As expected from the bountiful rest of the previous day I woke up with the soft light of the dawn feeling refreshed and full of energy.

"Nothing beats an early rise." I said to myself as I yawned and stretched. It WAS getting kinda tiring always waking up at noon, missing most of the daylight.

I took one last, good, look at the village from the vantage point of my second-floor inn room, watching the people sluggishly leaving their homes and heading for their jobs.

Ha! Suckers, I no longer have to go to work every morning, take that! Although, I'm not sure that this is something to be proud about. Whatever...

Like a man preparing for vacations, I checked the items in my inventory one by one, making certain that everything required was there.

I had enough burst and blast stones for nine traps, another thirty six darts, ten cooked steaks, a waterskin, a full ink bottle, and then my miscellaneous gear like the mess kit, the flint, the pickaxe alongside with chisel, eight more rabbit pelts, fourteen monster crystals, the two silver rings, the remaining bag of coals, my cooking herbs, the boar tusks and its pelt, and there was even my stone dagger tossed in for emergencies.

Looking over the list, it seemed that I was running out of inventory space already just with those core items, having only three open slots out of twenty one. And there seemed to be one thing missing, enough water for a trip.

Seeing no reason to keep them, I used six of my rabbit pelts to make three more pouches and fill up my belt slots, having now one for each inscribed stone, an empty pouch, and two more waterskins. Those few last pieces even raised my leatherworking to level 2!

I thought about selling the rings and the tusks, but as I was usually a hoarder, and as I still had 7 silvers and 6 coppers, I didn't seem to be in an immediate need for cash. If I needed more space than my 6 current open slots, I could always throw away the stone dagger and my last rabbit pelts, bringing my available slots up to 8.

The last thing to take care of, to be done with logistics, was to get my armor repaired. It kinda irked me that the last two pieces I made and wore, the gloves and the boots, were the ones most in need for treatment... stupid slimes.

Going down, I paid another 4 coppers for a hearty breakfast, which was actually priced exactly half compared to the lunches and dinners I was having for breakfast all this time...

Exiting the inn, I looked with nostalgia at the five idiots that were still arguing in the center of the main street. Even though it was just three days, it had become almost a daily ritual to dodge their recruiting attempts. Waving them goodbye (from a distance) I headed towards the abominable leatherworker.

My steps were tons lighter now that the decision to stay has been made. Everything looked so much better now that the urge to rush, to see everything I could, had passed.

Except for the thing that was coming straight towards me. That smile, from the Elder, just looked so much scarier as she approached.

"You just had to be seen coming out of my house early in the morning, didn't you?"

Unable to actually answer that chilling smile I just smiled back like a moron while scratching my head in awkwardness. Wondering what was she pissed about this time.

Unfazed, she continued. "Since you're leaving, I have one more small task for you, come."

Stunned, I saw her walking by me, heading back towards her house. A few steps later she halted. Turning her head to look at my, still motionless, body her eyes narrowed.

"I said, come."

And, like the good and obedient kid I am, I followed... while scanning the surrounding areas for possible escape routes. Alas, we passed through the sturdy, windowed, door, and all hope vanished.

"Stay" She ordered as she disappeared in the inner rooms, only to reappear a minute later with a parchment in hand.

"What do you know about the Ivory tower?"

Hmm? That was the thing I would lose reputation with if I failed her last quest, right?

"Nothing at all!"

"Well, it's simple really. Stuck towards the center of a continent is a huge white spire, piercing the sky, several dozens of meters high. Really, a breathtaking sight.

The blasted tower is a relic of ages gone, having survived even the last cataclysm.

Obviously, such a place has gathered scholars and mages from all over the continent.

And that has evolved in the splendid mage's city of Ivory tower."

"Sounds... cool?" I answered, lacking the motivation to match her enthusiasm. It sounded like a way higher level place compared to me afterall...

"You're an elementalist, right?" She asked absentmindedly, her eyes glued to the thing in her hand.

"Ehh, yeah..."

"Good, good. I have just the thing for you. You seemed disappointed the other day over the skills I could teach you. It's understandable, none of them are good for someone staying back and making his summons do his work.

But if you promise me to deliver something to a friend of mine, I can refer you to another teacher that has just the skill for you.

What do you say, deal?"

Quest: Deliver a copy of Elder Shannon's document to her acquaintance. Accept? Y/N

I contemplated for a second which decisions had led me to become an NPC's errand boy but, obviously, I still accepted the quest. "Yeah, sure. Whatever."

She nodded satisfied, and then she flashed yet another smile that spelled only trouble.

"Ok! You need to copy and soulbind this thing here, and then deliver it to a skeleton called Difrag in Ivory tower."

"Copy?"

"Obviously. My copy is soulbonded to me afterall. Don't worry, I've seen your inscription runes, you'll manage it... somehow." She finished while muttering the last part under her breath.

Hey! I heard that!

"Just give me that." I almost shouted back as I snatched the parchment from her hand.

Quest accepted: Copy Elder Shannon's key piece.

Heh, free quest! Key piece?

I looked at the piece of parchment that I had on my hands. It consisted of numerous runes and glyphs connected by some lines. It looked like some sort of kinda, but not really, circle, made of smaller circles of runes, that all of them interweaved in the middle. Simply put, confusing.

I felt a bit of discomfort looking at it, like a slight feeling that I was missing something, like there was something just beyond my perception that kept dancing away when I tried to look at it.

Pushing the weird feeling aside, I sat on the table and pulled my dip pen and bottle of ink out, looking a bit confused at the whole stack of empty papers the Elder laid before me. I was sure that I could fit the whole thing in just one of them. A bad premonition was edging near...

As I dipped my pen in the ink, her cheerful voice sounded just above my left shoulder.

"I think you better use magic ink for that."

"Magic what now?"

"Ink. The one you use for your inscriptions."

"..."

"What are you looking at? Take out the magic ink!"

"...This is the ink I use for the inscriptions..."

She lightly covered her mouth her hand, but I could still hear her chuckle regardless.

"Oh, poor dear... Just grind some monster crystals in the ink. For this little quantity, just three or four should be enough for the whole bottle."

"What magic crystals have to do with ink?! That doesn't even make sense!"

"Boy... didn't you hear me when I told you earlier that we need the monsters because everything rotates around their soul stones? EVERYTHING becomes better with them.

Although those you have, and can acquire, at this point are too small for anything else except maybe consumables like your inscriptions, your infusions, your elementals, alchemy and etc

The bigger ones are the most useful ones, used in the more permanent things like crafting, enchant arts, rituals, and such."

How can you drop such a bomb like it's nothing?! Using monster stones for elementals? For infusions? For inscriptions? And I gave you eight of those for the worthless Light magic? Give me my crystals back you scammer!

Of course, none of the above ever left my lips. What was actually said was.

"How do I grind them?"

"You can use my mortar and pestle for now, but buy one of your own when you're done. Actually, let me just show you how to make the ink."

Three tiny crystals later, the system kindly informed me.

You gained the Inscribe talent Magic ink Magic ink: Inscriptions made with magic ink last longer and the runes remain after the inscription fades, allowing you to instantly reapply them. But, since the runes are permanent, you can't switch the inscriptions on an item nor can you apply your own inscriptions on an item that another person has used magic ink on.

Sooooo good.

With a smile plastered on my face, I started copying the intricate conglomeration of symbols on a piece of paper.

It took me a bit more time, putting extreme effort to make it as accurate as I could, but half an hour later, I was done.

I took a good look at it, comparing it to the original to see if I had missed something, and... THEY WEREN'T EVEN SIMILAR!

I kept staring at the two pieces in disbelief. I had copied it rune to rune, glyph to glyph, line to line. I took extra care to be as accurate as I could. And yet, the result was undoubtedly two completely different things.

I heard the, familiar now, voice above my shoulder.

"It seems you've yet to grasp it."

"Grasp what?"

"Try to empty your mind. Then focus all of your senses, Mana sense as well, to my copy of the parchment. "

Well, duh! How else can you see something if you don't look at it? Stop spouting sage's nonsense and actually tell me!

Nonetheless, I still tried to relax. I exhaled and tried to focus on the parchment. Obviously, nothing happened.

"You're still not focusing boy. Again." She whispered as I felt something hard hitting me on the back of my head.

Needless to say, a few minutes, and slaps, later, my eyes bulged out.

"The runes... the runes are moving!"

Like the parchment was the sea, and the runes tiny boats, they were slowly moving alongside the etched lines like they were following a predetermined and inked sea-route, shifting and changing as they did so.

"Good, you can see it now. Now, copy it."

"How???"

"You just have to grasp its essence and copy that! Don't fret, just stay focused on the feeling of the runes and not their forms, and eventually, you'll get it. Now, practice." She told me as she gently patted me on my head.

More sage's mumbo jumbo! For some reason I felt like I was back in elementary school, getting taught how to write...

It took me several failed attempts, and one third of the stack of papers, until I managed to get something like a flow in the runes' movement. And then another third to be able to actually follow it.

There was a symmetry in the way they moved, almost natural. Like their movement was the obvious thing they should be doing. Unlike the first time I've watched them, it looked like an intricate dance... no, like a painting coming to life.

You've gained the skill Artistry Lv1

Their movements felt familiar, like something I should know, it seemed to linger in the tip of my tongue, just a breath away from calling it. This turning, this shifting, this mixing and combining...!

That was it! I could feel the stuff inside me shifting, following the runes, exactly like it felt when I was combining skills!

Of course, the momentary distraction caused me to lose focus and ruin the copy, as it has happened so many times before. Adding the ruined paper in the growing pile of them, I picked a fresh one from the stack of papers and started from the beginning once more. Only this time I had my own gut feeling, literally, as a guide.

And finally, it was done. Checking my clock, six hours had passed in the blink of the eye, but it was finally over.

Watching the original and the copy side by side, they didn't really look alike. The runes were different, the movements different, and yet, side by side, they matched. Like two partners in a dance. And despite all their differences, I could tell, they WERE the same.

I felt a pat on my shoulder as the Elder pointed towards my copy. "You should hurry and soulbind it now before it is ruined."

My focus shifting from the runes to the actual paper, I saw creases slowly forming, as the edges started to turn yellow-ey and charred. It felt as if the movement of the runes was eating the paper.

Panicking, I quickly soulbonded the paper like a piece of equipment, and I've felt it becoming mine. Stabilizing itself as my inner power counterbalanced the movements of the runes.

For understanding a fragment of the World Chains you gain 2 combination points. Quest completed. Rewards: 1000xp

Level up!

You reached level 6.

You gain 1 ability, 1 skill, and 1 combination point.

That-that-that cheat like reward! I need to find more of those!

"What was that?" My curiosity finally burst out in amazement. But was instantly squashed the moment I saw the Witch shrug her shoulders.

"Hell if I know... That's why I use you to send it to an old colleague, maybe he can make heads or tails of what this thing actually is.

Now, off you go. Although I don't think it's THAT urgent, I don't really like to delay it any more than I have to. Not with a cataclysm looming around the corner.

If you pass by the elven village of Aerlinth that's nearby, don't forget to tell the herbalist, Heslithiana, that I ask her to teach you THAT skill."

"Which skill?"

"She'll know. Now, go. Out!"

You have gained Favor with the area BOSS, Level 72 Witch Shannon, some special encounters in the area may be triggered now.

Heh... heh... heh... Stupid devs... making such a typo... level 72... what a typo... yeah, a typo!... heh... I better be going now...

And with that, I let her usher me out the door. She twitched, like getting repeatedly hit, as some villagers glanced over at me exiting her house and waved their heads in shock. Was it that rare for the Elder to have visitors that they were shocked that I've been here twice? That must be it...

Regardless, the quest window had been updated, telling me that the time limit for the quest was 6 months. So, nothing urgent it seems. Time for it to go to the backlog, I'll probably have to go to this Ivory time at some point either way...

Finally reaching my destination, the shop where the first scammer, the leatherworker, was, I counted my money carefully before entering.

He just raised a single eyebrow, looking me all over, and sighed. "Dear God, what have you done to the poor armor! Look at those gloves! Look at those burn marks! Did you grabbed a flaming log or something, or was it a quick dip in acid?!"

His intuition was uncanny! I put on my busy face (which was exactly the same as my non-busy face) and talked to him like I was in a hurry. The less time spent in here, the better.

"Enough chit-chat old man! Can you fix them or not?"

"...I won't accept payment in rabbit pelts you know."

"Who cares! I have money!"

"Why didn't you say the important stuff first! I can most certainly patch it up, the whole set for the puny amount of two and a half silvers!"

Oi! Where's my damned reputation discount! Regardless, wanting to get this over with, I removed the armor and gave it to him. I waited for like half an hour, browsing his stuff, making certain that almost everything was a class better than my own handmade ones before he returned.

"Here you go! brand as new!"

There were some leather patches where the burn marks from the goo and the tears from the goblins were. Patches that were made using some very familiar leather.

"...Do you use rabbit pelt for the repairs?"

"..."

"It IS rabbit pelt isn't it?"

"Enough of that! I heard you're leaving! *cough* good riddance *cough*." He was THAT subtle, yes. "Let me give you a final parting gift! You're obviously too weak and poor to teach you the whole set, but since you're still in children's armor, I could give you the recipe for a real man's helmet, since you're lacking one!"

Of course I'm lacking a helmet, you don't sell helmet recipes you-you-you nice fellow that gives me free stuff! God bless NPCs!

I snatched the piece of paper that came along my repaired armor and gave it a glance.

You learned a new Leatherworking recipe. Boar hide helmet.

Don't tell me that I will now have to grind boars to get a new set of armor! Jesus, would it hurt to skip to the next mob or something?

Looking at the recipe, there really was just one thing remaining before leaving the village, for real this time. My time here will end as gloriously as it started, with a rabbit kill.

Obviously, the poor rabbit didn't even give xp at this point, it just gave a tiny hide and some meat, but with that, I reached the quota of three tiny hides and a single boar hide that the helmet recipe required. Making it, I saw that the system even had a 'hide helmet' option pop up! Naturally, I went with helmet off.

With all the armor pieces now in my possession, it was time to try the magic ink. Looking at my stats, and my abnormally high M.Def, it was obvious to me to raise my physical defense, although something told me that this number in the M.Def section was completely arbitrary and exactly what the guide had described as 'wildly inaccurate system approximation'. Regardless, I could only go through what I knew.

I now had plenty of mana to spare, as well as I could always rest for a minute or two to massively boost my regeneration five-fold! That's right, Meditation was beyond broken, as long as you did nothing but sit, it multiplied your mana regeneration by its level. So, at level 4, it gave +400% mana regeneration as long as you stood still, resting.

With that in mind, I first inscribed every single piece of my armor with M.Def runes using my magic ink. Getting cocky, I tried to pour mana in all of them simultaneously instead of one by one, wanting to see if I could save even more time than the time saved by not having to continuously inscribe the actual runes.

As my mana poured into the runes, there was this feeling that there was the capacity for even more mana to go in, and so, I poured. I felt a massive amount of mana leaving my body. An extreme feeling of sleepiness came over me, almost knocking me unconscious. But the magic actually succeeded.

You've gained the inscribe talent Mass inscription

You can inscribe multiple items with the same inscription simultaneously as long as the runes have been written already on each one of them.

You've gained the inscribe talent Resonant Inscription

When inscribing a cluster of runes with the same effect simultaneously you can make them resonate with each other, increasing their overall effect. Consumes 100% more mana to give a 50% boost to the inscription. Requires 5+ simultaneous inscriptions of the same type. Requires magic ink.

Holy... Taking apart the massive boost that magic ink actually gave, which was the doubling of the inscription duration, that thing was a massive boost!

It did take a full hundred and twenty mana, almost my entire supply of mana, to inscribe all six armor pieces, but it increased the P.Def gain from 3 to 4.5 each. With that, my runes boosted my P.Def from 36 to 63. Almost doubling my defense. I was invincible!

If I went with hour long elementals, I should be able to keep that up, alongside my regular dagger infusion, with just a single minute of rest every ten minutes of walking. Maybe a bit more rest to actually have a supply of mana to actually use the rest of my skills, but still...

With my final pieces of equipment in place, the only thing left was for me to spend my combination points. One of the things that copying that weird cluster of symbols gave me was the memory of how it felt when I combined skills. It was like the things that were inside me were circling around, trying to mix and match, and how it always made me felt better when they did so. And then I remembered the company's motto. A build to fit your playstyle. By extension, combining things that I feel are useless, should provide me with things that are useful for the way I play, things that are right for me, at least as the game sees it.

My list of skills at this point had become incredibly big, at least for my standards, and it certainly had skills that I found unyielding, or simply useless. So, the real difficulty wasn't to find which skill I wanted to try combining, but more like, which skills out of all those useless ones I had I should kick out first. And, looking at my skills, the two most useless skills were wildly apparent. There was even one that I had no recollection of actually getting. How and when the fuck did I even acquired an art skill!

Combining Artistry Lv1 and Light magic Lv1 will merge them into a new skill. Continue? Y/N

Initially, I hesitated a bit. How could those pieces of junk even combine? But then, a memory of something I read a long time ago, about a hero using works of art made out of light that would inspire others. Yes! that's what art does, it inspires! I would finally be able to get buffs for my cute little pets! So, YES! A thousand times YES!

Almost immediately, I felt the expected turning and churning of my insides, as the pieces inside me started to shift and move. And as expected, when they finally stopped, when they matched, it did indeed feel like something much more comfortable was now inside my body.

Artistry Lv1 and Light magic Lv1 have successfully combined, merging in the skill Glamour Lv1

Glamour

By skillfully manipulating light you can create visual illusions limited only by your imagination. Details, range of motion, and size of this illusion depend on skill level.

Unlike true illusion magic, you can only affect the visual sense, creatures using other senses can bypass the Glamour. Unlike true illusion which is a mind attack skill, Glamour is a visual type effect, and thus it works on mindless creatures and isn't resisted by mind resistance.

Well... let's start with the obvious. This is NOT a buff type magic... yet again. At least it looks kinda usable, unlike its parent skills. It still feels like a bad version of an actual illusion though... only visual is a big limitation.

Well, what the hell, you only live once! BUT I do have a slight paranoia that the system is watching me and deliberately switches the outcomes away from the ones that I'm thinking! So, this time I won't jinx it. Let's focus our mind somewhere far, far away from what I WANT this time.

Combining Glamour Lv1 and Infused Elementals Lv8 will replace Glamour with a new skill. Continue? Y/N

YES! So far so good! Now if only the new skill I'm-not-thinking-about-it, I'm-not-thinking-about-it, I'm-not-thinking-about-free-willed-illusions, I'm-not-thinking-about-free-willed-illusions, I'm-not-thinking-about-... SHIT!

Glamour Lv1 and Infused Elementals Lv8 have successfully combined, Glamour Lv1 was combined into Elemental Playground Lv1

Elemental playground

You can create visual images where, inside them, elementals reside. The images can be manipulated by their corresponding elemental.

Elements can replicate corresponding senses and physical properties, but don't really have physical substance. An illusionary fire can cause someone to feel burned, but not actually catch on fire, an illusionary boulder has weight and tactile sense, but, with enough force, one can pass through it, and etc

Higher mastery of Elemental playground allows for more complex patterns, with more than one elemental inside. Details and size of the illusion depend on the Elemental Playground level.

This is a visual (like Glamour) and elemental (depending on the elemental) effect.

You've gained the talent Single element Glamour

Cost: 40mp per cubic meter (minimum 1 cubic meter)

You can create a glamour with a maximum of 1 elemental residing inside. Maximum size and quality depend on Base skill.

I-I got it right! FINALLY! Well... somewhat at least. It still sounds like a weird skill, but closer to something I can use. Now, if this thing was worth TWO combination points... we'll see. Well, easy come, easy go. One more remaining. Now I had an armor stance skill, some stealth and detection skills, my summons and my dagger for damage, some crafting skills... the only ones that didn't really see some use were throwing and trapping. But that was more like 'didn't get the chance to use them' rather than 'they are useless'. Let's keep the point for now, maybe that new skill reward or something else in the elven village will click.

And finally, I left the village. With a slight stop at the edge of it, seeing three familiar faces, there was just something I HAD to do.

I approached the hunter that was busy ganging up on rabbits, and as he killed his current target, I let my hand rest on his shoulder. It was kinda awkwardly looking considering that he was a whole head taller than me, and that I had to stretch my arm to do so, but who cares. The hunter looked at me puzzled, but I had my speech ready.

"Listen, Matt..." I started my speech in my most serious voice

"It's Mark." He interrupted me while frowning

"Don't interrupt me! The time for me to go has come. I trust you with those..." And with that, I used my free hand to point towards the rabbits. But before I could continue with my speech, he found my little pause as an excuse to interrupt me once more.

"But I've been hunting them long bef..."

"Doesn't matter"

"But there were also some other people that killed much more than y..."

"Doesn't matter either"

"But there..."

"WILL YOU SHUT UP AND LET ME HAVE MY DRAMATIC EXIT!"

And, with my speech ruined, I took a sharp turn and started walking, head held high, towards the forest.

The annoying thing with walking with your head held high though, is that you don't see the ground. Or more precisely, you don't see the Rock-kun that decided to try to stare down Matt and stood still. Making me trip on him.

"Dammit, Rock-kun!" My yell was kinda muffled from the fact that my face was planted in the dirt.

I heard a hearty chuckle as my body was easily picked up by the hunter as he helped me to stand up, forever ruining whatever chances I had for my awesome exit from the village.

Matt was looking me full of amusement, as he let his eyes wander towards the forest. "You're leaving little one? Where to?"

Humph, stupid hunter, you'll never have my adventures! You're an NPC afterall! "Towards the elves for now, and then, only the Gods know!" Yeah, that should teach him!

"You've been to the elves before? It can get a bit tricky to navigate the forest."

"No need to worry, I know they are somewhere towards there," I said as I pointed towards the northwest, trying to encompass as much of the forest as I could with my hand. "and I DO have a map with all the places in the forest I've been through so far." Heh! take that, I've got system assistance you damned NPC!

"Oh... a map? Show me, and I'll mark the elf village for you in it."

Damned... busted. How do I show the map to an NPC?

"..."

"Well?"

"The map is in my head, so I..."

"Well, of course it would be in your head, where else would it be? It's a map afterall!"

Wait... what? How does the natural place for a map be the head? Or... do all the NPC have systems assistance as well?

"Then how would I ever show it to you!!!"

"You just open it and share it with me?"

Wait...

I opened the map, which truth to be told was now just more dots and lines, and thought, as hard as I could, share. I was rewarded with a sour expression as Matt stumbled backwards a few steps.

"Gah! What's this! This map... this map... SUCKS!" He shouted, his hands covering his eyes in an exaggerated motion.

"Nonono little one. You'll definitely get lost and eaten by wolves if you go in the forest with this kind of... rubbish. Here..."

And with that, without someone even asking him, he started to tell me how to accurately mark things on my map. How to add visual input, how to think to actually draw them on the system assisted translucent screen in front of my eyes.

You have gained skill Cartographer Lv1

"Now, because even with the knowledge of how to make a map, you still only have that piece of crap in your possession, let me share you the route to the elven village."

The leader of Grinea's hunters, Mark, wants to overwrite your map with his. Do you accept? Y/N

Well, obviously yes.

The second I thought of this, my map vanished, instantly replaced with an overly detailed map of the village and the whole surrounding forest, up until the elven village. It even had color! Little trees marked heavy and light vegetation, there were color-coded forest paths, there were hunting locales for wolves, boars, and small game. There were even markings on the places where goblins had been sighted. There were even different markings for soil, swamp, and rocky terrain, there was... everything.

Your Cartographer skill has gained a level Your Cartographer skill has gained a level

"Matt... How high is your Cartographer skill?"

"For god's sake it's MARK, it's almost as if you do it on purpose!" Well, duh.... it's just so funny seeing his repeating reaction each time! And why am I suddenly feeling like a six-year old... "And my skill is just at level 14."

Just he says. JUST!

"...Thank you for your patronage." I said, slightly bowing my head. To which he just chuckled as he used his hand to mess up my hair.

"Haha, we can't have such a bunny slayer leave the village for his grant adventure unprepared now, do we? Come drink a beer with me when you'll be famous! Now, go, do great stuff!"

Mark... who do you think you are making me all emotional and shit! Stupid Matt! I will certainly surpass you and come gloat back at you!

Having an urge to instantly grow, there was no point in me holding back. Having a sudden desire to share a map of the whole world with the hunter, there was a combination that seemed obvious to me.

Combining Cartographer Lv3 and Feral senses Lv4 will merge them into a new skill. Continue? Y/N Cartographer Lv3 and Feral senses Lv4 have successfully combined, merging into Pathfinder Lv3

Pathfinder

Your senses are attuned to your surroundings in an uncanny degree. You have an exceptional sense of vision, hearing, touch, taste and even smell. Your senses exceed the natural limits, allowing you to see in near darkness, track by scent, hear beyond stone walls, and etc

You can note minute details in the surrounding environment, giving you heighten awareness of an area. You can find the most optimal routes, make paths, and discover hidden passages. All those are automatically recorded in a separate, more detailed map.

Where you tread, others can follow. Gives slight advantageous reactions from NPCs who know of your skill, especially travelers and wanderers.

I looked at my character screen, nodded determined towards the hunter, and vanished into the woods. For REALLY REAL this time.

Name: Qualexis Race: Wildkin Gender: Male Title: Beginner adventurer Level: 6 Experience: 1000/6000 HP: 73 MP: 130 Rage: 0/100 Stamina: 150/150 HPregeneration: 0.08/sec MPregeneration: 0.16/sec - STregeneration: 10/sec Strength: 10 Dexterity: 14 Agility: 14 Constitution: 8 Intelligence: 20 Wisdom: 16 - - Physical attack: 30 (35) Magical Attack: 36 Physical defense: 36 (63) Magical defense: 146 Critical chance: +4% Critical damage: 0% Speed: +4% Reputations: Elves: Favorable, Fey: Favorable, Grinea: Allied, Avon: Noticed, EXP%: 1x, +0.2x bonus for hunter related skills. Skills: Talents: Natural camouflage Lv4 - Elementalism Lv9 Summon minor elemental, Single enhance Inscribe Lv7 Minor P.Att rune, Minor P.Def rune, Minor M.Att rune, Minor M.Def rune, magic ink, mass inscription, resonant inscription Dagger Mastery Lv6 Stab, Backstab, Quick slash Sneak Lv4 - Outdated Stonemanship Lv3 - Toughness Lv5 Reduce pain, Rogue armor mastery Lv4 Rogue stance, Cooking Lv3 - Dissasembling Lv4 - Leatherworking Lv2 - Throwing Lv2 - Tracking Lv2 - Infused Elementals Lv8 Inscribe minor elemental, Double inscription, Soulbind Lv2 - Mana sense Lv1 - Trapping Lv1 Set minor snare, minor blasting-earth deathtrap Hatred control Lv1 Provoke, Abuse Elemental Playground Lv1 single element glamour, Meditation Lv4 - Pathfinder Lv3 - Combination Points: 0 Equipment

Simple Leather chest

+4(8.5) P.Def

Simple Leather pants

+3(7.5) P.Def

Simple Leather boots

+2(6.5) P.Def

Simple Leather gloves

+2(6.5) P.Def

Simple Leather belt

+1(5.5) P.Def, +5 belt slots

Boar Hide Helmet

+2(6.5) P.Def, +10% critical protection

Steel dagger

+5(10) P.Att

Simple leather backpack

+10 Inventory slots, +20% weight limit

Inventory 15/20 Steak (10), Waterskin (3), Beginner grade magic ink (0.5) & dip pen, mesh kit, boar tusks (2), flint&steel, coal sack (0.4), pickaxe, chisel&hammer, silver ring (2), tiny monster core (11), mortar&pestle, cooking herbs, raw meat, crude and blunt stone dagger (P.Att 2), Money 4 silver pieces, 4 copper pieces Belt 5/5 Dagger sheath, Pouch1, Pouch2, Pouch3, Pouch4 Pouch1 1/1 Stone burst pebble (18) Pouch2 1/1 Flame blast pebble (18) Pouch3 1/1 Air Dart (36) Pouch4 0/1 -