Chapter 29: Destined to Die

(POV Gerald)

“I’ll be going out for a bit. Back in a minute.” I tell Ferdinand telepathically as the group moves out again.

“Okay.” He replies, and I slip out of the top of his pack and onto the ground.

Mounted as they are, I am quickly left behind. When I’m sure that they’re too far to see me, I pick myself off the ground with telekinesis and hover back towards the mansion. Apologies, mr. doppelganger, but your body is just too juicy for me to pass up.

He, it – whatever – is buried in an unmarked, shallow grave around the back of the mansion. It’s not like there’s any love lost between the late doppelganger and our group, but apparently paladins have enough decency that they won’t let even their enemies be devoured by wild animals. So, they buried him.

And now here I am. Devouring corpses is morally questionable in the first place, but when it comes to people’s corpses, the line is very obviously and completely crossed.

Unforktunately for me, I’m too paranoid being in a world like this not to cross a few lines. When I can’t even tell what tomorrow will bring… Still, I have standards. I have to have standards. Else I risk becoming something truly inhuman.

Only enemies. And hopefully someday, I’ll become strong enough that I can say no sentient beings, either.

Perhaps I have already reached the point of no return. But my choices are to cross a few lines or run. Run and hide from the world until I’m strong and confident enough to face it.

I don’t want to abandon Ferdinand. I don’t know if he’s strong enough to survive, what with the Empire being in such a turbulent situation. With the paladins there, he should be safe enough, but there’s too many things I don’t know, don’t understand.

Demons: where did they come from? Are there more of them? Sentient monsters – heck, monsters in general. Politics.

Damn it, even when I’m in another world I’m getting pissed off by the people in power.

I burrow through the shallow layer of earth above the body. I’ve stopped getting notifications when I absorb earth. I wonder why?

I absorb the doppelganger’s entire body, bit by bit.

Lvl 48 Doppelganger absorbed

Experience gained: 12650

Durability recovered: 46.38 (Exceeds maximum durability, reducing to 0)

Skill proficiency increased: Absorb 0.01%

Skills gained: Melee weaponry – Spear (Advanced), Doppelganger (Static)

Traits gained: Bloodthirsty (Error. Trait contrary to user personality profile. Erasing.)

Level up! You are now level 32

11 Stat points gained

Two levels at once? Not half bad.

Now, let’s see… I want my Int and Wis to be equal again, but the points won’t let me without being annoyingly exact… Well, I’ve needed to put a few points in Dex for a while now, get me a bit better motion perception. Fortunately, I have that trait which doubles my effective Dex stat, so I don’t have to put many in. How about 3.5? Makes that one a bit uneven, but I care less about that than Int and Wis.

Then 4 into Int and 3.5 into Wis, putting them both at 52. This puts my radius of vision up to just above 1.5km.

Now, as to the other things I gained. I’m kinda glad I didn’t gain a trait called ‘bloodthirsty’, but now I’m left wondering what it did. Also, that can happen? It doesn’t fit my personality, so I can’t get it? Huh.

Anyway, who cares about that spear skill. I can’t use a spear. Wait, would the effects apply if I turned into a spear somehow or other? Questions for later. Now, the skill I’m actually interested in.

Doppelganger (Static) (High Unique, Active) – Upon designating a target of this skill (physical contact is required, target must be a living being), you shall take on the physical appearance of that target. After doing so, you have 24 hours (local time) to kill your target.

If successful, you will be given the choice of permanently retaining the appearance of the target, gaining the target’s memories and skills - although the skills obtained shall be one proficiency level lower than the proficiency level the target formerly had the skill at – or gaining the ability to switch between your original and the target’s appearance at a cost relative to the difference between the two forms.

If unsuccessful, you will regain your original appearance. Furthermore, this skill will be permanently erased with no possibility of obtaining it again, regardless of what method is used.

…Well. This is a skill and a half. And it poses a difficult dilemma.

Become human again – or another humanoid race, the option’s there – permanently, giving up my not inconsiderable advantages of stealth, perfect memory, doubled mana pool and regen – I doubt a ‘material’ trait will affect a human - not being influenced by hormones and emotions as well as lacking the need to sleep, eat and drink. I will, however, gain some additional skills and memories.

Or take a risk and gain the ability to switch between two forms, being able to utilise the advantages of both, despite not gaining any additional skills and memories. Also, the ‘cost’ mentioned is rather vague. It’ll probably be mana - these things usually are - but it’s hard to tell.

Well, let’s see: I don’t actually fancy getting somebody else’s memories, mine are fine as they are, thanks. The skills would be nice, depending on the target. Although, it would be quite difficult finding a person that is both ‘evil’ enough to warrant me killing them and has skills that complement my own.

That’s quite a few points against going permanent human.

How about choosing the switch ability? I lose out on the opportunity to gain some new skills reliably. And that cost will probably be quite large – there aren’t really any similarities between a human and a fork. But then again, there aren’t really any downsides to choosing this option, even if the cost is too high for me to use, whereas permanently becoming a human – there are just too many downsides.

Of course, choosing the switch may be passing up the chance to regain normal movement, sight, hearing, speech, taste and everything else – things which I have dearly missed. But I’m confident that even without this skill, I’ll find a way to get them back some day.

The switch choice it is, then.

…Of course, I still have to find a suitable person, first.

With my business here done, I head back towards the others. Sadly, it would be much harder to slip back into Ferdinand’s pack while they’re on the move than it was to slip out, so I travel parallel to them for a while, letting Ferdinand know of my situation through telepathy.

One might think that I’d run out of psi eventually, but in actual fact I regenerate more psi than I use to keep myself aloft – which is around 4 psi per minute – and keep myself moving at the same pace as the horses.

I do this until everyone stops for a break; after that it’s as simple as calling Ferdinand over to pick me up off the ground.

After that, I’m able to relax and watch the scenery pass by as we head towards the capitol.

‘I am Lily, paladin of Vitus. Those behind me are also paladins and priests of various gods and goddesses. We seek an audience with the prince.’ I watch Lily as she negotiates with the gatekeepers to get us inside.

From where we are, the entire palace is already in my sight. Now, if I just had some sort of magic projectile I could guide, I’d hardly even need to go inside.

…Well, I doubt a palace would be without any means of magical protection, so it’s all the same, really.

The guard hesitates. ‘The prince isn’t accepting visitors… But with your unique identities, I think I should at least send a man to inquire for you.’

‘Thank you.’ Lily nods in appreciation as the guard rings a small hand bell, causing a messenger to come running.

Unfortunately, he jots the message down on a piece of paper that he hands to the messenger, rather than telling him, so I don’t know what message he’s actually sending. But from what I can read of his body language, he doesn’t seem hostile. A tad wary, maybe – but he’s a guard for the royal palace. It’s his job to be wary.

While we wait for the messenger to return – well, I’m tracking his progress so that I can easily identify the prince as well, but apart from that – I take a closer look at the place. It’s excessively lavish, as one might expect from the palace of a country called ‘the Empire’. I can see a man wearing gaudy clothing pacing in a large bedroom, with a crown resting lightly in a padded box on a desk; the emperor, I assume.

…And in a room beneath the palace, a man with horns and a pointed tail. Welp, there’s our demon.

The sheer volume of hidden passageways is rather off-putting. Even the emperor’s room has two: one leading to another bedroom nearby, and the other spiralling down through the walls, underground into a passageway that extends so far that it goes clean out of my vision. The uses of both are blatantly obvious once seen, but without my particular set of skills both of them would be extremely well hidden.

Hm, well it looks like something is happening. The messenger has finished talking to a young man that I’m tentatively going to assume is the prince, and now both are moving off in separate directions. The messenger is heading back to us, and the prince is heading to… let’s see, either the kitchens or a large room furnished with plush chairs. I’m going to guess the latter.

Then again, he could just be peckish.

…He isn’t.

The messenger shortly returns, informing us that the prince is willing to see us.

‘Very well then, I’ll have to ask that you leave your bags and weapons here for the duration of your visit.’ The guard says, then glances behind us to the horses. ‘I’ll have a few stable boys come over and take care of your steeds as well.’

Seeing him say that, I stealthily creep out of Ferdinand’s pack and slip into his coin pouch with some help from form manipulation.

He looks over the paladins’ armour carefully. ‘The armour will be fine, but the helmets will have to come off. And make sure to be careful in the hallways. If you damage something you’ll have to pay for it. The messenger here will take you where you need to go. And I don’t think I need to say it, but please don’t wander around. There are guards everywhere.’

‘Thank you, we will be sure to take care.’ Says Lily.

The guard just nods stoically in reply, and we filter through the gate, across the lawn and into the palace itself, following the measured footsteps of the messenger. A few short corridors later, the messenger knocks on a door.

On the other side of the door, the prince says, ‘come in.’

(POV Ferdinand)

As the door closes behind us, my first impression is that he’s younger than I imagined. Younger than me, even. Then the paleness, eerily similar to the stories of vampires I was told as a child. But I can’t see the characteristic fangs when he smiles, so I put my suspicions aside.

“Welcome.” He says, smiling. “Take a seat, and we can discuss the reason for your visit here.” He gestures to the lavish furniture from where he sits.

…Is that for sitting? It looks more like a decoration.

Nobody takes him up on the offer, however, and his smile falters slightly.

“We have found evidence that suggests that you are conspiring with a demon and were at least partly responsible for the actions of a necromancer, which caused widespread death and destruction.” Lily states succinctly.

The prince’s smile turns into a frown. “That is a rather serious accusation. I am not conspiring - and nor have I ever conspired - with demons or necromancers. However, I am interested in hearing what evidence led you to this conclusion.”

“The personal diary of that same necromancer.” Lily says, before adding, “and one of my companions tells me that there is a demon in the basement of this building at this very moment.”

It must’ve been Gerald. I didn’t notice anyone else talking to Lily, and that’s something Gerald could easily notice.

The prince’s face trembles, and his lips twist into a sad smile. “You’re right.” He admits, and everyone suddenly tenses, myself included. “I never meant for things to happen this way,” he continues, “but since you know, I’ll have to ask you to act like this never happened.”

…That’s not what I expected.

“We aren’t so easily swayed. You will face judgement.” Luc exclaims, moving forwards to grab him.

With a smile that seems more like he’s crying, the prince looks at Luc and says: “Stop.”

As if yanked back with a rope, Luc stops moving with arm outstretched. I see the muscles in his neck rippling, but he doesn’t move even a single step further.

Everyone suddenly bursts into motion, trying to grab the prince. The glow of magic emanates from Lily’s hand as she stretches it towards the prince, priming magic to take him down. Marco deploys a magical shield, and everyone else just rushes towards him.

But with a single sweep of his eyes, and another uttered word, “Stop”, everyone stops moving.

Everyone… except me.

I don’t stop to think why. I just move.

Slipping in between various paladins, priests and pieces of furniture, I reach out to grab the prince.

“Stop. Stop! Why isn’t it…” The prince scrambles over the back of his chair and towards the door as his skill continues not to work on me. But I am considerably faster than him, and he is completely unable to resist as I grab his arm, hauling him back towards me.

…What do I do now? “Release them.” I say sternly.

“No, no no – get him away from me!” He suddenly addresses the others, and they start moving again, but for some reason I’m not optimistic about my situation.

Should I -

I feel a slight tug from my belt, and then there’s a naked man in front of me, thankfully facing away from me.

As suddenly as he appeared, he disappears. Noticing something, I look down at the prince’s chest. The prince looks down at his own chest. Everyone stops their motions to attack me to look at him.

There’s a massive hole there.

(POV Prince)

I look down at my chest and see the gaping hole. For a seemingly endless moment, I fail to realise the meaning of the hole as blood starts to drip in torrents over my luxurious clothing.

Then it hits me: I am dead.

Suddenly feeling rather faint, my legs collapse and I begin to topple… slowly, ever so slowly.

Somehow, it doesn’t feel all that bad. Perhaps this is not such a bad turn of events after all. I made a mess of just about everything, didn’t I?

Now somebody who actually knows what they are doing can step in and fix things up.

Still, a few months in the life of a prince… it was not terrible. With all the snide remarks people made about my future prospects, I can say without a shadow of a doubt that not one person expected me to get this far.

Not that it was by my own virtues, of course. It was an absurd combination of panic, luck and… magic.

Funny thing, magic. Back on Psukhes, people would laugh at you if you believed in it. And yet, things people did every day back home would be called magic over here more often than it would be recognised for its true nature – psychic abilities.

Everyone had them. Everyone. Could be something as small as being able to lift a pencil without touching it, or causing a slight breeze at will, but everyone had at least one psychic ability.

…Everyone but me, that is.

None of the psychiatrists could understand why I didn’t. ‘By all rights, by everything we can see, you should have one’, they said.

Well, as it turns out, I did. Two, in fact. But neither of them could show their effects. The first, a form of hypnosis, is utterly powerless against any other psychic, no matter how weak their powers. The second allows me to understand any form of spoken language… I did not know there were other languages.

Of course, I was relentlessly tormented by everyone else because of this. Classmates, teachers, even passers-by… everyone knew me.

Even my parents gave up on me.

I was on the edge of despair, trying to decide whether continuing under the pain or taking the plunge was a better decision… When I was summoned here. Another world. Odwia.

I had looked at the people around me. Thinking back, I felt something pass between me and them – undoubtedly an unconscious use of my psychic ability – and when I, in my confusion and panic, thinking that they had kidnapped me, shouted “wait”, I was astonished to find that they did so.

They were equally astonished. And not a small bit angry. I panicked more. Everything snowballed.

At first, I thought I could use my ability to get myself a life of luxury. But there were so many things I couldn’t understand. Demons… I thought they were just people who had been strangely affected by their psychic powers. It was not unheard of back on Psukhes. When I heard skeletons described as undying, untiring soldiers, I thought they would be the perfect work force.

Magic, gods and goddesses, politics… I could not understand anything. So instead of making things better, I just made everything worse. The demon was doing who knows what behind my back, always managing to find some way to weasel around my orders…

And with my own weakness, I had to stay locked inside the palace at all times. Although I could likely deal with an attacker at close range, a single arrow would be sufficient to take away my life.

I wonder, what would I have chosen back then, had I not been summoned?

No… I don’t even need to wonder. I would have chosen to die.

Perhaps that would have been better. If none of this had happened.

But either way.

No matter what I did.

No matter what I chose.

I was destined to die.

I open my eyes, one last time. Take in the glamourous room from my position on the floor.

And let darkness envelop me.

(POV Gerald)

Flesh of Lvl 1 Human absorbed

Experience gained: 0

Durability recovered: 3.2 (Exceeds maximum durability, reducing to 0)

Skill proficiency increased: None

Skills gained: Psychic translation (Static)

Traits gained: None

Target killed.

Your choice?

Permanently retain the appearance of a human male, gain the target’s memories and skills (skills obtained shall be one proficiency level lower than the proficiency level the target formerly had the skill at)

Gain the ability to switch between your original and Human male appearance at a cost relative to the difference between the two forms.

Option 2.

Error.

Calculated cost exceeds predicted maximum mana regeneration for this user.

Requesting Administrator assistance.

Please wait.

Well, this is new.

I look at the window for a few seconds, but nothing happens, so I look around me. Everyone is trying to figure out what happened. In the confusion, I slip back into Ferdinand’s belt pouch.

Guards quickly enter the room. Everyone gets ready to fight, but the guards actually don’t attack. They just send out a messenger and stand guard at the doors.

“Hey. You alright?” I ask Ferdinand.

“That was you, wasn’t it? You killed him?” He asks quietly.

“Yes. I did.” I admit. “I wish I didn’t have to, but it looked like it was you or him that was going to die there, and I wasn’t about to watch you die.”

“…Are you alright?” His question takes me by surprise.

“I… Maybe. I think so.” I say. “One of the good things about being me is that I don’t get overwhelmed by emotions. There’s some panic, some horror, but it doesn’t affect me much.”

“Hmm. So, you can turn into a human now?” He asks suddenly.

I groan. “Pending confirmation, but it’s not hopeful.”

Something underground catches my attention. A certain demon walking through a swirling mass of mana. A portal.

“Hey, you should be strong enough to survive, especially if you keep following these guys, won’t you?” I ask him, slipping out of the pouch and onto the floor again.

“Um, probably, yeah. Wait, why?” He replies suspiciously.

“Demon just went through a portal. Chasing him now. No time to get you through all the guards and explain to everyone, I don’t think. We may be separated for a while.” I explain, already absorbing my way through the floor.

Then the next floor. Then the next, leaving a curiously shaped hole behind me, until I reach the basement.

Bracing myself mentally, I fly into the portal.

As I do, a couple messages greet me.

Party leader is in a separate world to party member ‘Ferdinand’. ‘Ferdinand’ is automatically kicked from the party ‘The fork is mightier than the sword’, and will be unable to re-join until he is in the same world as the party leader.

Crap.

Skill ‘Doppelganger (Static)’ use cost set to 1000 mana/minute.

The difference in form is too big, this is all I can do.

You’ll get there one day.

Good luck.

Double crap.

Gerald: Level Up X2!

Status

Name: Gerald

Race: Living Fork

Level: 32 [+2]

Experience: 3372.08/7200 [+14125]

Gender: None

Age: 11 months (local time)

Allegiance: None

Fame: None

Strength: 6.5 (65.0)

Intelligence: 52.0 [+4]

Dexterity: 8.5 (17.0) [+3.5]

Wisdom: 52.0 [+3.5]

Charisma: 6.0

Luck: 12.1

Hardness: 26.4 [+0.8]

Durability: 18.0/18.0 [+0.8]

Mana: 1040/1040 [+80]

Mana regen: 10.40/min [+0.8]

Psi: 520/520 [+35]

Psi regen: 5.20/min [+0.4]

Ki: 18263/3380 (33800)

Ki regen: 3.38 (33.80)/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

Undead slaughterer – Killer of many horrors of the night, you can instinctively sense nearby undead, especially those harmful to you. All stats increased by 2 when attacking undead.

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) 0.41% - 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) 10.95% - 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) 28.02% - 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) 28.47%: 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) 53.19% - 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) 57.30% - 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) 10.01% - 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) 93.39% - 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.

Melee weaponry – Spear (Advanced) (Mid Common, Passive) 0.00% - You have some experience using a standard spear. 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.

Doppelganger (Static) (High Unique, Active) – Switch between your original appearance and that of a Human Male. Costs 1000 mana/min.

Psychic translation (Static) (Low Unique, Passive) – Through subconscious psychic analysis of thought waves and language patterns, allows you to understand (and temporarily speak) any spoken language as if it is your native tongue. Does not apply to non-vocal languages.

Ferdinand: Status

Status

Name: Ferdinand

Race: Human

Level: 32

Experience: 1546.48/7200

Gender: Male

Age: 23 years

Allegiance: None

Fame: None

Strength: 48.1

Intelligence: 8.1

Dexterity: 40.7

Wisdom: 8.0

Charisma: 8.0

Luck: 37.8

Endurance: 48.4

Health: 484/484

Health regen: 2.904/hour

Stamina: 407/407

Stamina regen: 4.07/min

Mana: 81/81

Mana regen: 0.8/min

Psi: 80/80

Psi regen: 0.81/min

Fighting spirit: 0

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.

Undead slaughterer – Killer of many horrors of the night, you can instinctively sense nearby undead, especially those harmful to you. All stats increased by 2 when attacking undead.

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.

Battleborn – Whether your battles end in victory or defeat, you will never give up. Increased resistance to mental influences, increased grip strength, pain reduction. Stat unlock: Fighting spirit.

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) 14.97% - You can speak common fluently, but you don’t know many longer or rarely used words.

Common language-Written (Basic) (Mid Common, Passive) 49.34% - 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) 19.61% - 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) 87.60% - 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) 43.17% - 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) 21.17% - 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.

Power slash (Basic) (High Common, Active) 21.37% - Multiplies the speed and power of a slash by 1.1. Cooldown: 5 minutes. Stamina cost: 50

Power stab (Basic) (High Common, Active) 14.63% - Multiplies the speed and power of a stab by 1.1. Cooldown: 5 minutes. Stamina cost: 50

Battle focus (Basic) (Mid Uncommon, Active) 48.36% - Allows you to enter a state of intense concentration when in combat. Slightly decreases likelihood of being startled by unexpected events, loosing track of an enemy and not seeing attacks. Strength +0.5, Dexterity +0.5, Endurance +0.5, Intelligence +0.5, Wisdom +0.5, Luck +0.5, Charisma +0.5 when in this state.

Battle cry (Basic) (Mid Uncommon, Active) 10.12% - Roar loudly, your voice echoing over the battlefield with a possibility of startling and/or causing fear in enemies. Reduced effect if used repeatedly on the same enemy. Requires: >30 Fighting spirit. Cooldown: 2 minutes. Stamina cost: 30.

Armour – Shield – Heater Shield (Basic) (High Common, Passive) 2.83% - You have a small amount of experience using a heater shield. +1 Endurance when using a heater shield.

Mapping (Basic) (Mid Common, Passive) 0.31% - You tried to draw a map. Emphasis on tried. Well, at least you tried.