I limped over to the corpse.

Kozaa looked up, “That was good,” he said, “Not much over two hours. I see you picked up some poison Skills.” He grinned. Koza dug into the corpse and extracted the core.

I hadn’t checked my status. I had a quick look and saw Venom Arrow 3 and Imbue Venom 1. I also saw Quick Strike 4, which was good. I saw Pip had also picked up a Strength Boost Skill from me. Nothing about Snake Skin unfortunately. Pip and I would have to work on that. I would look at the rest later. Now we had work to be done.

“Let me show you how to skin this monster.” He said and we got to work. I made a note that Koza was much more talkative when speaking Orcish, and I made a point of using the language as well. I realised the only people I had talked to about language learning all had classes that helped them. Most people would not have that. Koza probably struggled with Common.

The Troll was a very large beast to skin. Koza talked me through it and showed me some tricks. One of the tricks was he said I should make sure I take the ball sack and get it made into a coin bag. It will be impervious to most cut-purses and big enough for a bit more than coins. I guess it was a bonus of killing the male of the species. I wasn’t going to ask about the breasts of the females, but he told me anyway, about the demand for them as liquid containers from the alchemists. I guess this is all adding to my Monster knowledge. By the time we finished getting all the skin we could carry my Skinning Skill was at Journeyman Level.

I cut the claws and let him tackle the teeth. Teeth extraction is messy. By this time Velikan was chewing through a leg and Pip was trying to swallow something quite large for him. Was that one of the Trolls’s balls? Actually, I don't want to know. He could have asked me to cut him something. Eating Spiritually enhanced meat from monsters does help animals get stronger, especially noticeable in bonded animals. I assume because they get more chances to eat it. I think I will ask Koza about teaching me Monster Lore. I am sure all this was part of it, but when I get to Level 10 in my Hunter Class I will be able to specialise. After that fight Hunter was now Level 8 so it was not too far away.

The Trolls ribs were a problem. None of my knives could barely scratch them. In the end I created a small hatchet with my Granite Spike and that got through. Eventually. We returned to camp a few hours before dawn, ladened with skin and bone. I was looking worse for wear, with ripped armour and a bandaged leg. With Rocky carrying all the loot I would be regulated to walking, or limping as the case may be. Ashby took pity on me and gave me some herbs with my breakfast that should speed the healing. I made sure to note which herbs.

Everybody wanted to hear the story over breakfast and of course Koza was nowhere to be seen. I told the story with Koza and Velikan as the heroes and me bumbling through. Even Pip came out better looking than I did. I glossed over specific skills. When I checked my status I was surprised to see Deceive tipped over into Journeyman Level getting me a point in Mental Agility.

I was waiting until we got on the road before I went through my status and the new skills.

Wiremu Hunter

Class

Hunt

QW

Spy

Pros

Total

Type

Attribute

Level

8

11

6

2

Constitution

Physical

Strength (PS)

9

10

2

22

1

44

103.0

Agility (PA)

12

5

8 4

29

Poison R +14

Perception (PP)

11

0

16

1

2

30

Crush R +19

Mental

Strength (MS)

9

12

2

23

Cold R +17

Agility (MA)

12

3

2

6

23

64.0

Perception (MP)

11

1

6

18

Pain R +9

Spiritual

Strength (SS)

10

1

11

2

24

64.0

Agility (SA)

8

1

4

6

1

20

Perception (SP)

10

2

6

2

20 Totals

92

35

34

33

30

7

231 Free Points

6

0

0

1

Skills

Novice: Cooking 4, Animal Care 4, Plant Lore 4, Lock Pick 4, Disarm Traps 4, Truth Sensing 2, Disarm Spiritual Trap1, Manipulate Status 4, Sense Spiritual 4, Detect Traps 4, Venom Arrow 3, Detect Spiritual Trap 3, Spiritual Trapping 4, Quick Strike 4, Imbue Venom 1

Apprentice: Small Blades 7, Bond Senses 5, Fishing 5, Orcish 5, Farsight 7, Riding 7, Unarmed Combat 6, Granite Bones 9, Sewing 7, Throw Weapons 6, Camouflage 6, Sense Treasure 6, Granite Sense 8, Mineral Lore 5, Spear 7, Hide Armourer 7, Animal Lore 7, Butchering 5

Journeyman: Hearing Aid 11, Hammer 13, Identify 11, Animal Bond 12, Granite Spike 10, Trapping 10, Tracking 10, Bow 10, Skinning 10, Deceive 10

Master: Stealth 15

Affinity: Granite

Monster Kills: 1

Bond: Desert Viper, Pip

Resistances: Crushing +19, Cold +17

Skills: Venom Bite, Quick Strike, Granite Bones, Camouflage, Strength Boost

Hunter went up another level and this now gives me seven free attribute points. The other important thing was that Physical Perception was now at 30 meaning I could get another Perception Skill. My early experience tells me to consider this carefully. Tabitha’s experience indicates that with the right experience and attributes advanced skills were available. I didn’t need the Bloodhound Skill as smell was covered through the Bond Senses. Darksight was tempting as I used Identify on it and it would work with Farsight. Keensight wasn’t available, but I got the feeling with a bit of effort that it could be. The Temperature sight skill was not available as it required a sight skill at Journeyman level, and Farsight was only at 7. The Skill Expanded Hearing was not available even though Hearing Aid was at Journeyman Level because my Spiritual Perception was too low and I got the sense I didn’t have the attributes to raise it enough yet. I would wait on this.

Spear went up two levels, Granite Bones and Animal Bond went up once. I used Identify on the new Skills. Imbue Venom means I can imbue items I am touching with Venom. This can include my darts before I throw them. I get immunity from our venom and a boost to Poison Resistance in general. The cost reduces per level and the potency increases.

Venom Arrow creates a spiritual arrow with Venom, surprisingly enough. The cost would reduce as it levels and the potency increases like the Imbue skill. Quick Strike was a pure physical speed strike, with or without weapons. The hitting power was a function of Physical Strength and the speed a function of Physical Agility. It could be used in conjunction with Imbue Venom. Pip’s Strength Boost was giving him a short access to my greater Physical Strength. His limit was on how many times he could use it based on his Spiritual Attributes.

What other skills were available to me? Petrify was still well out of my reach. Triple shot and Longbow were available if I could figure out how to trigger them. Bow was my only weapon skill at Journeyman level, so none of the other more advanced weapon skills were available yet. Yet as I looked to my status I realised Bow was not my only weapon at Journeyman level. I also had the Hammer skill, which I had basically discarded. What was available for Hammer?

Identify was highlighting a skill I could get. It would come because of Hammer, but was not limited to Hammer. It was a skill called Power Strike. It gave more power to any strike armed or unarmed. I could match it with Quick Strike but would suck the energy at the low levels. I took it, but I did need to consolidate my skills, because they were many and varied. I needed to practise with them and figure out how best they could be used.

We had another week and a half to get to Jern. My goals in that time are to get used to my new skills and to work with Erik to raise Manipulate Status and spend as much time with Koza as I could. I have learned so much from him. I am thinking I paid all the deep iron ore to the wrong trainer.