s only one way I can think of using psi.

BRUTE FORCE FOR THE WIN!

I grab some psi, and push it out, controlling it to push against the back of a wooden chair.

Skill gained: Telekinesis (Basic)

Through using the powerful energy of a highly developed mind like some savage barbarian, you have learned how to push things with your mind. Force generated varies with psi used. Currently very inefficient.

See what I mean!? That description CAN’T be pre-written!

…I should have used less psi. The chair is currently lying on the ground with a few cracks running through it.

Maybe I should do the other tests in the great outdoors…

Sitting, or rather lying, on the ground, I begin my tests. Now, onto ki. Ki blast just shoves a bunch of ki out of your body, then it just runs wild.

Now, what if I try and control it after ejecting it?

This time, I start small. 10 points of ki should do fine. I control it to rise to the surface of my body. So far, so good. Then I push it beyond, and the strain instantly magnifies twentyfold.

I barely manage to keep a handle on it, but I can easily imagine that had I used much more ki, it would have run wild. After a short while, I get it in a somewhat stable state, and try and send it to attack a pebble.

After floating away half a meter, it escapes my control and fizzles in a tiny burst of air.

Skill gained: External Ki manipulation (Basic)

Most people use Ki internally (wink wink, nudge nudge), but you have decided to use it externally, with minimal success. Difficulty of control increases drastically with distance and quantity of Ki.

For gods’ sake… I DON’T HAVE A BODY TO DO ANYTHING WITH, STATUS WINDOWS! GET A CLUE!

Hah… Calm down, me. Okay, next. What if I do a normal ki blast, but instead of just letting it go, I give it a direction to go in? Maintaining direction should be much easier than maintaining shape.

I hop over to a rock and give it a go. It’s nowhere near as difficult as what I tried before, but still harder than a normal burst. The beam of ki sends the rock, and me flying in opposite directions. I check on the rock and it has a shallow hole bored into it. Nice.

…No skill? That’s strange. I check through my skills, and notice the proficiency for ki blast has jumped up around 30%.

So, it’s not just repetition to increase proficiency? I should have known.

Now, I have a few other things I’d like to try with ki, but unfortunately, I don’t have a body, and my ki is running low as it is.

Last but most anticipated, mana. Honestly, I don’t have much to go off, here. I mean, I have 3 magic skills – Absorb, self-repair and form manipulation – self, but I have no clue how exactly they work.

Wait, there was that magic edge too, right? That one’s easy enough.

Anyway, let’s just try the old magic missile.

Skill gained: Magic missile (Basic)

Congratulations, after all this time you’ve just now learnt how to use one of the most basic magical attacks in existence. Good job. Now you just have to figure out how to do it correctly. Power scales with mana consumption, unable to exceed 10 mana per shot. Maximum range = Intelligence*1/metres. If remotely controlling, there is an additional mana cost of 1 mana/sec, otherwise direction of travel is set at initial creation of shot.

Hey, I was busy. Playing minesweeper…

Ahem. Let’s just get to training, shall we? There are a couple of skills that I’ve been neglecting: Body of deadly poison, and body of weak acid. Obviously, this is because I don’t want to be even more poisonous than I am, but as things are, I might need to be.

So, I find myself the largest creature around and use ki blasts to hop over to it. Then, I embed myself in its hide with another series of ki blasts. After that, I just wait.

The giant elk starts panicking, running around frantically, rolling over to try to get me off. Another burst of ki makes me dig deeper into it, and it stops rolling.

After another few seconds, it starts frothing at the mouth, then stops moving altogether. I haven’t gotten a notification, so it must still be alive, just paralysed.

Another few seconds, and it’s dead. I get 20.25 exp, then a further 360 from absorbing most of its body. Unfortunately, no skills. I seem to have had a run of bad luck lately.

…I’m completely out of ki now, aren’t I?

Ferdinand! Come pick me up!

(POV Ferdinand)

In the past day, I have spent most of my time finding and talking to various members of Richard’s crew. It didn’t taken me long to find out where he had gone, but why was a different matter.

It wasn’t until I found the man who had been the lookout that day that I was able to figure it out. He said that before the battle, there was someone who looked a lot like Richard’s dead son standing on the deck of the other ship, and that the captain was found after the battle standing in front of a recently used portal.

I must admit I had to ask him what a portal was, but after that I could mostly guess what happened. Richard must have gone to the navy headquarters looking for information… which means we must as well. Only problem is, I don’t know anyone there.

So, I made the rounds again, and asked for the details of anyone he might have turned to for help. They were more than glad to help me out, and I eventually compiled a long list of names. They did warn me, however, that they couldn’t be sure if those people still lived in the city, or if they were even still alive.

Still, it was a start.

After all that, it was nearly dark, and I went outside of the city to where I left Gerald. For a while, I couldn’t find him. That is, until I saw him moving towards me, shaking and bobbing unsteadily in the air.

So, he can fly now. Okay.

Taking out a piece of old fabric, I carefully pinch the levitating cutlery within its folds.

A voice pops into my head. ‘Thanks for picking me up, Ferdinand. Did you find out anything?’

‘No problem.’ I think back. ‘I’ve found out where he was going, and a list of people he may have contacted while there. And, perhaps, the reason he left: apparently, someone who looked like his dead son was on that ship. Also, there was a portal in the hold.’

‘Interesting… I don’t think that will help us much, though. We don’t exactly know what he looks like, after all.’

‘True,’ I concede, ‘But any information is helpful with how little we know. How did your… ‘serious’ training go?’

‘Let’s see here…’ He says, trailing off for a moment. ‘Three new skills, one of which is a ranged attack and the other I was just using to move around… The other won’t be useful until I train it to the advanced, perhaps expert level…’

He says that so casually that it throws me completely.

‘Do you… Have skills at expert proficiency?’ I ask tentatively.

‘Oh yeah, I’ve got a few. One of them is mostly useless, though. Speaking of proficiency, I got the skill that makes me highly poisonous and the skill that makes me slightly acidic to advanced proficiency, and guess what? I can turn them on and off now!’ He sounds very happy about this, understandably.

‘That’s good.’ I think back.

His voice sounds hesitant this time. ‘There’s something I need to ask. Would you mind if I…’

Early the next morning, in a very neat and impressive building situated near the centre of port Acktown, a thin man dressed elegantly in bright colours sits at a large desk.

Ceaselessly, he reads over the scores of documents and reports piled up in front of him. Some he signs, some he makes alterations to, and others he put to the side. People flit in and out of the room, taking or bringing papers.

It seems a never-ending cycle; if the man looks over ten reports and signed eleven documents, a similar number will replace them within moments.

This is the office of the lord of the port, and all things of importance go through him, and him alone.

In a brief moment of respite from the flurry of papers, he rolls his shoulders, stretching his arms and sighing as he mutters under his breath, “I really need to find someone who can help me with this… But…”

The rest he leaves unsaid.

There is nobody in the governance of this city that he is completely sure he can trust. There are too many who could be spies, or bribed by… whoever. Criminals, opposing factions… it all has the same effect in the end.

However, by some twist of fate or whimsy of gods, his woes are due to end that day.

Suddenly, his brows tighten into a frown, and he opens his mouth slightly as if to call out. Then his face turns pensive, and after a moment’s consideration, he takes out a fresh sheet of paper and starts writing on it furiously.

Names, places, descriptions, crimes, evidence… line after line of neat script printed across the page as his hand blazes back and forth, occasionally darting across to the inkwell to smear more ink across the point of his quill.

Finally, he reaches the end of the sheet, and takes out another, again writing furiously. His eyes widen and continued to widen as page after page are gradually filled with text.

It is possible, of course, that every word on the pages are false. However, if they aren’t…

The city will likely be thrown into turmoil.

The voice in his head disappears, and he begins to consider what to do. The first thing to do, he decides, would be to determine the validity of the claims. Flipping through the pages, he picks out a relatively innocent crime, and writes it on a separate slip of paper.

He calls some of the city guards, and gives it to them, telling them to search the location on it.

Later, they came back, reporting that they had found… well, exactly what the voice had said they would.

One is hardly enough to ensure validity, however. He sends them out again and again as the day wears on, to different places, to different people, each time his eyebrows furrowing further as each and every case is a success.

At this point he is thoroughly convinced that most, if not all of the claims are legitimate.

And this is only what that person had seen in the past couple of weeks? He sighs heavily.

It seems his work has only just begun.

(POV Gerald)

Utilising a combination of absorb and ki blasts, I slide through the earth from where I had been for the last while, not a metre below the man’s feet. If I wasn’t so close, I would never have been able to use telepathy for as long as I had. It wasn’t as if I could reliably get inside the place while remaining hidden, so getting below it was the next best thing.

My small size ensures that the tunnels I dug have little effect on the surrounding earth, and even the entrance is barely visible.

After popping myself back out of the ground, Ferdinand picks me up and we head out of the city. Unfortunately, he hadn’t been able to find any escort requests en route to our destination, so we are on our own this time.

Not that it matters all that much. With how much I – and Ferdinand, to a lesser extent – have improved, the only things that can pose much difficulty to us are…

…And I gave Ferdinand that much flak for jinxing us the last few times.

“We have a large group of people blocking the road ahead, probably bandits by what they’re saying.” I alert Ferdinand.

He pauses. “And how can you hear what they’re saying?”

“Lip reading.” Anticipating the impending query, I explain. “It’s where you guess what people are saying based on how they move their lips.”

“Alright then, any chance we can go around them?” He asks.

“…Probably…” I admit reluctantly.

“Why do you sound disappointed by that?” He asks suspiciously.

“I sort of wanted to try out my new skills, but it doesn’t matter. Monsters are better for that sort of thing anyway.”

So, we give the bandit group a wide berth, re-joining the road some distance behind them. And that is – not that. jinxes can’t be avoided that easily, apparently.

One of the bandits clearly has some sort of vision enhancement skill, because he calls out to his companions and points at us walking away. I mean, really? Group of 13 chasing after one guy. Yeah, totally not overkill.

Well, it might not be overkill since it’s us, but they don’t know that.

Regarding the capabilities of the bandits, their lack of proper armaments speaks for itself. Barely one in four have a proper sword, and the rest are basically just holding farming implements: sickles, pitchforks, one guy even has a shovel. They have no armour to speak of.

“They’re chasing us! Looks like I’ll be able to test out my new ranged attack after all…” I muse.

“Don’t kill them, please.” Ferdinand says.

Well, they are probably trying to kill us, but there is no time to complain. “I can aim at their legs, but that’s about all I can do.”

Moving myself out of his bag with a quick use of telekinesis, I flop onto the ground and fire a single magic missile at them. Just in case it’s secretly super OP.

Okay, maybe not.

With me being at ground level and casting the spell near parallel to the ground, the only place it can hit is leg. And there’s a lot of leg to go around in this group.

Ever heard of ‘spreading out’?

Clearly not. Anyway, the small magic missile impacts on a leg, knocking it backwards slightly and leaving a shallow wound.

This won’t do at all. Improvisation time!

Normal magic missile, compress into needle, fire. It pierces a few centimetres into a leg, drawing blood and eliciting a cry of pain from the wounded man.

Sufficient power to disable. Engaging rapid fire.

I fire out a barrage of twenty magic needles at the forest of legs, causing several of them to swerve to avoid them - remember how I recommended you spread out? – into their companions, basically making almost all of them collapse in a moaning heap.

Their flailing limbs send their weapons waving all over the place, doing much more damage to themselves than I did.

…I didn’t expect that to happen. But it was surprisingly simple to create so many shots at once. Even turning them all into needles wasn’t too hard.

The only one left standing is shovel man, completely clueless as to why all his friends have just fallen over.

I wonder what Ferdinand’s gonna do now?

(POV Ferdinand)

Walking up to them, I can easily see that these people were farmers, now that I have a closer look.

Why would farmers turn bandit? As long as you put in the work and there isn’t terrible weather, your livelihood is mostly guaranteed.

Which means that either these men’s fields had been affected by plague or infestation, or something else had forced them out of the village. It happens more often than people seem to think. Farmers by and large aren’t that strong, and your average farming village may have only a few soldiers guarding it.

If a strong monster comes, or even enough weak ones, a village can be quickly overwhelmed.

Stopping a short distance away from the pile of people struggling to untangle themselves without hurting each other even more in the process, I call out to the only one who isn’t too preoccupied to negotiate with – a shortish man with a dirt-smeared face, awkwardly holding a shovel as if he can’t decide whether he should be hitting me with it, helping up the others or planting turnips.

“Hello there. Why did you all come to attack me?”

I try to keep an amiable tone, but I must admit I am less than pleased with them all chasing after us like that.

It seems to relax him a bit, because he lowers his shovel. “We wasn’ gonna actually hurt ya, ye see. We was jus’ gonna scare you a bit, take a peck at ya coins n’ let ya go agin. We meant no ‘arm, honest.”

His accent is so thick it takes me a few moments to understand what he is saying, but once I do I am somewhat relieved. But at the same time, he doesn’t answer my question.

“That’s nice of you, but why do you need my money in the first place?”

He scratches his wild mop of brown hair, scowling as he said, “Well, we got no farms no more, have we? Asked the people in town for ‘elp, but all they did was ask wot we’re gonna pay ‘em with. Pay ‘em? We put food on their table fer years, and they ‘ave the gall to ask us to pay? Bunch of ungrateful louts, I say. Ain’t nobody respects farmers these days, I tell yah.”

At his words, I can’t help but think back to when the famine struck my own village. Nobody sent help for us then, either. I feel a surge of sympathy towards them, and after a moment of thought, decide to help them, if I can.

If I don’t, who will?

“How did you lose your farms?” I ask kindly.

His face droops in sorrow. “They came in the night, they did. Got woken up by screaming, an’ I knew sommat was up. Went outside, n’ there were skeletons swarming the fields! Hardly managed to grab a shovel and fend ‘em off while the missus got away.” He shakes his head, his voice hiccupping slightly. “Some of the others didn’ do so well.”

By this point in time, most of the others have managed to get themselves up, and have moved behind the shovel man to treat their wounds.

“Where is your village?”

He looks at me in astonishment.

Gerald: Skillz Galore!

Status

Name: Gerald

Race: Living Fork

Level: 29

Experience: 4485.53/6000

Gender: None

Age: 11 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: 745/920

Mana regen: 9.30/min

Psi: 465/465

Psi regen: 4.60/min

Ki: 73/3022 (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) 20.27% - 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) 0.16% - 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) 17.53% - 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 (Advanced) (Low Unique, Passive/Toggled) 0.06% – 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 (Advanced) (Mid Uncommon, Passive/Toggled) 2.00% - 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) 7.05% – 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) 13.26% - 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 (Expert) (High Rare, Active) 8.42%: 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 2.5, Psi regeneration multiplied by 2.5, Ki generated at 20 times the normal rate.

Ki blast (Advanced) (Mid Rare, Active) 20.77%: 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 10 points.

Form manipulation – Self (Advanced) (High Rare, Active) 6.07% - Through the use of mana, you can manipulate your own form at will, albeit a bit slowly and roughly. Cannot change density or mass. Costs 4 mana/second while changing form, costs 8 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.

Lip reading (Basic) (Low Uncommon, Passive) 92.86% - You have learned how to understand what people are saying by the movement of their lips. Doesn’t hurt that you can see their tongue and jaw movement, either. Sometimes inaccurate, but you can piece the gist of things together.

Telekinesis (Basic) (High Uncommon, Active) 3.48% - Through Psi, your mind pushes at the world around you, moving objects without the need for physical contact. More Psi is required to produce greater forces. Currently very inefficient.

External Ki manipulation (Basic) (Low Rare, Active) 0.51% - You have discovered how to manipulate Ki outside of your body. Doesn’t mean you’re any good at it. Difficulty of control increases drastically with distance and quantity of Ki.

Magic missile (Basic) (High Common, Active) 43.79% - Fires a projectile of mana. Power scales with mana consumption, unable to exceed 10 mana per shot. Maximum range = Intelligence*1/metres. If remotely controlling, there is an additional mana cost of 1 mana/sec, otherwise direction of travel is set at initial creation of shot.

Ferdinand: Level Up!

Status

Name: Ferdinand

Race: Human

Level: 26

Experience: 132.08/5100

Gender: Male

Age: 23 years

Allegiance: None

Fame: None

Strength: 41.1

Intelligence: 8.1

Dexterity: 34.7

Wisdom: 8.0

Charisma: 8.0

Luck: 37.8

Endurance: 35.4

Health: 354/354

Health regen: 2.124/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) 48.46% - 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) 13.86% - 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) 19.54% - 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) 96.18% - 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) 38.72% - 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) 30.41% - 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) 87.51% - 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) 69.66% - 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) 27.53% - 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 (Advanced) (High Common, Passive) 0.70% - You have some experience using a standard longsword. Minor increased grip strength when wielding this weapon, and +1 to Strength and Dexterity while wielding this weapon. Maintaining this type of weapon is easier for you.

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) 37.22% – 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.