Dave

Fallen Jungle

54th of Cycle 2, 1015

I woke up to a splash of water on my face, and an elf standing over me with a huge grin.

“What’d you do that for you son of a bitch?”

“You slept through me calling your name, so I thought this was the best option.” His grin grew wider. “Next time I’ll fire an arrow or two at you.”

I let out a sigh, “Next time wake me up so I can take watch. You didn’t get any sleep, did you?”

“I don’t trust you enough yet to let you keep watch at night, but we will remedy that today,” He said as he threw me the stone from yesterday. “Check your skills, and if you need anything explained, let me know.”

I caught the stone and once again felt it tug at something within me.

Name: Dave

Race: Human

Class: Scout(rare)

Class Skills: Sneak(basic) Lv1, Fleet-footed(basic) Lv1

Class Skill Slots: 3

Skills: Archery(basic) Lv2, Hypnosis resistance Lv1, Survivalist(Unique)

“How do I use a skill?”

“It should come naturally to you.” He said, “Just try and use a few of them if you want a vague idea of what they do.”

I decided to try my sneak skill first. It felt like a switch flipped in my head, and I crouched down instinctively. There was a strange tingling in my feet, so I tried walking around slowly at first, speeding up as time went on. After crouch-walking for a bit, I stood back up and looked over at Jason, who was laughing his head off.

“That was a stealth skill right?” He said, still laughing, “It’s pretty terrible right now, but I’m sure one day you’ll be a stealth master.”

Jerk.

I made a mental note to get back at him for this one day, then tried using the fleet-footed skill. It did exactly what the name said, and I immediately felt light enough on my feet to run a marathon. A few minutes of running around later, I returned to Jason.

“Try using that with the stealth skill,” Jason said.

I crouched down and activated both skills. The results were astonishing. I was able to sprint at almost full speed while keeping a low profile and weaving through the nearby trees with ease. It was fun, too much fun actually, so I decided to run back to Jason before I got carried away.

I tried using the survivalist skill as well, but that did nothing, so I asked, “Do you know what survivalist does?”

Jason was lost in thought for a moment before he said, “Can’t say I’ve heard of it, what’s the rarity?”

“Unique.”

He was taken aback. “Seriously?”

“Yeah.”

He shook his head and muttered, “Why does this kid, who didn't even have a class before today, get a unique skill.”

“This kid has a name, and is also not a kid,” I said with the snark of a rebellious teenager.

“Well, Dave, let me ask you a question. Why in the name of Freya does a Lookout have a stealth skill?”

I gulped, “Ah... well... that’s because...”

“Because?”

I couldn’t come up with a lie fast enough, so I just decided to come clean and hope for the best. “Because I didn’t pick lookout. The description sounded lame, so I picked scout instead.” I looked down at my feet like a child who was about to be scolded.

“A scout, you say? How?” He asked immediately, “The requirements for that class are insane if I remember correctly... what was it again? I think it was to kill ten people while infiltrating enemy lines and then relay key information to an allied unit.”

What?

The class description was pretty ominous on its own, but the requirement literally forces you to kill people. What kind of scout goes on a killing spree behind enemy lines?

“So? How did you clear that requirement Dave, and who are you really?" He asked coldly. "Don’t think I’ll believe that you’re some kind of lost child anymore.”

“I um, didn’t really meet the requirement per see," I said while avoiding eye contact. “I might’ve made a deal with some god or demon to... circumvent the requirement.”

“Explain.”

I recounted the events of my class selection from yesterday to Jason, and his eyes went wide when I told him that I had to kill the silver panther.

“If your story is true, and that is a very big if, then you are even more of a fool than I had originally thought.” He let out a sigh, “The silver panther is a legend among our village because there is no one who has ever actually seen it and lived to tell the tale. Our only evidence that it even exists is a tuft of silver fur we found on the corpse of one of our rangers. You are nowhere near the skill level of that ranger, and you will never be able to kill that panther.”

“Who said that I had to do it alone?” I asked.

“Good luck finding someone to help you with your suicide quest.” I stared at him blankly for a few seconds, “Me? Not a chance boy. I might be strong, but I’m still just a hunter, and I don’t plan on heading to an early grave.”

“If you bring home the head of the legendary silver panther, do you think your parents will consider calling off your arranged marriage?” I asked with a sinister grin.

His eyes went wide again as he went deep into thought. He looked torn between two evils, so I decided to give him an extra nudge. “Think about it, all of the elf women back at your village will be fawning over you, calling you the great panther slayer, or something that sounds cooler than that.”

“Only a fool like you would go after the silver panther for such a shallow reason.” He looked over to me and said, “If we’re going to do this, you and I both need a lot of training.”

“Let’s get to it then,” I said, giving him an elven salute.

He hesitated for a few seconds, then stood up and returned the salute, “May Freya guide us both.”