“Um, I think we should make a base some distance away from the river, in case there are water monsters or something,” a man suggested.

“Alright. Anyone else?” The Marshall asked, nodding in agreement.

“I've been doing construction work for a long time, if you need to build anything, I can help,” a dark-skinned man in his forties waved his hand.

“What would you suggest we build then? We need a defensive perimeter of some kind, large enough to house all of us,” the Marshall asked him.

The man looked around, his gaze lingering on the forest some two hundred yards away, then turned back to the Marshall. “A log fence would offer the most security, but if we only have two-three hours, that's not enough time. We can dig a trench... say a sixty yards radius for the base, with a moat around it? Would offer some defense against monsters. And in the future we could build a log fence behind it,” the man explained.

“Do we have enough time to dig such a moat?”

“Hmm, a radius of sixty yards... a bit shy of four hundred yards. Say, two yards wide and deep gives us sixteen hundred cubic yards. Assuming a hundred people, that's sixteen cubic yards each, eight per hour, about seven minutes per cubic yard,” the man mumbled to himself as he did some calculations. “It's hard to say. We have no tools, but we do have increased Strength and such. I don't think we can quite finish it, but even if we only manage half, that would provide some defense,” he finally offered.

“Guess that's all we can do. I don't suppose anyone has learned earth magic that would help with the moat?” The Marshall asked, though his voice made it clear he wasn't expecting a positive answer. “Figures. Everyone, take a few minutes to relax while we mark a trail for the moat, then we'll all get to digging.”

After giving the order, the Marshall approached the construction man, and the two of them, along with a group of others, went to draw the line for the moat. Frank decided to use this time to check on his skill gains from the previous battle, and to spend whatever GP he had earned.

Going through his notifications, his Mana Shield, Lightning Bolt, Fitness, Parry, and Pain Tolerance increased by 1, while Saber Mastery went up by 3. Giving him a total of 8 GP. Smiling, Frank placed the last point into the Front Pack grid, but rather than getting a choice between a fighter's and a mage's skill, like he thought would be the case going by the symbol inside the final node, he received both skills.

Congratulations on completing the Front Pack grid. You have been awarded Arcane Missiles and Phantom Strike skills.

You have learned a new skill: Arcane Missiles, level 1: You are now a living artillery. So long as you are allowed to cast, even the toughest target will soon succumb to your relentless barrage. As if mages weren't already killed fast enough, not only does it require you to stand still, it also constantly shoots out magic, conveniently showing your location to everyone. This spell allows you to continuously shoot arcane missiles at a target. It deals (0.25*level + 0.25*D Magic) arcane damage per missile, the damage of each subsequent missile increases by this amount. And costs 1*level mana for the initial cast and 0.25*level mana for each subsequent missile.

Hmm, an interesting spell, but I'll need to test it to see how it works. Is there a limit to how long you can channel it? The initial damage per mana ratio is quite poor, but if I can channel it for a few more hits... it could be quite something, Frank rubbed his chin as he did some mental math. Satisfied with the results, he looked at the second skill.

You have learned a new skill: Phantom Strike, level 1: Powerful warriors are able to project the power of their strikes, attacking the very mind of their enemies. The perfect compliment to your saber, allowing you to deal with armored targets. That is, until you realize that it has the lowest damage, range, and speed among equivalent skills of all other magic types. This skill sends out a projection of your attack, which ignores armor and deals mental damage. Cost: 10 stamina.

Frank glanced around, quickly moving to an area away from others. He activated Phantom Strike and slashed with his saber. As he cut through the air, an image of his blade flew out, traveling a little over a yard, before dissipating. The display drew some interested gazes, but for the time being, he was left alone.

Another skill that I'll have to test. Still, an armor-ignoring attack is nice to have, and I can use it to burn through my stamina, Frank thought. Now, what to do with the other Grid Points. This was a rather tough decision. Completing Front Pack didn't open up any new grids, which left him with Die Hard and Taking the Lead, both of which were difficult grids to unlock, especially the latter. Unfortunately, they both required 50 GP to complete, while only awarding 9 attribute points. The same 50 GP would be enough to complete all three basic grids, giving him a much more impressive 21 total attributes and three skills. Granted, 12 of those attributes would be allocated to a specific stat, but it was still clearly much more bang for the buck.

In the end, he just couldn't justify the high cost of the two grids and put his remaining 7 GP into the Fighter grid, which gave him 1 Strength, 1 free attribute point, and 1 Dexterity. Finished with grids, Frank switched to his Attributes tab.

Strength: 3

Dexterity: 3 (+1)

Quickness: 5 (+3)

Perception: 1 (+1)

Constitution: 1

Vitality: 11

Endurance: 5

Destructive Magic Affinity: 2

Restorative Magic Affinity: 2

Focus: 5

Control: 2

Willpower: 3

HP: 48/48 (60/hour)

Stamina: 30/30 (105/hour)

D Mana: 13/20 (25/hour)

R Mana: 14/20 (30/hour)

There is some progress, but it's too slow. Or is it just my perception? Frank wondered. It has only been four hours or so since the System activated. It just feels like it's been a long time because of how much has happened. For less than half a day's worth, my progress is quite nice. Still, the System is clearly set up as a competition, giving grids for being the first to do this or that. To get the most out of the System, I need to stay ahead of the curve. Building a base should result in less immediate danger and give me some time to train. Which means, higher regeneration will begin to pay dividends. Having come to this decision, Frank put his two free attribute points into Endurance, bringing it to 7, and his Stamina to 30/40 (125/hour).

He used Phantom Strike three more times and got a skill level from it. He put the new Grid Point into the Fighter grid, which was now at 8/15, and got a free attribute point. He quickly added it to Focus, bringing it up to 6 and increasing the regeneration of both types of mana by 3.

Seeing that he had some spare mana, Frank cast Mana Shield, then started to look for Hank. He was able to find the large man soon and made a beeline toward him. Frank was just about to speak when Bill's voice boomed in his ears.

“That's some fancy looking skill you've used there. What does it do and how did you get it?” Bill asked in an excited voice. Some of the other people close to them, moved a little closer to hear his answer.

Frank shrugged and proceeded to explain. Bill waved his hand dismissively and went to talk to his wife, after hearing that it was a reward from a grid he couldn't get anymore. Having dealt with him, Frank turned his attention back to Hank.

“Umm, Hank, what's your HP at?”

“Ah? It's at 140. I've put seven points into Constitution at the start,” the man lamented.

“And you are at full HP? Can you help me test something?” Frank asked, rubbing his hands together, a grin on his lips.

“You're scaring me, old man,” Hank said looking at the eager Frank, “what do you have in mind?”

“I've got this spell and I need someone to test it on. No chance of it killing you, with your high HP.”

“Fucking hell, why did I get all that Constitution,” Hank whined, but gave a nod.

Frank moved half a dozen yards away, then faced the large man. After making sure that he was ready, Frank pointed his left hand and cast Arcane Missiles. Since the skill was at level 1, it only cost 1 D mana for the initial cast, and 0.25 mana afterward, meaning he could keep it up for a while, even with his meager D mana pool.

The skill activated, and a somewhat missile-shaped form began to extend from the palm of Frank's hand. Purple and semitransparent, it extended to three feet in length, and about a foot in diameter. Once it fully formed, there was a small delay, and then it rocketed forward, hitting Hank in the chest, it entered his body, then a new missile began to extend from Frank's palm.

“You alright?” Frank asked, and got a thumbs-up. Of course, he is, I just did 0.75 HP worth of damage, he chuckled. Still, the next attack will deal 1.5, then 2.25...

He continued to shoot magic, Hank taking it stoically with little issue. Each missile took around three seconds to form, so the frequency of the hits wasn't too high. Still, the continued assault piqued the interest of other people, who came over, curious.

“Just training folks, nothing special,” Frank told them.

Questions about the skill came flying his way, but he let those who've heard his explanation earlier take care of it. He continued to focus on the spell while doing some calculations in his head. Even at level 1, and with D affinity of just 2, after thirty seconds, the spell would start hitting for roughly 8 damage per cast. Not too shabby, Frank thought. Then he gained a level, which doubled the mana cost. Still, at 0.5 D mana per shot, he could keep it up for a while.

“Stop,” Hank shouted, waving his hands at him.

“Good enough. Margaret, can you heal him?” He asked, turning to the healer of their group. She shrugged and moved toward Hank.

“Come on, you can't treat me like a training dummy,” Hank complained even as Margaret brought his HP to near-full.

“It can help you train skills too, like Pain Tolerance,” Frank asked, as a realization hit him.” Hmm, are there resistance skills as well? Did you get Arcane Resistance skill or something?”

“Nothing yet,” Hank shook his head.

“Maybe not enough damage,” Frank mumbled, “do let me know if you get one,” he said as he began the next barrage.

This time, he was forced to stop due to running out of D mana. Still, he got another skill level, bringing the spell to level 3. Even more promising, was the fact that Hank received Arcane Resistance Skill, which made Frank truly excited.

I could gain GP not just by training, but also by getting attacked by others, relying on their resources to gain GP, provided I had enough HP. Thinking about the best way to exploit this information, Frank removed a short sword from his Spatial Ring, and stabbed himself through the arm, watching nonchalantly his HP slide to 40/48. Pulling out the sword caused a loss of another 3 HP, before the wound fully healed.

He stabbed himself again, and again, and again, eliciting a “Crazy old man” from Hank, while Bill laughed uproariously. His HP was down to 8/48, but he gained a level in Pain Tolerance. All of his resources spent, he sat down and activated Meditation, more than doubling his regeneration.

Only ten minutes to have full Stamina, but twenty minutes for HP and mana. If I get a healing skill, I could ignore HP regeneration, and just focus on mana instead. Doing so would also allow me to train resistance skills, Frank mused while meditating.

About eight minutes into his meditation, the Marshall returned and announced that the line for the moat had been marked. Everyone with adequate physical attributes was invited to dig. Although Frank's Strength was pretty low, he too joined in.

Using swords to dig was surprisingly effective, and after an hour of digging, they had a pretty decent trench going. It also turned out that digging was less about Strength and more About Endurance, which was why Frank was still happily stabbing into the ground, pressing the dug-up earth against the sword, and throwing it out of the moat. Although, he was covered in sweat and dirt, he was happy with the results. Not only had he dug a nice hole, but he also gained two new skills.

You have learned a new skill: Digging, level 1: Not a glamorous skill, but the world needs ditch diggers too. At least digging won't get you killed, unlike your other skills. This skill increases your familiarity with digging, increasing speed and efficiency.

You have learned a new skill: Physical Labor, level 1: A man can always be proud of a day's worth of hard work. Should have leveled Fitness instead. This skill is the non-combat equivalent of Fitness, increasing the amount of work you can do.

Perhaps he was getting used to it, but Frank just chuckled at the snarky parts of the descriptions, feeling more amused than upset by them. Regardless of their usefulness, a skill granted Grid Points. And he had placed a high priority on getting more GP, even if by leveling skills not relevant to combat. All in all, his Digging and Physical Labor skills got to level 3, and he even got a level in Fitness. Combined with the points from the training he did with Hank and his self-mutilation, he now had 10 GP, enough to finish the Fighter line.

He climbed out of the moat and took a short break. Sitting nearby he opened his grid tab and finished the Fighter grid. Getting 1 Quickness, 1 Perception and a free point, as well as a skill and two new grids.

Congratulations on completing the Fighter grid. You have been awarded the Power Attack skill.

As a reward for completing the Fighter grid, the following grids have become available: Skirmisher I, Guardsman I.

You have learned a new skill: Power Attack, level 1: When at first you don't succeed, use more force. Punch people in the face... harder. This skill greatly increases the damage of your attack. Cost: 5 stamina.

He had already asked Bill about these grids, so none of it was surprising. The Skirmisher seemed like an offensive specialization, the reward for completing it was a skill called Dash, which allowed one to move at super-speed over a short distance. Frank had yet to find anyone who had finished the Guardsman. Still, at 25 points each, he wasn't particularly thrilled with either choice. Instead, Frank put his remaining 3 GP into the Healing grid and got 1 R affinity for it. Following his plan to focus on R mana regeneration and healing, he added the free attribute point to Willpower.

After he was finished, he spent around five minutes meditating, to get his stamina to full. Smiling at the notification about Meditation gaining a level, he jumped back into the trench and started to dig once more. The next hour was spent on increasing the width and depth of the trench. It bugged Frank that his resources were at full capacity, yet he had to forgo spending them. The next attack would likely have monsters at level ten, which would make for an extremely difficult fight, so everyone had to be at their best. Yet no attack came.

Another hour or so went by, and the moat was completed. Frank climbed out of it and admired their new defensive line. An area with a radius of some sixty yards was encircled by a moat that was two yards wide and deep. Except for two, eight-yard wide stretches where the gates would be, and a small path of two yards – a future backdoor, should they get sieged. They would likely need to deepen the moat still, as well as add spikes at the bottom, but for a few hours of work, it was very impressive.

“Great work everyone!” The Marshall shouted excitedly after everyone gathered around him. “We've taken the first step to building our base and improving our defenses and chances of survival.”

He paused briefly as people cheered and clapped. After the crowd settled down again, he continued. “We haven't gotten attacked, despite more time passing than between previous attacks. I am not sure what to make of it, but I think we should stay alert. As such, everyone should conserve their resources and be ready to engage,” he paused again to feel the crowd's response, then continued. “Two teams had been sent into the forest to forage for food. In the meantime, anyone who wants to go to the river to clean up can do so but go with your entire group. Afterward, you can train the skills that don't expend resources, like Meditation and whatnot.”

Frank started to look for the rest of his teammates, locating them shortly. Since all of the men took part in digging the moat and were quite filthy looking, they naturally decided to go clean up. A spell to clean yourself would be nice. I wonder if there is one, Frank thought lazily as they marched towards the river.

“Is it just me, or do you all feel disappointed we didn't get attacked? Bill asked.

“You've become a battle junkie in half a day,” Amy laughed.

“Nah, he's just upset he had to dig the whole time,” Margaret teased.

“I doubt this lull will last long,” Frank said, “the System is too brutal to give us such a break.”