Chapter 5

On the seventh day after her arrival in Universe 2.0, the day her class was supposed to cap according to the giant floating crystal, Jane woke up cursing whatever backwards, useless, awful bedmaker had “invented” mattresses in this world, and hadn’t yet gotten around to making them actually comfortable. She stretched and rolled the tension out of her shoulders before dragging herself out of bed and over to the mirror. She marvelled at herself in the tiny mirror, she was forty-four when that idiot god had killed her, but she didn’t look a day over twenty. It was almost worth the mattress. Almost.

After admiring herself a while and straightening her hair out she was ready for her final day as a tier 0. She assumed that she would have a little blue box telling her that it was time so she decided to prepare as much as possible, food, her bag and the map mostly. As she had all week she kept her hammer close just in case.

It took until the sun was at its zenith, high above the white stone manor, until the little blue box she was waiting for appeared. By that time she was well and truly prepared, her next direction chosen and her bag packed.

[Novice] level up.

[Novice] is at its cap.

Please see a [Town Crystal] to tier up.

The smile on Jane's face faded as she read the final sentence. It was definitely implied that there were other crystals and that any of them would have sufficed for her tier up. She could have left days ago and found a crystal in any town. If they were required to gain these classes then surely everyone would have them. She headed back into the mansion and contemplated the crystal. Time to see what a tier up is. She touched the crystal.

Welcome to the Universe 2.0 Advancement System!

You have touched the [Town Crystal] and gained access to power beyond measure.

Your [Novice] is at its cap, choose a Tier 1 class to advance.

[Farmhand]

Stat Growth:

Strength

C

Perception

A

Dexterity

B

Intelligence

A

Agility

B

Willpower

B

Endurance

C

Sociability

B

[Scullery Maid]

Stat Growth:

Strength

A

Perception

B

Dexterity

C

Intelligence

B

Agility

B

Willpower

B

Endurance

A

Sociability

C

[Beginner Woodworker]

Stat Growth:

Strength

C

Perception

B

Dexterity

C

Intelligence

A

Agility

A

Willpower

B

Endurance

B

Sociability

B

[Beginner Militiaman]

Stat Growth:

Strength

C

Perception

B

Dexterity

B

Intelligence

A

Agility

B

Willpower

A

Endurance

C

Sociability

B

There were about 15 classes like that, with weird stat growths that didn’t seem very logical unless they worked backwards. Which made some degree of sense, Militiamen would surely need strength more than a maid. None of the classes were very impressive. Things like [Deckhand], [Beginner Woodcutter] or [Beginner Metalworker] were all related to basic tasks from way back when, before modernization. The only two that stood out were [Beginner Clerk] and [Beginner Militiaman]. She thought about it for a while but ultimately decided that a new Universe required a new Jane, no more sitting at a desk, no more studying, it was time to hit things with her hammer.

Tier up chosen. Tier 1 caps at level 15.

Jane Wainwright

[Beginner Militiaman] 0

Health

172/172

Health Regen

0.83

Mana

205/205

Mana Regen

1.05

Strength

20

Perception

26

Dexterity

26

Intelligence

31

Agility

23

Willpower

23

Endurance

20

Sociability

20

[Beginner Militiaman] Skills

Description

[Weapon: Spear]

Passive: Increases skill with spears.

General Skills

Description

[Theoretical Mathematics] 32

Passive: After mastering basic [Mathematics] you are ready for the advanced version. Improves knowledge of, and the speed of use, of complex mathematical formulas and equations that do not have a direct and obvious real-world application.

[Useful Mathematics] 57

Passive: After mastering basic [Mathematics] you are ready for the advanced version. Improves knowledge of, and the speed of use, of complex mathematical formulas and equations that have a direct and obvious real-world application.

[Advanced Physics] 61

Passive: After mastering basic [Physics] you are ready for the advanced version. Improves knowledge of, and speed of processing of, complex formulas and theorems. You benefit from increased relevant stats when performing appropriate experiments and other actions.

[Advanced Biology] 34

Passive: After mastering basic [Biology] you are ready for the advanced version. Improves knowledge of, and speed of processing of, complex formulas and theorems. You benefit from increased relevant stats when performing appropriate experiments and other actions.

[Advanced Chemistry] 53

Passive: After mastering basic [Chemistry] you are ready for the advanced version. Improves knowledge of, and speed of processing of, complex formulas and theorems. You benefit from increased relevant stats when performing appropriate experiments and other actions.

[Identify] 1

Active: Shows some information on a target, depending on the level of skill.

Jane was surprised to feel the same as before. She had thought that something like tier up would bring a feeling of power or something, like gaining a class had. It was interesting that [Identify] had shifted to General out of [Novice] skills, and added a spear skill, a shame that she hadn’t seen hide nor hair of a spear. Not that it was important, the sledgehammer would do until she could find a town.

With a thought Jane pulled out of the crystal and looked around the hall. It was time to move on. She gathered her meagre possessions together, the leftover food, some clothes that she had found in various drawers, the map, and of course her hammer. She shouldered her pack and checked her map one last time. She had annotated the map to help her find the nearest indicated town. The town of Rimwall.

Jane left the manor and exited the perimeter wall towards the east. As best she could tell from the map and her past week of exploring she should only have two days of walking to get there, mostly along a well-defined path through a large open forest. During the past week, she hadn’t seen anything larger than a rat or sparrow in the forest so it probably wasn’t dangerous. And even if it was dangerous she was ready, she was a [Beginner Militiaman] with a sledgehammer! She laughed softly to herself as if that meant anything to someone who had never been in a fight nor trained in martial arts or anything like that.

Her hammer on her shoulder, Jane still marvelled at how much lighter it felt than before her first class, she headed towards the forest. The path was incredibly well put together, it was paved in an offset pattern with perfectly regular joints and very little wear on it. It was incredibly smooth, and regular, especially for a path down the middle of a forest from a small village. Although calling it a path may be underselling it as it was wide enough to drive a lorry down it, not there were any lorries around to drive.

Jane strode rapidly along the road, admiring the trees as she did. She didn't know much about dendrology, and in any case, the trees were different from the ones from her universe, but she thought there was an assortment of oak-like trees and birch-like trees. It was enough to make her nostalgic for the rare walks in the woods she had taken with her father. It was rather drier than it had usually been back in Blighty, so either she was further south than England used to be, further from the sea, or just a really dry summer. So she had very little idea really. She shrugged, walking was boring, she needed something to pass the time.

As she observed her surroundings she noticed a small bush that was moving ever so slightly despite the absence of wind. She crouched down slowly and placed her bag on the ground. She crept towards the edge of the road and grabbed a rock. Standing up she hurled it at the bush. As the projectile struck true she heard a pitiful yowl and a wild dog lept out at her.

Jane stepped back and swung the sledgehammer down. The mangy-looking wild dog twisted in mid-air and only took a glancing blow to the shoulder. It snarled viciously at Jane.

"[Identify]"

Mangy [Wild Dog]

[Identify] level increased to 2.

Jane smiled and swung at the [Wild Dog] who lept easily out of the way. The dog let out a grunt as it landed and dived at Jane's shins. She grinned savagely and kicked in the jaw. Its jaw snapped shut with a horrible tearing sound, and when it opened its mouth to growl at her it was dripping with blood. Jane swung wildly and hit a foreleg with a sickening crunch. She followed up with a kick to the same limb and her opponent collapsed, whimpering.

The fight over Jane took the opportunity to observe the poor agonising thing. Its originally brown fur was streaked with grey, and it was so thin she could see its bones. An older male that had been kicked out by the new alpha in town then and desperate enough to take on a human. It was still whimpering and trying to stand on its very shattered leg. Jane knew she couldn't leave it like that, she had to do something, and she couldn't heal it. She took a step back and slammed her sledgehammer hammer down with all her strength on the dog's neck. There was a hideous crack and then it was still.

You have defeated a [Wild Dog]

[Beginner Militiaman] level increased to 3.

Strength + 2

Dexterity + 0

Agility + 1

Endurance + 1

Perception + 0

Intelligence + 2

Willpower + 0

Sociability + 0

Three levels for six stat points, that didn't seem like a lot, and it seems like she gained far more intelligence than she should have, seeing as it was at the same level as willpower. Maybe luck was involved, she thought. Still, that was three levels for a fairly easy fight, she didn't even take a hit. Jane wondered idly if she could find a few more on her way to town and get her level up.

While she was standing checking her levels the dog's outline began to waver until it suddenly collapsed in on itself and disappeared leaving behind only a small glass bottle with red wax over the opening. The bottle contained a thick red liquid but other than that had no markings or anything to indicate what it might be. She slipped it into her pack and hoisted her pack onto her shoulders.

Jane started back down the road with a newfound determination, despite the ease of the fight she didn't really intend to fight more on her own, and even less to have to fight at night. As she followed the road to Rimwall Jane practised swinging her sledgehammer, sometimes throwing in a kick or a punch for fun. The sun was starting to get low in the sky when she stopped and decided to look for shelter for the night.

[Beginner Militiaman] skill acquired.

[Combat Style: Sledgehammer] 1

Jane read the notification with glee, she didn't know whether her new skill was better or worse than [Weapon: Spear] but she had a sledgehammer at least. She waved the hammer around a bit but it didn’t feel any different so she put it back on her shoulder and started searching for a cave or something to sleep in. After a short search she noticed some smoke rising above the trees. It was coming from towards the town so she followed the road as far as she could. Rounding a large bend she found an Inn. The sign above the door read "The Welcome Inn". With a snort she pushed the door and stepped back into civilization.