Looking at his PP and Paths, Aegaeon felt the desire to throw all his PP into the bloodshed path. He was excited about his first legitimate kill with a blade and the adrenaline rush pulled him towards that decision but something held him back. His first path, the Path of the Initiate Mage seemed interesting. Aegaeon was excited to try out his water manipulation skill and felt that focusing on mage could help him out with strengthening that skill. Completing the path awarded him with this notification: Congratulations for accomplishing the Initiate Mage Path! Your award is based on a choice. Would you rather-

1)acquire a new skill?

2)acquire a new item?

Or

3)evolve an existing skill?

Aegaeon immediately disregarded a new skill. The other two seemed much more alluring. What kind of item could he get? Probably something to help with mage abilities since it was a mage path, but what skill would evolve? This didn’t have anything to do with any of his skills besides Mana Blast and Aegaeon wondered about its efficacy as a rudimentary blast of his energy. An upgrade would be nice. With minimal worry about losing something Aegaeon selected to evolve a skill and was delighted receiving this:

Congratulations! For accomplishing the Path of the Initiate Mage you have selected to evolve an existing skill. Mana Blast is evolving. Due to synergy with some of your other skills Mana Blast has evolved into Water Blast, a skill that produces a constant stream of intense water from the users body. This water is strong enough to wear down health and even cut through smaller opponents. Efficacy increases with skill level. Energy expenditure decreases with skill level. Levels from previous skill transfer.

Before opening his Status Screen, Aegaeon put his remaining PP into the Bloodshed Path.

Status Screen:

Class: N/A

Level: N/A

Skills:

Sprinting Lvl:10, Deep Thought Lvl:15, Water Blast Lvl:3, Careful Climbing Lvl:7 Swimming Lvl:7, Holding Breath Lvl:4 Dagger Work Lvl:10, Water Manipulation Lvl:1

PP: 0

Paths:

Path of the Racer 0/10, Path of Ideologies 0/25, Forest Traveler 0/20, Path of Bloodshed 21/45

Completed Paths:

Path of Water 30/30, Path of the Initiate Mage 10/10,

Out of curiosity, Aegaeon tried Water Blast and immediately felt power leaving him. Aiming at a tree, water burst from his finger cutting through the trunk. The blast lasted for less than a second before Aegaeon was left feeling exhausted. He walked up to the tree to see how much damage this skill could relatively do. He was shocked to see that the bolt of water cut straight through the tree evident by the bore hole about a 1/2 inch in diameter. Small but powerful.

The water that went through the tree started to drill into a boulder behind. It had an impressive hole about as long as Aegaeon’s finger in its otherwise seamless surface. The water was drying quickly and Aegaeon wondered if that was due to the warm climate or a part of the skill. Either was possible so he figured he’d worry about it later when he had more time for extraneous tasks.

Picking himself up and considering his potential, Aegaeon continued his path to what would hopefully be a break in this endless forest.

**********

Clarissa didn’t handle the new world well. Over the past few days she tried to stay where she woke up. She was next to what appeared to be the beginning of a pine forest. She initially tried to venture away from this spot looking for someone but a bird at least twice her size came swooping out of the air and tried to snatch her in its claws.

Letting out a shriek, Clarissa dove to the ground and narrowly avoided what would have been certain death. She frantically pounded her way back towards the pine trees. Feeling her lungs burn she had to dive a few more times to prevent being captured by this persistent beast.

Nearing the edge of the trees Clarissa gave her all trying to go a bit faster, and bird was gaining on her and for a time seemed to be toying with her. Nearing the forest the bird became more serious about catching its prey.

Clarissa was just as surprised as the bird was when she made it to the tree line and was able to hide in a thick bramble of trees; the massive pines protecting her from aerial entry. Hiding there is where she received her first skill.

New Skill: Dead Run, you run with desperation unmatched. Speed increases with skill level. Lvl 1

Dead Run up 2

Considering this new ability Clarissa caught her breath and resolved herself to waiting out the birds departure. It took what felt like an eternity for the bird to finally leave the pine forests edge, probably in search of easier prey.

Tentatively Clarissa came out from the trees and figured that this was the safest place to be. She tried to make a shelter out of tree branches but she wasn’t able to break any off and the ones on the ground were too scarce to provide cover. Doing what she could she collected pine branches that had fallen to the ground and attempted to start a fire.

It took some time and effort but she was able to run a stick into a branches groove enough that the branch finally caught fire. She dragged a stone from near one of the trees to the fire as a makeshift seat. Sitting down she contemplated her life.

Before waking up in this place she couldn’t remember anything besides her name. Just Clarissa. That’s it. Not even a last name. She didn’t feel like someone who knew what to do in a forest but she had some idea of what she needed; food, water, and shelter.

Being without legitimate shelter was rough to say the least. The sun beat down on her during the day and during the night the warm air left her feeling sweaty and gross. The second day Clarissa tried to find food and water around the pine trees. She was able to find a little stream not too far from her makeshift shelter.

Drinking some water Clarissa noticed some mushrooms growing on the other side of the water. Hunger gripped her and she reached for the plants. Taking hold of one of the mushrooms she saw words floating over the plant.

Mushroom of Health, consuming this mushroom will heal minor injuries and status affects.

Clarissa immediately tore into the mushroom and nearly choked! This thing tasted awful! Without other food Clarissa grabbed all the mushrooms growing and brought them back to her place as last resort food options. One of the mushrooms looked different from the rest and upon closer inspection Clarissa saw a different name floating above it.

Mushroom of Mass Production, can be replanted. Mushroom of Mass Production stimulates the growth of all plants surrounding it.

Seeing this, Clarissa replanted the mushroom nearer to her “home” and went out in search of something a bit more edible. Walking along the tree line, Clarissa found some interesting looking plants. Unfortunately, none looked edible. Walking back towards her base, Clarissa stumbled upon a plant she had somehow missed earlier. It was a little bush with some red berries growing at the base.

Clarissa uprooted the berry plant and brought it back. She planted it near to the Mushroom of Mass Production and then resigned herself to waiting. Hunger clawed at her during the remainder of the day but by the end she could see noticeable increase in the bushes growth and there were more berries resting at the bottom of the bush.

Clarissa choked down a few of the Mushrooms of Health to ease her hunger and strapped in for the night. Waking up, Clarissa looked immediately to the bush and was surprised to see it appeared fully grown, with massive branches at least 3 times larger than it was the day before.

The berries were strewn across the bush and looked to be plump and juicy. Picking one up, Clarissa nibbled the berry. It’s succulent juices filled her mouth and she quickly inhaled the rest of the berry. Each one was about the size of her thumb and they were quite filling. They had a flavor reminiscent of cherries but it was also mixed with raspberries. She enjoyed the flavor and sat down to think of her situation.

Clarissa was alone, and she was scared, and she had no idea what to do. Getting up to stretch she yawned and elongated her arms and body.

New Skill: Acrobatics, you are agile and flexible. Agility and flexibility increase with skill level. Lvl 1

New Path: Path of the Botanist 0/15

New Path: Path of Acrobats 0/10

Status Screen: Clarissa

Class: N/A

Level: N/A

Skills:

Dead Run Lvl:3, Acrobatics Lvl:1

PP: 2

Paths:

Path of the Botanist 0/15, Path of Acrobats 0/10

Completed Paths:

Clarissa was left feeling angry about this new place. She couldn’t remember her old life at all but it had to have been better than this right? She trudged back and forth pacing her camp watching her little fire wax and wane in the night. Why couldn’t someone come and save her from this awful situation?