Aegaeon loved this world. Never could he have imagined that these things were possible and everything was still low level. Thinking about it gave him the sense that more notifications were going off, but a sharp realization stopped him from opening his notifications.

If everything was still low level, how dangerous would this world get? Nothing they’d faced yet was too challenging, and it was only going to get easier. Didn’t that imply that more dangerous beasts were out there? Aegaeon pushed the thought away and looked at his notification

Deep Thought up 2

While Aegaeon was training in the lake Clarissa sat on the side and watched.

Watching Aegaeon dive through the water felt wrong. It made Clarissa feel inadequate as she was nowhere near as capable as him. Resolving herself to train she turned her attention elsewhere and went back to the shelter.

About 20 yards from the shelter, Clarissa took a pine branch and used it to make furrows. She dug through the earth and worked tirelessly to make a nice gardening area. After working for a time she made a nice clearing of clean dug our earth. She took the Mushroom of Mass Production and planted it dead center in this section of earth.

She took the berries that she had and planted the main plant in the center on one side of the Mushroom. She planted the Mushrooms of Health on the other end. Taking some of the berries off the main plant she planted them in even rows surrounding the main plant on the side of the Mushroom.

She hoped they would grow so that she could have an orchard of berries to eat from. They were delicious and left her feeling satisfied as far as hunger was concerned. While planting one of the last berries Aegaeon trudged back into the area carrying parts and pieces of a massive fish.

“What is that?”

“Some monster that attacked me in the water. I say we cook and eat it.”

“Yeah. That sounds way better than these mushrooms. They taste horrible. Let’s see if this fish tastes any good.”

With that Aegaeon set to work making a fire. Implementing the same technique Clarissa had used earlier, he was capable of getting a fire started. It was with a sense of hurt pride that Clarissa noticed he had done it significantly faster. Why was he so much better than her? Had she had all the same time to grow that he had over these past few days?

Pushing these thoughts aside Clarissa looked for straighter branches to skewer the fish with. Finding some she prepared the fish and then searched for poles to make a ‘Y’ at either end of the fire for the branches with fish to hang from. This didn’t take long and soon enough the smell of savory fish permeated the air.

The smell made Clarissa’s stomach rumble as she realized that while plants were great, there isn’t much substitute for flesh. She would hopefully refine her plants to make them surpass this form of food, but for now there was no comparison. Aegaeon had a different sense as he smelled the fish. It was one of nostalgia.

He felt alive during that fight. He felt like the only thing that mattered was him and the beast both competing for who was best overall. That sense of focus was euphoric, and it was something he arrived to feel again. Aegaeon prepared to go into the lake again in the morning and search for more of these monsters to kill. Both for food and training.

When the meat was cooked both took some. Due to the size of the fish there was more than enough for 10 people to eat. There were plenty of leftovers so neither felt the need to hold themselves from digging in. The taste after so many days without real food was mana. And both were soon full and ready for sleep. They day had been long and both worked hard.

Before retiring to bed, Clarissa looked to see if that farming gave her any notifications. It had.

New Skill: Gardening, as you nurture plants they will thrive. What you pour into them is what you’ll get out of them. Plants become more plentiful with skill level. Lvl 1

Gardening up 2

Acrobatics up 3

Satisfied with her results Clarissa turned in; Aegaeon once again offering first watch. While Clarissa was asleep, Aegaeon looked out towards the lake. The water called to him. It pulled his attention. He drew Neptune’s Wrath almost reflexively. Holding the blade he looked at the dagger that he drew from the pond. That felt like weeks ago so much had happened since.

In that time Aegaeon learned things about himself and this world that never could be. But then again, what could Aegaeon know could be since he had no memory of a past life or world. While sitting there next to their fire, Aegaeon decided not to waste time. Practicing Water Blast would boost his levels and enable him to grow more.

Since getting Water’s Emissary, Aegaeon wondered how easy using water could become. Already he had marked acceleration learning and leveling his water abilities. Trying to gauge his stamina, Aegaeon attempted to use water Blast and hold the skill as long as possible. Activating it was easy but maintaining was quite difficult.

At first his blasts lasted maybe 2-3 seconds before drizzling to an end leaving Aegaeon panting and wheezing. After what felt like hours of repetition and rest Aegaeon was able to hold it for about 10 seconds. It didn’t seem like much improvement at a face value but Aegaeon knew improvement like that didn’t come easy. He continued to practice water blast and taking breaks to eat more of the Barracuda until the sun came up.

Clarissa climbed out of the shelter and stretched. Feeling the cool morning air. At first it took her a second to orient herself. Then she remembered her garden. Jumping to look at the development Clarissa was ecstatic to see buds sprouting out of the ground where she had planted berries.

The main bush was full again and she delighted in picking and eating some of its crop. She could get used to this. But she remembered that she could grow better with a higher gardening level. While Clarissa was sitting there looking at her growing berries and the mushrooms, an idea came to her to combine the two in order to make medicine.

The mushrooms healed you but were inedible, the berries had the opposite issue. So taking some mushrooms and berries she used a stone to mush them together. When she looked at the paste she had created there were words above:

Minor Salve, applying this salve to minor injuries will heal them. Eating this salve can also cure most minor sicknesses.

Clarissa checked her notifications before continuing to experiment.

Gardening up 4

New Skill: Potions Maker, combining ingredients will create potions. Potency and abilities of potions will increase with skill level. Lvl 1

Potions Maker up 2

Clarissa was happy with this. But it was t enough. She turned her attention back to her plants. How could she refine their growth and hers as well? Trying to increase her abilities Clarissa expanded her garden and planted more berries. Time to test the extent of the Mushroom of Mass Production.

After planting the garden extension, Clarissa remembered that Aegaeon took watch so she could sleep. She found him near the fire where he started his watch.

“You can get some sleep, I’m up now. I’ll let you know if anything’s coming.”

“That’s okay, now that you’re up I’m going to go back to the lake. I have some things I want to try out.”

“Sounds good. While you’re there try to think of things we could do here to settle this place a little better okay? I’ve been giving it thought and haven’t gotten anything definitive yet.”

“Will do, have fun with your garden. Hopefully you’re growing as much as it is.”

Stating simply “I am,” ended the conversation. With a nod and a lingering glance in her direction, Aegaeon stood and walked towards the water. He walked with excitement and trepidation. He was tired from not sleeping and was concerned that if he was attacked, it wouldn’t go his way. But he was excited to see the impact of Water’s Respite.

Walking quickly across the small sand bar, Aegaeon shirked his shirt and pants and dove into the water. He always loved the cool water cascading around him but this time when he dove into the water he felt energy seeping into him from the water. The cool would have cleared grogginess without his abilities, but they certainly aided in clearing his mind. Aegaeon felt rejuvenated.

With some fear, Aegaeon opened his mouth and prepared to draw breath. Trusting his skills description, he suddenly inhaled. The cool water poured through him and filled his lungs. At first the sharp cold was electric and it terrified Aegaeon. But he felt no pain. In fact, he felt totally normal with the exception of cold lungs.

Regarding the sensation, Aegaeon felt that this change was the right one to come over him. Reveling in the cool feeling, he breathed again. Feeling the water coming up felt as weird as it initially going down. He felt more strain from his lungs and diaphragm to move the thicker matter, but he adjusted quickly. Leaving forward in the water Aegaeon began to swim down.

Not necessarily searching for anything, Aegaeon just looked around. Being able to swim without worry of air gave Aegaeon a sense of relief. This was going to be amazing! Thinking of using his skills he realized he hadn’t checked his notifications from training Water Blast. Looking at his notifications screen, Aegaeon smiled.

Water Blast up 11

Water’s Emissary up 6

Deep Thought up 5

What made Aegaeon even happier than these was seeing his PP growth and his paths. He had enough to complete the Path of Bloodshed and he had more in his list. Finishing the Path of Bloodshed, Aegaeon prepared to choose another path.

Congratulations! You have finished the Path of Bloodshed. As a result you have acquired a New Skill.

New Skill: Assassin’s Intuition, You become an instrument of death. Capable of seeing the weaknesses of your foes and exploiting them. This increases with level. Lvl 1