Chapter 21: A Series of UnForktunate Events

(POV Ferdinand)

I am running. Without a direction or destination, my only goal is to get away from the man trying to kill me. I can barely tell where I am going because of the fear filling my mind, but I don’t trip or stumble as I run.

I don’t know where Gerald is, whether I’m being followed or not…

So it’s a big relief when Gerald’s voice sounds in my head again. ‘Change direction. He’s following, but I don’t think he knows where you are.’ He says tersely.

Not a moment later, he pops out of the ground in front of me and flies into my pack. Not even looking back or stopping, I turn right and continue running.

Over hills, around cliffs, my feet keep pounding a steady beat against the bare earth below.

Earth turns gradually to grass, grass turns to sand, and sand turns to lapping water – I’ve actually run as far as the ocean without noticing. Just as I’m about to turn again and run along the shore, I hear Gerald speaking again.

‘Hey. Hey, you can stop now. You could have stopped ages ago, he’s long gone. Can you even hear me? I’ve been saying this for a while now…’ He says, irritated.

Stopping, I suddenly feel exhausted and sit down on the sand. It’s as if my body had forgotten to get tired while running, and it’s just now catching up.

I take deep breaths to steady my racing heart. The air feels like it’s burning my insides, and it reminds me that I still have a stab wound in my side. Shrugging my pack off my back, I open it and search through the contents until I find a small vial.

It’s a healing potion. I keep one in reserve, in case I get serious wounds while away from a city. I pop off the cork and drink most of the contents, a red liquid that bears a strange resemblance to blood. Thankfully, the taste doesn’t share the same similarity, instead tasting like a very strong tea.

The rest I pour onto the wound, wincing in pain as the potion irritates my injuries. I watch for a moment as the wound stops seeping blood and starts closing at a visible rate.

‘You sure he’s gone?’ I ask, my mind now calm enough to talk.

He responds a moment later, sounding relieved. ‘Quite sure. You okay?’

‘Yeah. Yeah, I think so. Just a bit tired.’ I say, still struggling to catch my breath. ‘What happened after I left?’

‘We fought briefly, if you can call that a fight.’ Gerald sighs. ‘It was more me charging at him at increasingly fast speeds until I just used a whole bunch of ki to blow him away. Wasn’t able to do much damage to him, regrettably.’

I’m just glad we both managed to get out of that with all our limbs intact. ‘Did you manage to find out who he was?’

‘Better. I found out what he was.’ He says happily, then his voice turns grim. ‘A Doppelganger, at level 48.’

A Doppelganger? “What’s a Doppleganger?’

‘Not too sure myself. From what I remember, if you see someone who looks exactly like you, then they’re your doppelganger. It’s supposed to be bad luck or something.’ Gerald says uncertainly.

‘But level 48?’ I say in shock. ‘His stats must be way higher than mine.’

‘Let me just math for a moment…’ He says. Math? ‘His stat total is at least 123 points higher than yours.’

What? ‘How can you know that? Can you read other people’s statuses now?’

‘Nah. But if you get 2.5 stat points the first ten levels, 3 the next ten and 4 the next ten, my guess would be that the next ten give you 5.5, then 7.5. Knowing that, it’s simple multiplication and addition to see that you’ve gotten a total of 87 stat points from levelling, and he’s gotten 210.’ He states, as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world.

“Are you done talking yet?” Someone says from behind me.

My slowly relaxing mind goes into full alert again, and I scramble to my feet, looking warily behind me. Standing there with a carefree smile on his face is that same grimy old man from earlier.

Seeing that he doesn’t seem to have any bad intentions, I relax a bit. “Who are you? Why are you following me?”

“No need to be so tense, I just want to chat. Have a seat.” He says, sitting down in the sand and patting the sand in front of him. I don’t sit. “Or don’t, that’s fine too. But aren’t your legs a bit tired after all that running?”

I sit.

‘Are you talking to yourself, or is it someone invisible again?’ Gerald asks.

“Someone invisible.” The grimy old man says. “Not in the conventional sense, though. Gerald just can’t see me because I have no mana.”

How did he… He knows about Gerald, as well? What? Wait… “I remember you! You’re that fortune-teller from way back in…” I try to remember exactly what that city was called.

“Fiso City.” He supplies. “Honestly Ferdinand, you stayed there almost a year, and you still don’t know the name of it?”

“How do you know about us?” I ask, thoroughly confused.

“One second…” He starts writing rapidly in the sand, his finger a blur as it moves. “Can’t leave Gerald out of this, can we?” He finishes writing a few lines, wipes the sand clean, and starts writing again. “To answer your question, you already know I can see the future. It’s much easier to see the past, or even the present. Of course I know about you and Gerald.”

I’m not sure if that’s how it works… But then again, I’m not sure it isn’t. “Who are you?” I ask. Everything about him is so strange. Knowing about things that should be impossible for anyone to know, being unharmed from a strike of someone at almost level 50…

He thinks about it for a second, then smiles. “You can call me Joe. As for the reason I’m following you, it’s to ask if I can follow you around on your adventures.”

…What?

“Don’t worry, I won’t be a bother. I can take care of my own meals and accommodation, and I won’t get in the way in fights.” His finger continues to dash across the sand as he says this, although I don’t see him glance down even once.

I frown. “I’m not having a stranger following me around for no reason.”

He shrugs. “All right then.”

I look at him for a few seconds longer, but he doesn’t do or say anything else besides look at me steadily. Shrugging myself, I get up and dust the sand off my pants. Grabbing my pack, I start walking along the shore towards Liensport city.

‘Well, that was strange.’ Says Gerald.

‘Yes, it certainly was…’ I trail off as I looked over my shoulder. The gri… Joe, was still following me. I stop and turn around to face him. “What are you doing?”

He scratches his head. “Well, see, when I asked you if I could follow along, I was just being polite. I’m following you regardless.” He says, smiling abashedly.

For a moment, I’m lost for words. The way he acts is so abnormal that I don’t quite know how to treat him, and this is coming from a guy who has a talking fork as a friend. I can’t help but remember how the doppelganger’s spear slipped right through him, and how he was right behind me after I ran as fast as I could until the ocean. And thinking about it, he wasn’t even out of breath.

He probably wouldn’t be a hindrance in combat like that, and with skills like those, it shouldn’t be hard for him to provide food for himself.

“Alright.” I concede reluctantly. “You can follow me, but take a bath first, would you?”

Joe freezes. “Damn.” He swears, looking down at himself. “All that time, and not a single bath. No wonder people weren’t eager to get their fortunes told!”

He looks back at me. “Just a minute, please.”

And then he sprints into the water, until I can’t see him anymore.

…Times like these, I start to wish I was still a farmer.

(POV Gerald)

Welp, that was more than a mite strange. Writing in the sand by an invisible hand, detailing the other half of Ferdinand’s conversation, and there isn’t even a depression in the sand where I presume the owner of that hand was sitting. Nor footprints. Nothing, really.

If not for the writing, I might’ve thought that Ferdinand had gone a bit loopy.

And now we seem to have another member in the party. Yay.

Still, I think I can metaphorically breathe a sigh of relief now that we aren’t walking towards almost certain death.

…Is that a death flag? Maybe? Eh, we should be fine.

I suppose we should be considering whether it’s safe to return to Liensport or not. After all, the doppelganger knows what Ferdinand looks like. But then again, there’s that Harry guy. The doppelganger said he knows who our informant was, so he’s definitely in danger.

We can’t just leave him to be killed, so we should at least alert him before moving on to another city. Conversing with Ferdinand, he quite agrees, and is understandably eager to get away from anywhere the doppelganger may be able to track him down.

It doesn’t take us long to get back to the city, since all we have to do was follow the coast. It’s a strange feeling, returning to a place where everyone was nonchalantly going about their daily lives when we’ve just returned from a legitimately life-threatening situation.

Repeating our actions from last time, I communicate with Harry, telling him to get out of the area for a while and briefly explaining why. Then we leave again, as quickly as we came.

(POV Harry)

The day after the voice first spoke in my head, it speaks again.

‘Sorry about this, but you may have a level 48 doppelganger coming to kill you. He’s the one who killed Richard, and he said that he knew who provided his location to us, so you should probably disappear for a while.’ He said.

Not what I was expecting of the day when I woke up this morning. ‘And he let you leave?’ I ask sceptically. The man I met yesterday didn’t look anywhere near strong enough to face off against a level 48.

‘We managed to run away, since we couldn’t do much damage to him. He covered himself in some sort of red armour, apparently. Oops, been speaking too-’ The voice stopped.

…Really? I met – didn’t even meet you, I only ever heard your voice – yesterday, and you expect me to believe that I have someone coming to kill me? Hah! It’s more likely that this is a ploy from someone aiming for my position.

It wouldn’t be hard to incriminate me if I suddenly disappear. People would have their suspicions, but if I don’t turn up to dispute it, they might just shrug and give it to him.

Still, by that same notion, it’s likely they would have hired an assassin to tail me as I went into hiding and make me truly disappear for good. I’m not suited for combating stealthy opponents, especially since I haven’t seen much combat in the last few years.

How could I find, and ideally kill, an assassin before it kills me? Unfortunately, I doubt I can enlist the help of a wizard. We have so few and they’re all overworked as it is…

…No choice but to draw him out, huh?

That said, it would be suicide to do so thoughtlessly. If I’m to do this, it will be on my terms. First, a place.

I seem to remember…

Thumbing through the mountains of files stored neatly in cabinets behind my desk, I select the one I’m looking for. This one is new, I got it only yesterday. Looking at it, I read through the details: tonnes of supplies had been moved from a particular warehouse near the docks. In other words, it is now empty, and it will be another few days before it is filled up by another shipment again.

A large, open space was perfect for my needs.

Now for equipment. It would seem strange if I were to go around at work wearing my combat gear, so I wait for the end of the day before I head to the armory. Taking a small, intricate key from a pocket within my coat, I unlock my personal storage chest.

I unstrap the rapier from my side. It’s an ornamental piece, and doesn’t even have an edge, so I would hesitate to even call it a weapon. The rapier in the chest, however, is a true blade, crafted from the rare metal: mithril.

Unsheathing it partially, I test its edge with my thumb. A thin line of blood wells from a paper-thin cut, making me smile despite the pain. Truly an exquisite piece of work, sharp as the day it was first honed to a razor edge and without the faintest trace of rust or wear.

I put the blade to one side and lift my armour from the chest. Brown with faint lines of gold, it is of fairly simple design, but despite looking similar to leather armour, it can deflect arrows and blades alike with relative ease as it is in fact made from the leather of a wyvern.

Stripping off my coat, I don the armour over my soft undershirt, rolling my shoulders as the familiar weight settles over them. The only item remaining inside the chest is a small pouch, which I attach to my belt. A bag of holding, as expensive as it is useful. Through some strange wizardry that I don’t understand in the slightest, it is somehow able to contain a volume about three times what it appears to be, while completely eliminating the weight of those items.

This one contains a collection of useful potions, some money and a few other items that should be helpful.

I leave the building and head for the warehouse, sticking to busy streets to dissuade potential assassins.

Of course, it very well may be that there are no assassins, but in that case, I’ll just be a bit late for dinner. No harm done. Perhaps I could even make use of this opportunity to do some light training, and get myself back into practice.

There are a couple of guards patrolling the place, but not nearly as many as there would be if the place was loaded with goods. After a few minutes of observing their movements, I take advantage of a gap and slipped inside.

Shutting the door silently behind me – bless oiled hinges – a large, open space greets my eyes. I briefly glance around the rafters, just in case anyone is there, and walk to the middle of the space. The only sound is that of my own footsteps, vastly different to the bustling noise of the headquarters.

Reaching the centre, I take a deep breath and settle myself into a state similar to the ‘vigilance’ skill that sentries and guards often possess, but rather than focusing on eyesight, it focuses on hearing: ‘hearken’.

Through it, I can hear the footsteps of the guards outside, still on patrol. The gentle lap of water against the piers. A breath of wind subtly breezing along.

Barely a minute later, I hear a body hit the ground, and then another. My hand tightens around the hilt of my rapier and draws it silently from the sheath.

The door swings open. A bloody spear head precedes the entrance of its wielder as he steps inside. My eyes narrow. There is this sense of… familiarity about him that I can’t quite place.

I take a second, more careful look at him, and a name almost forgotten over the years floats to the forefront of my mind. “Rodney?” I involuntarily utter in my shock. He looks different, but that can be attributed to age…

But then again, he’s dead. He can’t be here… and that leads my mind to other possibilities. He must have been why Richard came here. Demons, he said… He would be concerned about demons, but not enough to come out of retirement for it. He would have just sent a message back here, and wash his hands of the matter.

However, if his son was involved, it would all make sense. But how?

My mind flickered back to earlier today. ‘level 48 doppelganger’, the voice had said, and it suddenly seems much more plausible than it had earlier. And if so, I am in trouble.

“A doppelganger, is it?” I say, hoping to buy time.

His face twitches slightly, before he reigned it back into an impassive mask. “You know, I used to enjoy talking to people before killing them. Seeing their fear, their pain.” He says quietly. “Then I lost my arm.”

I glance to his side and see the empty sleeve. I’d been so focused on his face that I hadn’t even noticed.

Without another word, a red mist explodes forth from his body, bringing with it a primal fear.

My throat tightens, and my mouth draws itself into a grim line, but it isn’t because of the fear. It’s because I recognise the mist. Only the most brutal killers, the ones who truly enjoyed the pain they cause, can wield it, and it is as dangerous as it is rare.

Even as my mind is coldly recalling information on it, my hand is transporting potion after potion to my mouth, and my legs were rapidly shifting me backwards to gain distance.

Within a few seconds, the mist settles around his body and spear in the shape of armour, making my blood run cold. He must have killed several hundred people to be able to physically manifest his killing intent, perhaps more than a thousand. I can’t even begin to guess, because I have never seen it before, only ever heard of it.

It looks as if escaping this battle alive will be no easy feat.

Calming my nerves, I raise my sword, rouse my fighting spirit and leap into combat, flinging an orange vial ahead of me.

(POV Gerald)

How do you evade pursuers? In all honesty, it’s as easy as breathing, if they don’t have tracking skills. Just head cross country, disappear into a forest or something, and hey presto! As far as civilisation is concerned, you don’t exist anymore.

Well, in this world at least. Back on Earth, search parties and things would be organised… but you catch my drift.

Unfortunately, Ferdinand has this strange attachment to having good food, shelter, beds etc. So, we have to figure out a way to confuse any people that could be tracking us. Fortunately, we don’t have a set destination, so we can go any number of directions.

For now, we are heading north and west, heading across the land to a place called Tikse city. It’s not linked directly by roads to Liensport, so any trackers shouldn’t assume we’d go there. Of course, if they have magical means of tracking us, we’re screwed. Always look on the bright side of life, right? We should be fine.

From what I’ve seen, there aren’t many wizards in the cities I’ve seen so far, so it’s unlikely for there to be one with that particular ability to be chasing us.

And it might be just the Doppelganger following us. Or it might be nobody. I mean, I haven’t seen anyone. There probably isn’t.

With Ferdinand’s experience and my skills, travelling over the countryside is a breeze. I find a wild animal when we need food, one of us kills it and Ferdinand cooks it. I keep watch at night, Ferdinand keeps our course and we keep each other company with idle conversation.

Apparently the person following us – the invisible one – is this old man type character, and he’s quite strange, according to Ferdinand. He’s never seen Joe eat or sleep. Instead, Joe often just looks up at the sky all night. Ferdinand tells me that when he wakes up, Joe is usually in the same position as he was when Ferdinand last saw him the previous night.

I really don’t like it. I can’t see him, which means I won’t be able to notice or stop him if he ever does something. Still, Ferdinand says he’s a good person when he’s not doing weird things, so I can give him the benefit of the doubt – for now.

A couple days later, I see something emerging on the edge of my vision. It’s a village… and it’s currently inhabited by skeletons.

Again!?

Gerald: Status

Status

Name: Gerald

Race: Living Fork

Level: 30

Experience: 2643.13/6400

Gender: None

Age: 11 months (local time)

Allegiance: None

Fame: None

Strength: 6.5 (65.0)

Intelligence: 48.0

Dexterity: 5.0 (10.0)

Wisdom: 48.5

Charisma: 6.0

Luck: 12.1

Hardness: 25.6

Durability: 17.2/17.2

Mana: 960/960

Mana regen: 9.70/min

Psi: 485/485

Psi regen: 4.80/min

Ki: 4866/3152 (31525)

Ki regen: 3.15 (31.52)/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.

Cat’s flexibility (Minor) – Base Dexterity is multiplied by 2. Range of movement of joints increased by 1.1 times.

Skills*

Absorb (Advanced) (Racial, Low Unique) 27.82% - 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) 0.30% - 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) 10.94% - 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) 27.92% - 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) 0.09% – 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) 2.05% - 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) 23.73%: 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) 41.52%: 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) 12.36% - 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 (Advanced) (Mid Uncommon, Passive) 39.14% - 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. Rarely inaccurate, you can usually tell what people are saying, unless they have some crazy accent. Good luck with those.

Nine lives (Static) (Passive) – You will avoid the next eight attacks that would be deadly to you, seemingly by accident. After avoiding eight attacks, this skill will disappear.

Charges remaining: 8

Telekinesis (Advanced) (Low Rare, Active) 6.37% - 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 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 (Advanced) (Low Uncommon, Active) 36.62% - Fires a projectile of mana. Power scales with mana consumption, unable to exceed 25 mana per shot. Maximum range = Intelligence*1.5/metres. If remotely controlling, there is an additional mana cost of 0.75 mana/sec, otherwise direction of travel is set at initial creation of shot.

Mana control (Basic) (Low Uncommon, Passive) 93.38% - Your practice with magic has led to an increased familiarity with handling mana. Maximum quantity of mana able to be controlled reliably: 25 mana. Minimum quantity of mana able to be controlled reliably: 0.5 mana.

Power stab (Basic) (High Common, Active) 52.45% - Multiplies the speed and power of a stab by 1.1. Cooldown: 5 minutes

Mud bath (Basic) (Low Uncommon, Passive) 0.00% - Your injuries heal faster when they are covered with mud, by 1.2 times. Slightly lowered chance of contracting infection and parasites from this activity.

…However, as you are for most purposes an object, this skill does not affect you.

Climbing (Advanced) (Low Uncommon, Passive) 0.00% - You have a slightly increased ability to find handholds and footholds when climbing something, as well as a slightly increased ability to maintain grip on smaller handholds.

Ferdinand: Status

Status

Name: Ferdinand

Race: Human

Level: 28

Experience: 2146.43/5700

Gender: Male

Age: 23 years

Allegiance: None

Fame: None

Strength: 44.1

Intelligence: 8.1

Dexterity: 35.7

Wisdom: 8.0

Charisma: 8.0

Luck: 37.8

Endurance: 38.4

Health: 384/384

Health regen: 2.304/hour

Stamina: 357/357

Stamina regen: 3.57/min

Mana: 81/81

Mana regen: 0.8/min

Psi: 80/80

Psi regen: 0.81/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.

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

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) 47.37% - 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) 48.53% - 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) 14.66% - 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) 19.59% - 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) 96.28% - 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) 30.52% - 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) 87.59% - 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) 69.67% - 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) 27.54% - 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) 1.14% - 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) 39.26% – 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.

Telepathy (Basic) (Mid Rare, Active) 17.28% - Allows one to communicate with other beings in exchange for 1 Psi/sec*distance between user and target in meters, to a maximum range of (Wisdom*Intelligence)/10m. Currently only able to communicate emotions.

Flee (Basic) (Low Uncommon, Passive/Conditional) 32.14% - 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.