Using the same strategy, they managed to defeat three more cervom Rogues. Though none of them posed anywhere near the challenge the first had. Partly because the first Rogue was much more skilled than the others and partly because their attack strategy had become more refined.

With each fight, he improved, slowly getting better. His Mana Bolts became more accurate, and his use of them more efficient. Even his teamwork with Jess improved. Now, instead of getting in each other’s way, they were able to synergize, timing and aiming their attacks to make each other more effective. It was slow progress, but it was visible.

The only downside of the situation was his inability to spend his Skill Points. He wanted to wait till he wasn’t deep inside enemy territory before he made any decisions. A logical choice, in his opinion. If he allowed himself any distractions, he may not notice a monster till it was too late. Additionally, he wanted to give himself plenty of time. A rushed decision wasn’t a good one, most of the time.

Even still, the impulse to immediately spend all his points was strong – it constantly brushed against the back of his mind, tempting him. So far, he had managed to resist, but his will was weakening.

The blue screen hovering in the corner of his vision was the nail in the coffin. His latest victory had pushed him over the edge, bringing him to level 10; he couldn’t resist. The screen was already open; it would be a waste to close it.

“Can you get rid of the body? I need to choose a new skill before the next group comes,” Aaron asked.

Jess looked at the cervom impaled upon a thick spike of wood with disgust. The grisly scene was created by her newest skill: Spearing Roots. Allegedly, she had unlocked the skill by leveling Gardening. Which sort of made sense; they were at least tangentially related.

He noted that the System had a habit of presenting Class Skills that were related to his General Skill selection. For example, he had unlocked Muffle Sound because he had selected Stealth as a General Skill earlier.

“Fine, just this once.” She got to work, slowly pulling the monster off of the wooden root. Blood leaked out of the alien as she moved it, dyeing the wood red. He took a step away. The monster stank; he was glad he wasn’t the one who had to touch it.

Seeing that Jess was on the verge of throwing up, Tony moved to help her hide the body. “You know, this reminds me of the time I had to hide a needle in a haystack. It was the only place the yakuza wouldn't think to look. Sometimes the most obvious hiding spots are the best,” he said, fondly recalling a distant memory while they worked.

“Why the hell would they want a needle? At least come up with something believable before telling a lie," Jess said.

“Well, it wasn't just any old needle; it was special. It had a secret message engraved inside it.” They disposed of the body and cleaned the battlefield to the best of their abilities. At this point, it was a lost cause. Multiple spikes of wood stuck out of the concrete, and holes dotted the ground. It looked like a bonafide warzone.

The idea struck him to use Improvised Weapon Mastery’s sub-ability: repair, to fix the hallway. However, he discarded the idea; not only would it take an immense amount of time, but it would also be a waste of mana. More importantly, he had skills to select. He had no time to wait. The clock was ticking. In around 5 minutes, the next group of invaders would pass through the hallway.

"Why would someone engrave a message inside a needle; that doesn't even make sense."

“As I was saying before, I was so rudely interrupted. It was an important message; my employer wanted to be sure no one saw it other than the Prime Minister of Japan...”

Aaron tuned out the rest of Tony’s obviously made-up story. It was too bizarre to be true. Aaron returned to his regular hiding spot and read over the list of skills available to him.

Threshold Reached… Two skills added based on prior achievements. One skill added because of skill synergy. Water Breathing (Uncommon - Tier 1): Swim with the fishes without dying! Replace the need for air with mana consumption. Skill cost based on exertion. Skill cost lowers with skill level and stats. Mana Shield (Common - Tier 1): Creates a small shield of mana attached to your hand. Costs 10 mana on creation; additional mana is required to sustain the shield. Damage blocked is based on skill level and stats. Muffle Sound (Common - Tier 1): Nothing is more shocking than losing your voice. Cast this spell on an ally or foe to significantly reduce the amount of sound their actions create. Costs 10 Mana on cast. Effects last for one minute. Duration, spell resilience, and dampening increase with skill level. Mana Sense (Common - Tier 1): Passively sense the mana that surrounds you. Distance and clarity increase with skill level and stats. Tunnel (Uncommon - Tier 1): Become a human mole capable of digging through the earth with ease. Mana cost depends on the materials that are removed and the size of the tunnel. Tunneling speed and tunnel stability increase with level. Flash (Common - Tier 1): You can’t be shot if the gunman is blind. For a fraction of a second, create a bright white light that emanates from your hand, distracting your enemies. Costs 10 Mana. Brightness and duration increase with skill level. Assemble (Uncommon - Tier 1): Build an Ikea chair without having to use your hands. If all the requisite materials are present and a sufficient blueprint is provided, upon cast, all the materials will assemble themselves, completing the item. Mana cost is based on item complexity, rarity, and size. Build speed is increased with skill level.

Right off the bat, he decided not to take Muffle Sound or Water Breathing. He had already passed up on them; the fact that the System still displayed them was annoying. He could imagine, in the future, the screen would be filled to the brim with skills he had already declined. The System reacted to his desires, removing the two skills from the list. Thanks!

Before agonizing over the fine details of any of the skills, he thought over what type of skill he wanted to add to his arsenal. Between Mana Bolt and Explosive Mark, he was doing fine offensively. He didn’t need another skill that was based on dealing damage. What he needed right now was a skill that provided him some sort of defensive option or utility.

Immediately, Mana Shield came to mind; it was a spell that he had strongly considered taking last time. This time it was even more attractive of an option. The only other skill that came close to its defensive potential was Tunnel.

On the surface, the skill seemed quite weak. However, Aaron could think of a few uses for it. First of all, it could be used to create a safe house or bunker of sorts under the ground. The value of having a safe and hidden place to sleep couldn’t be overstated. Depending on how the skill worked, he could also create vertical tunnels below his opponents to keep them away from him. Or if that didn’t work, he could always use the skill to make a quick escape. And, not that he needed any more offensive options, but he could plant Explosive Marks into small tunnels right below the surface, effectively turning them into landmines.

Next on the list was Flash, a skill he didn’t see any value in taking. He could already achieve the same effect with a modified Mana Bolt. The Skill may save him some time and be slightly more powerful, but Metamagic did the job well enough. There was no reason to fix something if it wasn’t broken.

The last new Skill he had been offered was Assemble. It most likely was offered to him based on his possession of Improvised Weapon Mastery. Putting together machines or other complex items without having to manually do so sounded like it could be useful for the right person. At the moment, he didn’t have any complex items he wanted to create. Unless Assemble could count for modified Mana Bolts, something he highly doubted, then it wouldn’t be worth it to invest in.

He considered Mana Sense. A realization struck him that made him feel like an idiot: all the skills Mage provided by default started with the word mana. Likely they were the base requirements for what the System felt marked a true magic-user. Even if he didn’t choose to select the Skill, he felt, it would be smart to practice sensing mana. If the System considered it essential, it probably was.

However, he still remembered the reasons why he had passed on it the first time. Even though Mana Sense could theoretically provide immense utility, its immediate use paled before Mana Shield and Tunnel. He needed something to help avoid damage; he was tired of being thrown around, getting stabbed wasn’t fun.

He weighed the two skills against each other. Tunnel was a higher rarity, meaning it would provide him with more Skill Points - a mechanic he still wasn’t sure about. Why did skill rarity affect Skill Point gain? It didn't make much sense unless Skill Points were a representation of some sort of energy that was generated from leveling skills. Maybe?

He returned to comparing the two skills, using his remaining time to imagine hypothetical uses for the Skills. Time passed, and the approach of alien invaders loomed. This was why he had been holding off on making any decisions Skill Point-wise. He simply didn’t have enough time to fully think through a decision of that magnitude. Even the much simpler choice of what Skill to take was proving to be time consuming. Thankfully, his increased Mind stat allowed him to think faster, so it wasn’t impossible to come to a reasonable conclusion, skill choice-wise.

In the end, he decided on Mana Shield because it provided a more immediate and direct line of defense.

Mana Shield (Common - Tier 1): Creates a small shield of mana attached to your hand. Costs 10 mana on creation; additional mana is required to sustain the shield. Damage blocked is based on skill level and stats.

From his hiding spot, he activated the Skill. An approximately 2 ft tall by 2 ft wide thin blue square hovered a couple inches away from his palm. He tapped the plane. It felt solid, like a rock. The shield even followed his hand’s movements; he was satisfied with his choice. All that was left was to test it in combat.

He deactivated the Skill and patiently waited for his next target. About a minute later, a group of three imps passed by, oblivious to their surroundings. He squinted; they looked vaguely familiar - like he had seen them pass by before. They might have been on their 2nd patrol loop of the building. Enough time had passed for it to be a possibility.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to confirm his suspicions; sticking his head too far out would only result in them noticing him. The imps had poor perception, but even they would notice if he had any obvious movements.

He let the group pass and continued to wait for a lone Rogue. About 2 minutes later, his target - a skinny cervom entered the hallway. He glanced at a stone lying by his feet. Things would be a lot simpler if he could just use Explosive Mark, but the Skill was the opposite of stealthy. They were trying to keep a low profile and not attract any undue attention. A large explosion would be sure to bring all kinds of monsters to their position.

Once the cervom Rogue entered his range, he shouted a warning to Jess, then launched a modified Mana Bolt, blinding the beast. The ambush proceeded, as usual; their attacks quickly wore down the enemy. It recovered from the flashbang faster than its peers, but by that time, it was too late. It had already sustained too much damage. Victory was inevitable.

At that moment, fate decided to spite him, punishing him for his overconfident statement. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a group of 4 imp Mages enter the hallway. They had deviated from their usual strict schedule. Had someone taken notice of what they were doing here? Before he could dwell on the question, a ball of fire blasted towards him, giving the Rogue room to dance backward - out of his range.

The fire cut forward, heating the air around it. Even from ten feet away, Aaron could feel it, roasting his skin. No doubt about it, the spell was powerful - it would instantly kill a normal person. Thankfully, he was never normal.

He smiled as he held out his arm. He had gotten a chance to test out his new Skill sooner than expected.