All I needed to do now was decide which art to work on. At present, I still wanted to focus on getting levels for the beginner art of the lightning. The attacks would add more variety to my repertoire, and the movement ability, while expensive, was extremely beneficial. Now that I could move a couple of feet at a time, I could instantly dodge ranged attacks, or rapidly close distance to break through someone’s guard. This would give me a clear advantage in many fights and give me some security when taking on more powerful foes. The stamina consumption was certainly steep, but I consumed barely any stamina while attacking normally, leaving the resource largely untouched.

Without further ado, I began to practice the lightning art. Activating focus, the world around me faded out of my perception, and I could understand the motions of the art with razor-sharp clarity. As focus improved, my ability to quickly level up skills improved as well. I wanted to try and get to the next upgrade for focus so that I could try and work on multiple skills at once. That would increase my training potential even further. It was nice to be able to work one ability so efficiently, but there were many times when synergy would allow me to train two things at once, and focus forbid the action.

A good example was when I was training the magic skills. For aerokinesis, I leveled it up at the same time as I worked on the beginner art of the blizzard. After gaining focus, I was limited to one skill at a time, and while the rate of skill experience I was granted was much faster, I was still limited one thing at a time. It was good for skill levels but bad for practicality. There were very few occasions where I only used one ability at a time, and training without it was potentially bad practice.

Regardless, there was nothing to be done for it yet. I focused in and continued working on the art of the lightning. It was mostly a foot and movement technique, focusing on engaging and disengaging from combat quickly. The method I learned during the previous two levels of attacking with greater strength was barely touched on. It only took around 30 minutes for me to feel the alert ding into my head. It was time to see if my plan paid off.

Skill Alert! Level Up! Current Status Increased!

General Skills:

Identify – lvl 10 -> 11 – can now individually identify parts of a whole.

Acrobatics – lvl 5 -> 8

Quiet Movement – lvl 18 -> 20 (MAX) – reduces noise generated by movement (20%)

Uncanny Sight – lvl 3 -> 4

Focus – lvl 11 -> 12 - +12% skill proficiency while using

Race Skills:

Storm Fists – lvl 21 -> 24 – (+24 lightning damage) 4 mana per strike

Electroreceptivity – lvl 11 -> 13

Warrior’s Flight – lvl 58 -> 59 – 129 miles/hour

Combat Skills: 55 xp

Beginner Art of the Lightning – lvl 3 -> 4

Heavy Armor Mastery – lvl 5 -> 7 – (7%) reduction in weight felt by wearer

Claw Techniques – lvl 8 -> 10 (MAX) – chance to inflict bleed status (30%)

Magic Skills:

Storm Command – lvl 4 -> 6

Enhancement Skills:

Enhanced Physicality – lvl 5 -> 6 – Health + 60, Stamina +60

Rapid Regeneration – lvl 4 -> 5 – +20 health regen

Archetype Skills:

Lone Wanderer – lvl 45 -> 47

Level Up! Level 12 -> 13 (26/688)

Current Status Increases:

+2 Str

+2 Agi

+1 Dex

+1 Con

+1 Cha

Yes! I was right! Doing a little mental dance, I pulled up the next alert.

Alert! Multiple Skill Derivations for General Skill: Quiet Movement!

- Stealth: Further increases ability to move silently. Teaches techniques for stealth.

- Poise: Your walk is fluid and smooth, graceful in the extreme. You learn to perform all actions quietly, and you learn to hide in a crowd.

- Ranger’s Stride: You learn to move through natural places without disturbing your surroundings.

These were a few different options than I had before. Previously, I believe that Stealth was replaced with Intermediate Quiet Movement. This was a very simple choice to make for me, as while both Poise and Ranger’s Stride seemed useful and/or interesting, neither were what I was looking for to supplement my current abilities. I chose Stealth and brought up its information.

Stealth: (1/100)

Reduces all noise generated by movement passively (1%). You further increase your ability to move quietly, reducing noise by (30%) and you learn techniques that allow you to better hide from sight. Derivations: Skulked, Assassin, Shadow Walker

Continuing to go through my menus, I pulled up the next alert.

Alert!

Skill Combination: Beginner Art of the Blizzard and Beginner Art of the Lightning have combined with max level skill Claw Techniques.

Alright, what did that mean? I checked through my skill list and noticed that Claw Techniques had vanished. Looking further, I checked the Skill Descriptions of the two arts and found the difference.

Beginner Art of the Blizzard

6/20

(+10 unarmed damage) (+30% bleed duration) while using this skill. Grants access to the art. Teaches techniques associated with the skill. Requires mastery of the previous level to level up. It cannot be leveled through combat experience. Increases critical hit damage by (30%).

Beginner Art of the Lightning

4/20

(+10 unarmed damage) (+30% bleed duration) while using this skill. Grants access to the art. Teaches techniques associated with the skill. Requires mastery of the previous level to level up. It cannot be leveled through combat experience. You can spend 20 Stamina for instantaneous linear movement (3ft) in any direction.

Both had an additional line added to them, stating that bleed duration had been increased for all combat arts. I guess, like unarmed combat, the claw techniques neatly folded into the skills. I also noticed that the line claiming that the skill was derived from unarmed combat was missing as well, but that seemed more like flavor text than an actual important part of the skill description. Given what Luna said, I wondered what changes would happen to the skill. My guess was that the damage numbers would be removed, but it also made me curious about the critical hit damage, and the bleed durations.

Before going out and grinding skill levels some more, there was one thing I wanted to look at. The new line on the identify skill intrigued me, and it gave me an idea. I looked at my claws and activated identify.

Storm Paraelemental Warrior Claws: These claws are made from natural deposits of metal that is integrated into the storm paraelemental warrior during rank up. As the warrior ages, their metal composition will change as well.

Sharpness: 2

Hardness: 2

Mana Conductivity: 2

And there it was. The simple reason I couldn’t get through the shell of the skullback warriors was that their shells had a hardness of 3, and my claws only reached 2 in every aspect. If Luna was to be believed, this meant that I would break off my talons before successfully penetrating their thick carapace. This affirmed my belief that finding something to supplement my lack of penetration was necessary to take on this dungeon.

The sword that dropped from the first floor was good enough to penetrate the shells of the warriors, if only just, and I had always wanted to learn how to use a blade. I guess there was no time like the present. I untied the blade from my backpack and headed off into the mushroom grove once again. Now that I knew I could train within the dungeon I would be spending a great deal of time on this floor. Self-improvement truly was addictive, wasn’t it?

Learning to use a sword was not easy. At all. I had seen it done in movies and had watched martial arts my whole life, but it was not a simple thing to pick up and use. I didn’t plan on avoiding fighting hand to hand completely, but I still needed a way to defeat the heavily armored spiders, and pressurized wind blade did little more than annoy them. I still had the water cutter, but it was extremely mana intensive, not to mention slow, and I wanted to use the mana for more effective attacks.

Regardless, the weapon training was good practice. I wanted to make sure I got a skill for using the sword, so I limited myself to movement and blade attacks only as I cleared spiders from the forest. I focused on practicing the beginner art of the lightning, as the straight powerful movements worked well with the chopping attacks that the one-edged spider sword necessitated, and I needed more practical experience with the martial art style.

Group by group, I took out the lesser warriors, spitters, and drones. While I wouldn’t call myself an expert, I had enough experience using slashing weapons, namely my claws, that it wasn’t such a huge change to make. I found that my favorite way to attack was to hold the sword in my right hand and use the claws on my left, attacking with both interchangeably. When the spiders were far away, I would use the reach provided by the sword, and when I got in close, I would punish them with lightning charged claw swipes, or pointed kicks. I may have been using the sword as little more than a sharp club, but if it works, it works.

At the start of my training, in each encounter I would take anywhere from 40 to 70 damage from drone poison, the acid spray from the spitters, or the blades of the lesser warriors. But, as I continued to fight, I continued to learn. Both of the arts I had chosen with my class relied on movement and avoidance over all things. Being tanky was well and good, but the best way to take on a group of enemies and walk away was to not get hurt in the first place. I could heal up quick enough, but I would rather save the mana for emergencies if I could.

When I first changed, my constitution was high enough to make me feel a bit cocky, and the resistances that having a higher constitution granted were nice. When I started getting into more fights, particularly with the badgerkin bandit early on and the leader of the gems, I learned very quickly that constitution was a wonderful support, but the best way to keep fighting was to avoid damage. I liked the help that my martial arts provided with dodging and improving my combat potential, and while my constitution had been neglected as of late, it was starting to feel increasingly unnecessary compared to agility and dexterity.

My arts allowed me to tackle multiple opponents by diving into the fights using the art of the lightning, enter into the guards of the enemies and strike critical spots using the art of the blizzard, and then retreat and reposition. I just repeated that tactic over and over again, and soon I was taking on the groups of spiders and leaving unscathed. After practicing for a while, I was even able to take on the swarms of drones, and by constantly retreating and falling back, I could pick them off one by one before they could ever reach me. My magic was used to rapidly reposition my body with gusts of wind, blast enemies away, or occasionally take out an unlucky spider with a quick lightning blast or water blade.

I could imagine that I was quickly becoming a terrifying enemy to fight as my electroreceptivity gave me an accurate image of the monsters around me and my elemental senses informed me of the air they displaced as they moved. As I learned to understand the new senses further, I could tell where the enemies were located, what size they were, and where they were going. At that point, I could reason out what type of spider they were and could then attack based on educated guesses. Within ten feet I had no blind spots whatsoever. Any enemy with range on their attacks was potentially problematic, but I could still see and hear like normal so the spitters were simple enough to avoid.

Once I had fought enough spiders to have some skill level ups, I took to the air and flew back to the start of the floor. It was time to check on my progress, and level up my arts again. I had several epiphanies while fighting that I believed would help me train my two arts quickly, and I wanted to devote some more time to them while I was feeling up to it. If I ever wanted to change classes, I needed to max out these skills, and there was no time like the present. I was already grinding skill levels. What were a few more?

This time, I decided to work on a level of beginner art of the blizzard this time first. My grinding plan for the floor was as follows; I would go out and grind skill levels, then I would come back to my camp at the start of the floor. After that I would level up my both of my arts a single time, where I would then go out and repeat the process. I would move on only when I got my arts to a decent level, or when I ran out of spiders. I was in no rush for time or resources either. When I was out fighting earlier, I identified the mushroom trees and learned a bit about them, which gave me some security if I decided to stay on the floor for a while. I could sleep at the entrance to the level where there were no spiders. I could get water from the atmosphere using storm command and identify gave me access to food.

Roughcap Mushrooms: Known for rough bark-like caps and texture, these mushrooms can grow up to 50 feet tall, and their caps can spread 30 feet in every direction. Their thick trunks are often used as a wood substitute, and the soft gills on the underside of the mushroom are edible and nutritious.

A quick taste test proved that while flavorless and chewy, the gills of the mushroom trees weren’t all that bad. They tasted way better than the monster spider did, anyway.

After fighting for such a long time using the arts, I felt very comfortable with them. It may have taken me almost four hours to go from level 5 to 6 on the beginner art of the blizzard, but I was able to get to level 7 in only 20 minutes this time. Next, instead of opening the skill sheet to look at my progress, I went ahead and started right on the beginner art of the lightning. That, too, came rather quickly. Both techniques expanded on movement and provided greater insight into causing the most possible damage to enemies. I was excited to try out the new moved that they offered.

First, though, I needed to check my skill progress, and then eat some mushroom.

Alert! Level Up! New Skill Unlocked! Current Status Increased!

General Skills:

Acrobatics – lvl 8 -> 15 - +20 stamina regeneration

Stealth – lvl 1 -> 4 – passive noise reduction (4%)

Focus – lvl 12 -> 16 – (16%) proficiency gain while using

Race Skills:

Storm Fists – lvl 24 -> 26 – (+26 lightning damage)

Electrorecptivity – lvl 13 -> 17

Combat Skills: 95xp

Beginner Art of the Blizzard – lvl 6 -> 7 – increases critical hit damage by (35%)

Beginner Art of the Lightning – lvl 4 -> 5 – you can spend 25 stamina for instantaneous linear movement (5ft) in any direction

Heavy Armor Mastery – lvl 7 -> 9 – (9%) reduction in equipped armor weight felt by the wearer

*NEW* Sword Techniques – lvl 0 -> 15 – you gain increased proficiency when using a blade.

Magic Skills:

Storm Command – lvl 6 -> 7

Archetype Skills:

Lone Wanderer – lvl 47 -> 51 – Increased money drop rate when exploring alone (1%)

Current Status Increases:

+5 Str

+4 Agi

+3 Dex

+1 Con

+1 Int

+1 Cha

My skills were coming along nicely. Sword Techniques seemed to give you some basic pointers on how to hold the sword, where to keep it in relation to your body, and what to do with it. From what I could tell, there were no additional abilities that it offered, but the knowledge granted by the skill was still immensely helpful. I had gone from completely incompetent to only mostly incompetent in just a few hours of personal training.

My current stats were also moving along nicely. I had reached the max with dexterity, wisdom, and luck already, and I was well on my way reaching the max level of all of them. Each of the abilities ended in an aggravating number nine. I decided to put a single unassigned skill point into each of them so that they could be nice round numbers. I would save the rest of my points for stats that I really needed.

I bit down on some mushroom, wrapped a hand around my spider blade, and walked back out into the woods. I had always enjoyed grinding, and I was thirsty for more.

Skill Sheet:

Name: Victoria (Vic) Gale

Age: 17 days

Gender: Female

Race: Storm Paraelemental Warrior (Rank 2)

Class: Way of the Storm Martial Artist

Job: Fighter

Level: 13/40, 121/688 to next level

Affinity: Heart of the Warrior, Physicality, Wind, Water, Ice, Electricity, Electronics, Crafting, Graceful Presence

Character Archetype: Lone Wanderer

Current:

Maximum:

Regen:

Health:

390

390

52/day

Stamina:

445

445

310/hour

Mana:

300

300

290/hour

General Stats:

Current

Maximum

Affect

Strength

35

38

Physical strength; pushing, pulling, lifting. Affects health.

Agility

37

45

Physical speed; running speed, acrobatic ability, inertial control. Affects stamina.

Dexterity

29

30

Ability to move with finesse and skill. To move the body as the mind wills it. Affects stamina regen.

Constitution

27

28

The sturdiness of the body; ability to resist damage, poison, and magic. Affects health regen.

Intelligence

30

33

Your capacity to learn and remember. Affects mana.

Wisdom

29

30

Your ability to reason out the best choice. Affects mana regen.

Charisma

22

24

Your likability; affects attractiveness.

Luck

19

20

Affects drop rates, and personal narrative.

Unassigned

7

Skill

Level

Affect

General Skills: Common skills across all races

Identify

11/20

Gives user information. Amount and clarity based on identify level. Can determine health and highest-level skill from subjects. Gives detailed target type information of whole things, as well as their parts.

Athletics

50/50

Increases efficiency of stamina use. (70%) reduction in stamina consumption performing athletic feats (+15 Stamina).

Acrobatics

15/50

Provides correction to acrobatic acts. (+20) stamina regeneration.

Stealth

4/100

Reduces all noise generated by movement passively (4%). You further increase your ability to move quietly reducing noise by (30%) and learn techniques to allow you to hide from sight.

Crafter

70/100

User is skilled in crafting and has an esthetic eye. Increases dexterity maximum (+2), and growth of all design-related jobs.

Uncanny Sight

4/50

You have perfect vision within 50 feet. You can spot small differences in your surroundings to give you additional information. This skill can be used both in the field, and on other people to detect subtle facial tics making it invaluable to many. Improves with skill use and practice.

Focus

16/50

Increases proficiency gain with skills by focusing on only one at a time (+20% skill experience gain) (+16% skill proficiency while using).

Lumberjack

16/100

Grants enhanced technique and skill when felling trees. (+16%)

Race Skills: Skills gained from race type

Stormborn

11/30

Increases effectiveness of strength, athletics, constitution, and wisdom when in stormy conditions (+11%). Grants enhanced regeneration when touching water (+110%). Gain mana from enemy storm attacks. (+20% mana steal)

Storm Fists

26/30

Your fists contain the might of storms. You can use mana to fuel powerful physical strikes. (+26 lightning damage). 4 mana per strike.

Electroreceptivity

17/20

You gain a 6th sense to sense electricity in a range of 10ft around you. Grows more powerful with use. Can sense the movement of creatures within your range. Can sense the movement of specific muscle groups.

Warrior’s Flight

59/70

you gain the ability to fly. Flying speed based on skill level and agility (129 miles/hour). Intrinsic ability has no cost. Use wind attuned mana to exceed speed limits (1 mana/second).

Class Skills: Skills gained through class

Beginner Chaos Body Strengthening

24/50

By focusing on the body, the user can absorb the chaotic energies in the atmosphere and use it to strengthen their body. Provides beginners knowledge of the technique. While practicing technique, regeneration skills are increased by (72%).

Combat Skills: Skills gained and leveled through combat

Beginner Art of the Blizzard

7/20

(+10 unarmed damage) (+30% bleed duration) while using this skill. Grants access to the art. Teaches techniques associated with the skill. Requires mastery of the previous level to level up. Cannot be leveled through combat experience. Increases critical hit damage by (35%).

Beginner Art of the Lightning

5/20

(+10 unarmed damage) (+30% bleed duration) while using this skill. Grants access to the art. Teaches techniques associated with the skill. Requires mastery of the previous level to level up. Cannot be leveled through combat experience. You can spend 25 Stamina for instantaneous linear movement (5ft) in any direction.

Heavy Armor Mastery

9/100

This skill teaches the user how to effectively wield heavy armor. (9%) reduction in equipped armor weight felt by the wearer.

Shooting (Pistols)

1/20

You gain increased accuracy when firing pistols (+5%).

Sword Techniques

15/20

You learn basic sword techniques to help with control and entry level proficiency.

Magic Skills: Skills used to control mana

Storm Command

7/100

you can now control the elements of the storm. Manipulating water, air, and lightning in a 20ft radius space around you is very easy and has a low cost. Can generate materials at a rate of 1 unit/1 mana/ 1 second. Spells are now variable. 15 slots are available for custom spells to make quick casting possible and to minimize mental strain on the user. Your subconscious will be utilized to make casting spells possible, though casting speed is limited.

Cryokinesis

1/50

you can now manipulate ice with your mind using mana by reducing the temperature of water.

Enhancement Skills: Skills which enhance physical traits

Enhanced Physicality

6/10

Grants Minor Proprioception. Health +50, Stamina +50.

Rapid Regeneration

5/10

Enhances natural recovery. -50% of damage from nonmagical sources. +10 health regen.

Resistance Skills: Skills that grant resistance to a type of damage

Intermediate Storm Resistance

15/30

Resist lightning, water, ice, and wind damage from all sources. (-35% from all sources)

Pain Tolerance

7/20

(35%) resistance to pain. Does not remove pain, it just makes it easier to ignore. Has diminishing returns. It is based on natural racial pain tolerance.

Archetype Skills: Skills granted via archetype

Lone Wanderer

51/100

Skill growth is increased while exploring new places alone (+25%). Increased experience gained hunting monsters alone (+25%).

Increased money drop rate when exploring alone (+1%).

Survivor

1/1

When you reach 0 health from an attack, you instead fall to 1 health. Usable once per day.

First 1!

1/1

You were the first person to become upgraded. +10% exp for killing roaming monsters.

Fascinating Eyes

1/20

You apply charm status by looking someone in the eyes for one minute. Grows more powerful with each level. Costs 10 mana.