Chapter 22: Ferdinand, Paladins, Gods, and a Largely Ignored Fork

(POV Ferdinand)

Seeing a village in the distance, I adjust my course towards it. Not too long after, Gerald’s voice pops into my head again. ‘Might want to speed up a bit,’ he says, ‘there’s skeletons in this village as well.’

Again? It was only slightly over a week since the last time, and it couldn’t be that I just so happen to find the only two skeleton infested villages, can it? What in the world is the army doing, letting some necromancer run rampant in the villages like this?

These thoughts cross my mind for a few moments, before I discard them and focus on the more pressing matters at hand. I start running towards the village, but I don’t draw my sword yet. It will only get in my way when I’m running.

It only takes me a few minutes of running to make my way there. As I arrive at the edge of the outlying fields, I’m greeted with a very odd sight: in each of the fields on either side of me, there is a single skeleton wielding a hoe.

I rub my eyes, but the sight doesn’t change. They are still repeatedly lifting their hoes and striking the same place on the ground, doing nothing more than deepening a line in the dirt.

‘I saw this earlier, but is this… Normal, skeleton behaviour?’ Gerald asks, sounding about as confused as I feel.

Completely unable to figure out any reason why they might be doing such actions, I say, ‘I don’t know much about skeletons… but I’m going to guess: no. No, it is not normal.’

‘Okay then… Kill them anyway?’

I draw my sword. ‘Kill them anyway.’

Vaulting over the fence surrounding the field on my right, I move towards the skeleton there. As I approach, it stops its strange actions and starts acting as I would expect a skeleton to act: by attacking anything living near it.

In this case, me. The skeleton lifts its hoe and swings it at me. I dodge. It may be a farming tool, but it can still deal quite some damage. After the tool passes harmlessly in front of me, I dart in and break off one of its arms with my sword, causing the hoe to drop to the ground. After that I make short work of it.

I didn’t even break a sweat from that, and vaulting over the fences and into the other field, I move to take out the other skeleton. If anything, that one is easier than the first. Quickly jumping at it just as it strikes the ground once more, it can’t pull it up in time before I take off its skull in one fell slash.

Vaulting back over the fence once more, I walk along the path and further into the village. As I get closer the sky started to dim slightly, and I took the opportunity to ask Gerald for more info on the village.

‘Looks like about thirty in the village itself… But there seems to be a skeleton in every field, as well. About ten of them that I can see, but there should be fields I can’t see. Nobody living except us, unfortunately.’

Which means that the villagers are either dead or had escaped… Speaking of dead villagers, where were the corpses in that last village? Hadn’t quite a few of the villagers died in the escape? And yet there were no corpses… had they been turned into skeletons?

It’s unlikely for me to figure anything out, even if I consider it further, so I throw the matter to the back of my mind and venture into the main area of the village. As I enter, skeletons turn their skulls creepily towards me and brandish their rusted weapons, moving in to attack.

They creep out from buildings, the spaces in between buildings, the town square… Taking a deep breath, I ready my own weapon. There may not be as many here as there were last time, but there is only me facing them this time.

Taking out a single skeleton is a simple task. One, maybe two solid hits is all it takes. But with a horde of them, you have to be wary of attacks coming from multiple directions, make sure they don’t surround you and at the same time get an attack in every now and again.

I make my way into the space between two buildings, which is small enough to restrict the approaching skeletons to come two at a time. Doing this makes it much easier, and I make short work of seven skeletons before Gerald alerts me to some starting to loop around to the other end.

Escaping before they surround me, I find another gap, repeating the process until the skeletons in the village are nothing but scattered bones, and I’m quite exhausted. I sit in the town square, half wondering whether the well would be safe to drink from, or if it, like much of the plant life around me, had also been poisoned by the death energy. Better not to risk it, but the thought makes me wonder how those villagers are doing.

Just as I start to catch my breath, Gerald pops into my head again. ‘That elven woman with the armour and horse is coming here. And it looks like she’s brought a friend.’ He says.

‘Thanks. Is the other person a paladin as well?’ I ask in curiosity.

‘Paladin? Well, they’re wearing similar armour and weapons, so… probably?’ Gerald says hesitantly.

‘Alright.’ Not wishing to repeat my mistake from last time, I ask one more question. ‘Is the new one a man or a woman?’

‘Man. Actually, he looks even younger than you, so I don’t know if he would be old enou-’ He cuts himself off and asks a question. ‘What age do people become termed as ‘man and woman’ rather than ‘boy and girl’?’

I think about it briefly. ‘I couldn’t say about places outside the Empire, but here it’s about 16.’

‘Ah, thanks. He’s probably a bit older than 16. See, why I asked is because where I’m from it’s 18, and I knew about some places where it was as high as 21.’ He explains.

Interesting. But does it really matter all that much? It’s just a way of calling someone, after all.

Taking a swig from my water bottle, I run my tongue over my dry lips and continue to sit where I am. I have no doubt that they will soon be here. As far as I know, most gods detest the undead, so they won’t pass up the chance to destroy some.

And sure enough, a few minutes later I can see the two paladins on their steeds trotting down the street towards me. Standing up, I sling my backpack over my shoulders and watch them draw close. Because of the similarity in the design of their armour, I can hardly tell the two apart.

Dismounting from their steeds, they walk towards me, stopping a couple of meters away.

The one on the right asks suspiciously, “Who are you? What are you doing here?” Since he doesn’t sound like the paladin I met last time, I assume this one is the man.

I’m about to reply when the other paladin pushes up her visor, revealing a face that… all I can say is that the elven reputation of beauty is in no way exaggerated. Her eyes remind me of the fields in spring, when they are covered in a carpet of vibrant green. “You are that adventurer who was helping the villagers reclaim their village from skeletons, are you not? Why are you here?” She asks.

“I was travelling and saw this village in the distance, so I went towards it. Then I found all the skeletons here, so I started to clean them out.” I shrug slightly. “I don’t suppose you know where all the people who lived here are?” I ask.

She frowns. “As far as we can tell, they unfortunately perished in the initial attack. And who is that behind you?”

My head whips around, and I see Joe standing there, smiling and waving. Since when was he there!?

I’m not sure what to say about him. “That’s Joe. I’m not all too sure why he follows me around, but he’s a good person as far as I can tell.”

“Because I was bored, obviously.” Says the now significantly less grimy old man Joe. “Figured I’d find someone interesting and tag along in their adventures.”

“Then why me?” I ask him, bewildered.

“Oh come on. With all the things you’ve encountered in the past month or two alone, you’re asking that?” Joe says, raising his eyebrows. He begins to count them off on his fingers. “First you discover an ancient ruin that’s still fully operational, survive an encounter with THE spider matriarch, befriend one of the former top brass in the Empire’s navy, survive an encounter with his murderer, kill the- wait, that one hasn’t happened yet. But you get the gist.”

What was he about to say?

The lady paladin looks a bit confused but addresses me again. “Would you be willing to assist in defeating the necromancer who did this? If he’s sending out this many skeletons to each village he attacks, I’m afraid he may have several hundreds to defend himself, as well as more powerful undead. We may not be able to handle them all ourselves.”

“But surely, with our holy magic being the bane of the undead, we should be able to defeat the necromancer with relative ease?” The male paladin asks the other.

She turns her head to face him. “Luc, would you like your eventual death to be because of your stubborn refusal to accept help?”

“No…” Luc replies, taken aback.

“Remember that while we help others, we are not to be above receiving help from others.” She reprimands, then turns her head back to me. “So, are you interested?”

I smile wryly and shake my head. “I would be happy to, but I don’t think that I’m strong or skilled enough to be able to fight against a weak necromancer, let alone a strong one. Last time I tried something like that I nearly died.”

Her eyebrows furrow. “How about if we train you as we travel?”

‘Accept her offer.’ Gerald says suddenly.

…I was about to.

“Then I will gladly join you.” I agree happily. “But why would you trust a random adventurer like me?”

Although the question is addressed to the female paladin, it is Luc who answers. “Because we paladins have skills that can detect lies and intentions. And you haven’t spoken a single falsehood or had a single impure intention during this whole conversation.”

I pause. Well, that would explain it.

“And how about you, Joe? Will you also come with us?” She asks.

I glance at him, and he shrugs nonchalantly. “Sure. I’ll have to give you forewarning, though – I don’t fight. I won’t get in the way, and I’ll keep up with you travelling, but the most I can offer is a few wise words every now and again.”

For some reason she just nods and accepts this. Maybe, like me, she realised the futility of arguing against a guy who doesn’t care about your opinion. Well, at least he’s honest about it.

Luc flips up his visor, revealing a face similarly graced by elven beauty, and offers a gauntleted hand. I shake it. It feels strange – I’ve never shaken the hands of someone wearing metal armour before. “My name is Luc. I pray we get along well on our future journeys.” Luc says warmly.

She offers her hand as well, and when I shake it, it feels startlingly different from his, despite the gauntlets being so similar. While his grip was firm and strong, hers is somehow gentle and yet in no way weak. “My name is Lily.” She says with a small smile, and then asks, “And yours is?”, finally reminding me that after all this I still hadn’t introduced myself.

“I’m Ferdinand.”

As I look at the two paladins, I can’t help but notice a black cat slinking across the edge of the town square. I don’t think anything of it at first, until I remember Gerald telling me about a cat in the last skeleton-infested village we visited.

Lily catches my odd gaze and turns around. When she sees the cat, she turns back and shrugs slightly. “Just a cat.”

“Why,” I say slowly, asking the very same question that Gerald asked me not so long ago, “is there a cat in an area full of undead that hate anything living?”

Lily’s eyes widen, and quickly catches the small furry feline. “Why didn’t we notice this sooner?” She mumbles, looking intently at the cat she is holding in one gauntleted hand. “Enslavement magic, observation magic… Now that I think about it, there must have been one of these in every village we visited. The necromancer has been watching us this entire time!” She exclaims in frustration.

“Are you able to track where the magic is coming from?” Asks Luc seriously.

“Perhaps, if…” The cat falls limp in her hand, causing her face to darken slightly. “The Necromancer killed it and cut off their connection to it before I was able to get anything more than a rough direction. South-West.”

Luc asks, “Do we head in that direction, then?”

Lily narrows her eyes for a moment, thinking. “No. We will find some more of these skeleton villages, purify them, and find some more of these cats. Then I shall be able to pinpoint the necromancer’s location.”

With that said and done, Lily and Luc roam around the village for a few minutes, purifying the death energy that lingers in the area. After this, the pair of paladins re-mount their steeds, and Lily pulled me up to sit behind her.

“Grip with your knees – but not too hard, or you could hurt him.” She advised. “And put your arms around my waist.”

Slightly dumbfounded, I awkwardly do as she said, gripping the horse’s flanks with my knees and… wrapping my arms around her (heavily armoured) waist. In a brief moment of clarity, I adjust my sheath so that it won’t poke into the horse while we’re riding.

I may not have ridden a horse before, but I know enough about them to know that irritating them is something you do not want to do.

After that, I must have fallen into some sort of a daze, because the next thing I know we’re already trotting along the road. In my defence, this is the first time I have been so close to a woman… even if she is wearing a suit of armour.

Twisting my head to look around a tad, I’m taken aback at just how far from the ground I am. I mean, I have no problem with heights, but it is a very strange sensation to see – and feel – yourself moving along while your feet dangle off the ground.

The distinctive smell of the horse tickles my nostrils, and I catch sight of Joe behind us – Not on Luc’s horse, as I had assumed, but jogging along with a relaxed smile on his face, looking around and taking in the view. He sees me looking at him, and waves to me.

…Right, okay.

“Try not to move around too much, please.” Says Lily, making me turn my head back to the front and adjust my posture slightly.

For a while, I just take in the sights. For once, other people are moving out of our way on the road, instead of me moving out of theirs.

Reaching the city doesn’t take more than an hour, much faster than it would have on foot. Although I suppose that with my recent increases in endurance and dexterity, I should be able to jog quite a distance.

“How do we find out about which villages have been attacked?” I ask.

Without turning her head, Lily nods towards the large building we are moving towards. “The local temples are among the first to know about things such as these. We only left here a few hours ago, but perhaps they have learned of something new in the meantime.”

I nod in understanding, before realising that she can’t see it. “That makes sense. By the way, which God or Goddess are you two the paladins of? I must confess that I’m not overly familiar with the signs of most gods.”

“We are devotees of the elven god Vitus, he who represents harmony and survival.” She replies. “And who do you follow?”

Who do I follow? It must have been years since I last prayed. The last time must have been… when my parents sent me away. I try and remember which God it was that we worshipped. “…Adeodatus.”

“The God of farming?” Lily says, a hint of surprise in her voice. “I would have expected Kamal, God of swords, or perhaps Orzora, Goddess of strength, due to you being an adventurer.”

“I used to be a farmer.” I explain quietly. “There was a famine, and my parents sent me away with a sword and the rest of the food. After that, I became an adventurer… the God of farming didn’t seem to fit me anymore, but as I said, I don’t know much about the other Gods.”

“I’m sorry for your loss.” Lily says softly. The horses plod on through the streets. Neither of us speak for a few moments. “The priests here will be glad to tell you about their Deity, if you wish to change who you follow. Just… keep in mind that you do not need to follow a Deity that relates to your chosen profession. You should choose one whose ideology and beliefs mirror yours.” She explains.

“Thanks.”

We reach the temple shortly, and we dismount from the horses. A young boy takes hold of both pairs of reigns, guiding the horses to a stable off to one side of the temple. We walk inside.

Inside is a massive, multi-tiered circular area, every tier lined with shrines bearing the symbols of a different Deity. Some have priests tending to them, while others stand largely abandoned. People mill about, offering prayers or tributes. The windows are covered with some sort of coloured glass, depicting various scenes.

The enormity and majesty of the building makes me feel tiny, insignificant in comparison to the hundreds of Deities represented in this place. Humbled, I quietly walk around, asking a few questions to the priests here and there.

There are a lot of gods to go through, too many to go through in a week, let alone the hour or so I wandered around, but I managed to go through quite a few. I even visited the shrine of Adeodatus. Some deities have similar beliefs and ideals, while some of them are quite… unique? But now that I think about it, all of them could be loosely termed as ‘good’, or at least can’t be described as ‘evil’.

Are there no evil Gods? Or are they just not represented here?

‘You know, religion here is very different to how religion was in my home world.’ Gerald says suddenly.

‘Really? In what way?’ I ask him.

‘Well,’ he begins, ‘for one thing, every religion was in this sort of silent holy war. They all believed that they were the true religion, and were all thus trying to spread to as many people as possible, while simultaneously telling people why the other religions were false, and trying to pick holes in their beliefs and such.’

Confused, I ask, ‘True religion?’

‘Yeah, the one religion that was ‘right’. See, every religion claimed that their God had created the world and everything on it, and there could only be one God who had created everything, right? If you had so many religions in one place like there is here, talking about their beliefs so openly, there would be arguments everywhere – hell, there’d probably be riots.’

All I can say is: ‘Wow.’

‘That reminds me: which one of these Gods created this world? Or is it all of them?’ He asks.

I have no idea, so I ask a priest nearby. “Who created the world?”

A voice behind me says “Crap.” Who would speak so vulgarly in a temple?

The priest in front of me, a bald man dressed in white, frowns in confusion. “I’m afraid I don’t know, child. If you wait a moment, I will ask my God, and perhaps He will gift us with the answer you seek.”

He bows down at the shrine behind him, lips moving soundlessly as he prays.

Finally, he stands up and sighs. “I’m afraid he hasn’t – wait…” He breaks off, seemingly listening to an unheard voice with an expression of rapture. A tear glistens at the corner of his eye as he says in awe, “My God has told me that the world existed before even the Gods…”

‘Well, there you have it.’ I tell Gerald.

‘…Alright. That was convenient.’ He says strangely. What more does he want, a God personally answered his question!

At that moment, an armoured hand grabs my wrist and starts pulling me along towards the exit. I have a moment of panic before I recognise the person dragging me along. “Luc? What’s happening?” I ask, regaining my balance and swiftly walking alongside him.

He releases my wrist. “We need to go, NOW.” He urges me, hurrying along at a pace that feels entirely inappropriate in this holy place.

In a matter of seconds, we are outside and back on the horses. I’m not sure whether to be relieved that I’m behind Luc because I won’t be distracted by being so close to a woman, or disappointed that I’m not behind Lily because I won’t be behind a woman…

…I think Gerald has affected me. Why else would I be thinking of something so useless in a serious situation?

“What happened?” I ask as we trot through town.

When Luc replies, his voice is thick with worry. “Skeletons are attacking almost every village that the priests here know about.”

Alarmed, I ask, “What about the army? Adventurers? Surely they are doing something?”

“We did not want to waste the time it would have taken to find that out. However, it would be ridiculous if they were not assisting.” Lily answers, a similar tone in her voice.

That’s true.

…But then again, why didn’t they help with the last two villages we saved?

Gerald: Status

Status

Name: Gerald

Race: Living Fork

Level: 30

Experience: 2658.08/6400

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: 4898/3152 (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) 27.93% - 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) 23.74%: 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) 39.16% - 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: 2430.48/5700

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) 1.15% - 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.