The patterns on the doors lit up, and it began to open. The seam in between the two doors grew, and golden beams of sunlight speared into Octavius’s eye. He held up his hand to shield his eyes and blinked away the spots that had appeared. After he had acclimatized to the light, he stepped through the doors and into what lay beyond.

He stood in the mouth of a cave, stalagmites and stalactites growing from the floor and roof. A dozen feet in front of Octavius was the open air. The cave entrance opened up to an elevated view of a massive forest. The unending green canopy stretched from the mouth of the cave to the horizon, only broken by a few small clearings and various blue streams.

He walked to the mouth of the cave, a foot from the edge of the shadow cast by the cave’s roof. Fresh air flooded his lungs as he stood still for a moment. He sat against the cave wall and slung his rucksack beside him. Slowly, he removed the Soulsilver dagger from the loop on his waist and laid his spear on the rocky ground. Then he carefully removed his plate carrier, sighing in relief from the weight being lifted from his right shoulder.

He laid the plate carrier on the ground and took the leather armor from his rucksack. It was magnificent. A true piece of art and a testament to dwarvish craftsmanship. It was made up of a few individual sections. An articulating leather cuirass was the centerpiece. The cuirass was built from many overlapping arrows of leather. It went over the shoulders and had four sets of buckles on each side to hold it together.

There was a pair of pauldrons with three articulating pieces and an additional cover for part of his chest and upper back. The armor for the arms was made of three pieces. Two generally cylindrical pieces guarded the forearm and upper arm, while an articulating pad covered the elbow. The whole arm assembly was held together by straps that ran inside of each.

The armor was primarily black in color but had a secondary brown color to accentuate it. There was a series of the dwarvish knots carved into the borders of each piece of leather, though the cuts were shallow. Octavius didn’t know whether they were decorations or part of the enchantment laid upon them.

He looked from the pristine leather to the worn plate carrier and back again. I could repair the shoulder strap of the plate carrier easy enough, and the plates inside are built to stop bullets. They are much stronger than the leather but cover much less of the area. The leather is much lighter too. What should I pick? … Hmm, my vitality is rather low compared to my other stats, and I need to start planning what I will put points into. If I put more points into dexterity and agility, I can avoid being hit at all, and for that, the leather is much lighter and flexible. I think I’m going to go for the leather. It won’t stop a bullet, but it offers much better survivability overall.

After that decision, he lifted the repaired spear to inspect it for the first time. The patterns that were once faded to nearly nothing were back. The complex geometry covering the spear shaft was beautiful. The blade was razor-sharp, and the whole spear glowed a soft milky white as he held it. In the darkness of the catacombs it was a noticeable glow, but in the daylight it merely made the spear appear to be a white color instead of a metallic silver.

There was a seam in the middle of the shaft that the carved knots seemed to all run towards. He gripped the spear on either side of the seam, and his brows furrowed. He tried twisting it like a screw but it didn’t budge. Pulling, pushing, and anything else he could think of didn’t work either.

He frowned and set the spear on his lap. The only other thing he could think of to separate the spear was magic, and as much as he would like to know magic, he didn’t.

He lifted the spear again and felt the pull of his mana entering it once more. A slow stream of power from his core, down each arm, and into the spear. Suddenly, an idea popped into his mind. He focused on the flow of energy from him and tried to impart to it his will. His thoughts focused on the spear, willing it to split apart.

For a long moment, nothing happened. Octavius closed his eyes and focused on conveying his intent to the enchantments on the spear. Then he felt the spear split. His hands dipped slightly as each compensated to the new balance of the weight. He opened his eyes and smiled. He held the spear together and willed it to attach.

He laid the whole spear onto the ground and removed his belt. He put on the leather cuirass, buckling up the sides to be snug but not too tight. Next, he attached the pauldrons and the rest of the armor onto his arms. Crouching down, he removed his combat knife and its sheath from his plate carrier.

He lifted his belt and rearranged the pockets so that he could attach the combat knife. The knife easily cut strips of the thick cloth off the plate carrier and he placed them into his rucksack. He tied the dagger to his right thigh. It couldn’t be drawn easily but was secure. Then, he used the last of his paracord and some of the strips of cloth, along with a bag that had once carried sand to make a sling.

The sling was a loop with a bag attached to one side. His fingers deftly tied the sling to his rucksack and placed the two separated halves of the spear into it. He put on his rucksack to make sure that he could reach them quickly before pulling it back off.

He sat down and looked over his status.

Name

Octavius J. Asher

Race

Human (F)

Level

10 - 373/50000

Class

{Classes Available}

Titles

Forerunner

Health

432/500

Stamina

426/600

Mana

221/300

Strength

35

Dexterity

37

Agility

33

Constitution

30

Vitality

25

Perception

21

Intelligence

15

Wisdom

19

Will

31

Free Points

25

Status Effects

None

Skills

Identify (Lvl 12) - Discover information about a being or object. The amount of information is dependent on skill level and the object the skill is used on.

Speech (MAX) - You can speak all common humanoid languages.

According to his status, he had twenty-five stat points to use. He definitely wanted to add some to intelligence. If he could trust his mana capacity to keep up with the absurd draw of the illusion ring, he could have been much more effective in the catacombs. With his lack of mana, he didn’t use the ring because he needed enough mana to use the Soulsilver weapons.

After intelligence, he needed strength. The penumbral apparitions were incredibly strong and had revealed one of his weaknesses. He didn’t even have the strength to block their blows and had to focus on dodging.

Most of all, he wanted more points of dexterity. His fight with the shades had revealed what he needed for his fighting style to shine. He fought best with quick and efficient movements. He dodged and danced between blows of his enemies, and it worked. It could, however, work better. After some thought, he decided on how to allocate the points.

Strength +5 : 35 > 40

Dexterity +8 : 37 > 45

Intelligence +8 : 15 > 23

Perception +4 : 21 > 25

He smiled and clenched a fist as he felt warmth flood his body. He felt the core of energy in his chest grow. He felt the world seem to slow slightly around as his reaction speed increased. The world became sharp and clear.

Next, he pulled up his status and mentally pressed the words Classes Available, and a new screen appeared.

Classes Available

Common - Warrior

Class Skill(s) - Physical Combat Affinity

Given Skill(s) - Powerful Strike

Uncommon - Rogue

Class Skill(s) - Knife Fighting Affinity, Stealth

Given Skill(s) - Quickdash

Uncommon - Spearman

Class Skill(s) - Spear Fighting Affinity

Given Skill(s) - Instant Thrust, Whirlwind

He looked over the classes and frowned in confusion. These were not like the classes he understood from RPG games. They didn’t give different stat bonuses per level or even unique abilities, only skills. He selected the skill Physical Combat Affinity and read the description.

Physical Combat Affinity (Lvl 1) - All physical combat attacks deal 5% more damage than they would have otherwise dealt.

He frowned slightly, that seemed rather useful. Next, he read the description of Spear Fighting Affinity.

Spear Fighting Affinity (Lvl 1) - All spear attacks deal 10% more damage than they would have otherwise dealt.

The knife affinity skill had the same percentage increase as the spear affinity. It seemed that the more precise the thing the affinity applied to, the higher the damage increase. Octavius was unsure what the difference between class skills and given skills was, and there was nothing on the panel to give him a real hint.

He discarded the rogue class and then looked at the other skills of the warrior and spearman class.

Powerful Strike (Lvl 1) - Attack with 75% more power for a single attack Cost (30 Stamina)

Instant Thrust (Lvl 1) - Execute a single spear thrust with 50% more speed. Cost (25 Stamina)

Whirlwind (Lvl 1) - Spin your spear in front of you at extreme speed, blocking all low powered attacks and projectiles, for 3 seconds. Cost (100 Stamina)

Powerful strike was good, but the fact that the spearman class gave both an offensive skill and a defensive one made his decision clear. He selected the Spearman class. The available classes window was instantly replaced by a new one.

You have gained the class Spearman

Class Skill(s):

-Spear Fighting Affinity

New Given Skill(s):

- Instant Thrust, Whirlwind

Standing, he connected the two halves of the spear. His arm slammed the butt of the spear against the ground before thrust quickly. He felt much more dangerous without being weighed down by the plate carrier, not to mention his stat increases.

He looked at his new and improved status screen.

Name

Octavius J. Asher

Race

Human (F)

Level

10 - 373/50000

Class

Spearman

Titles

Forerunner

Health

432/500

Stamina

426/600

Mana

381/460

Strength

40

Dexterity

45

Agility

33

Constitution

30

Vitality

25

Perception

25

Intelligence

23

Wisdom

19

Will

31

Free Points

0

Status Effects

None

Skills

Identify (Lvl 12) - Discover information about a being or object. The amount of information is dependent on skill level and the object the skill is used on.

Speech (MAX) - You can speak all common humanoid languages.

Instant Thrust (Lvl 1) - Execute a single spear thrust with 50% more speed. Cost (25 Stamina)

Whirlwind (Lvl 1) - Spin your spear in front of you at extreme speed, blocking all low powered attacks and projectiles, for 3 seconds. Cost (100 Stamina)

Spear Fighting Affinity (Lvl 1) - All spear attacks deal 10% more damage than they would have otherwise dealt.

He smiled as he looked at the much longer list of skills. He willed the system to condense the list of his skill, and the descriptions disappeared. Only the skill names and levels remained.

He walked into the sunlight and wondered how he actually executed his skills. With identify, he just willed it to happen. He didn’t know how to will his arms to turn his spear into a whirlwind. Except he did. As he thought about it, he realized that the information was in his head, like an old memory that bobbed to the surface.

He thrust his spear forward and spun it wildly. The spear twirled in a movement that he couldn’t possibly repeat without the system’s aid. The air whistled as the spear sliced through it. Then it was over.

He panted slightly and smiled. That was quite the skill. He tried the instant thrust skill next. After aiming at a tree trunk in the distance, his arms shot forward at impossible speed. The spear pierced the air, and he stumbled slightly, unprepared in the effort it took to stop the momentum of the weapon. He would need to practice.

He felt like a whole new man. He was no longer geared towards fighting men with their guns and bombs. While he still had his skills with those weapons, he was no longer primarily a gunfighter. He could probably take a well-armed gunman of his level as long as he could get in close. But if he wanted to fight people with guns, he would have discarded his leather and used the plate carrier. However, to the beasts and creatures in this tutorial, he was a deadly foe.

He frowned as he thought about what to do with his plate carrier. Carrying it with him would weigh him down just as much, but it could still be useful in the future. He decided to bury it like he buried the inert rifle at the beginning of the tutorial. Soon, a hole had been dug at the entrance to the cave, and the plate carrier placed inside. After a moment, he dug another hole next to it and buried the trash from his MREs.

He didn’t want to carry it, and it wouldn’t feel right to litter the pristine forest with it. After filling in the holes, he took one last look into the cave. Only, there was no longer a dwarvish door. The cave continued until its natural conclusion a few dozen feet away. It was as if the door was never there.

He blinked before shrugging; he didn’t need anything else from the dungeon even if he could enter it again. He turned and surveyed the land below him, trying to figure out his position.

He could see the large river flowing away from him. It was flowing from the hills to his right. That meant he was among the hills that fed the river. But that doesn’t make much sense. When I tried to cross the river, I was maybe four or five miles from the hills. I didn’t walk that far at all, much less in this direction.

After a moment, he decided that it must have been magic and left it at that. He knew where he was but didn’t know what he was going to do. He had been bruised, cut, and had his spine shattered. He worked in the dark and slew magical creatures. In the end, he had gained a weapon that was useful but not extraordinary, a set of armor that was less protective than his plate carrier but offered more mobility, and four levels of stat points along with a single actual level. He had also gained some insight into how magic worked and into the system.

Overall, he considered the entire endeavor worth the pain and struggle. Now, what was he going to do? He could continue in the direction he had been headed or into the hills. He could also head back the way he came. The tutorial was a third over, and by the time he got back, it would be half gone. He could also go to the Sanctuary he heard about, see what it was all about.

He had enjoyed his freedom over the past month and didn’t want to give it up, but he was honestly getting lonely. He'd been alone for much of his life, but not this complete and utter isolation.

He decided he would check out this Sanctuary. He might even spend a few days there, just to be around people once more.

He checked his compass, turned to the right, and began to walk.

The sun began to set as he marched onwards. He had crossed the river a few hours ago, and the ease with which he did so made him feel slightly bitter. He had crossed the river while it was still among the hills. It was pooled in a small valley, creating a decent sized lake. Because of the lake, he was able to get across walk around the edge without the water going above his knees. Of course, he had taken a deep drink of water before refilling his water bladder.

Now he was looking for where he should camp for the night. His hand held a level 4 rabbit that was ready to be cooked for dinner. He had yet to find a good clearing to set a fire in and hoped to find one soon.

He walked through the dense forest, moving between trees and over fallen logs as dusk fell. He was about to give up on finding a clearing and cut the underbrush away to make his own when he heard something. It sounded like a soft whoosh of air. He frowned and focused on his senses.

He ignored the chirping of crickets and the rustling of leaves in the wind. A moment later, he heard the sound again. This time he was able to identify it as a very human-sounding sigh. He smelled at the air and caught a faint scent of fire.

He removed his spear and assembled it silently. He crouched low and walked towards the sounds and smells. His eyes had just enough light to see the ground, and he placed his feet carefully to make the least noise. After some time, he still couldn’t see the orange glow of flames through the trees, but the smell grew stronger. He crept beyond a large bush and saw what made the smells and sounds.

There was a burner of some sort with a dim blue-green flame. There was a pot above the burner, the sounds of simmering water quiet but distinguishable from his position. There were three figures around the burner. They didn’t speak but appeared to be using some form of sign language. At first, he thought they were humans, but he caught a good glimpse of one when it turned. The dim blue-green light of the flame reflected off the figure’s dark grey skin, and Octavius realized that they were Thralls.