Leo, Stonks, Jehmaan and Mark stood outside the city gates. Each one of them had purchased new set of gear. Stonks was dressed in thick long gambeson with metal bars studded in to offer extra protection. In his hands was, from the looks of it, a chair leg that had nails hammered through it.

Jehmaan took a lighter approach in his armor. He had leather chestpiece, accompanied with matching pauldrons and full hand guard. His left hand vambrace had small widening, that could be used as a shield. The lancer held a long glaive that was just a bit taller than he was. It was decorated with feathers and clay beads. According to him, his class didn't require a lance, but instead any polearm would do.

Mark had found an almost oriental looking set of clothes. He told the group that it was modeled after traditional japanese chef's attire. It even had leather strips layered over each other to resemble samurai's armor plating. His set of combat kitchen knives had easy to access seaths attached in odd places, so he could swap out tools in an instant, providing an excellent element of surprise.

Overall, the group looked ready to face the bunnies.

The group departed from the city wall, crossing the plains in relative peace. Few other parties passed them, either going deeper or, returning from their daily hunt. None of them seemed to be in too bad shape, but Leo noticed couple people, badly bruised and bleeding.

He felt sympathy for them.

Mark soon spotted a group of rabbits and the party set in their formation. Stonks charged at the mobs, Leo and Jehmaan trailing behind him as Mark once again circled behind them.

Leo poured mana to his 'Conjure weapon' spell, and soon a familiar falchion materialised itself to Leo's open arm. He grabbed the handle and executed an overhead swing, catching a rabbit by surprise. The blade cleaved through the tiny mob's head, killing it instantly. A tiny 'critical hit' notification popped up shortly. Leo ignored the message as the rest of the bunnies charged in to counter the ambush.

Leo parried and weaved between leaping rabbits, as he lashed out with his blade at every possible opening. Stonks stood tall, swinging his odd weapon. He missed most of his attacks, but the few that connected, dealt devastating damage, opening bleeding wounds and crippling his opponents. Jehmaan showed his mastery by keeping the mobs at arm's length, delivering jabs and slashes to every mob that tried to test their luck in closing the distance, while Mark sneakily dispatched the rear guard.

Bladecaller felt pain in his back, as one of the angry rabbits surprised him and dealt a total of 6 damage. He let out a small battle cry as he twisted his body and sliced an ear off of the attacker. Two more bunnies leapt towards him as he suddenly felt his body moving without him meaning to do so. He sidestepped the attack, knowing that his 'dodge' ability had activated. Leo spun around and thrust his weapon forward, skewering one attacker.

He kicked the corpse off his blade and readied himself to face off against his two final opponents. Stonks stepped in front of him. He had already defeated his group of glorified food that were angry rabbits, and produced a small glass bottle from his pocket. It held brown liquid in it, and before the rabbits could leap, he downed the bottle. ”That's the stuff!” he roared as the smell of potent alcohol caught in Leo's nose. Stonks grabbed his stick with two hands and swung it like a baseball bat as a rabbit leaped towards him. The hit connected with a sound of bone caving in. The second bunny's leap connected with Stonk's face and he toppled over, leaving his body prone and defenseless. Leo jumped in to defend his fallen friend, kicking the rabbit hard and cut it in half with a powerful swing of his magical falchion, ending the battle for their part.

”That went super well!” He congratulated his fellow teammates after they all had joined together. Stonks seemed to be more out of it than usual. He had taken a good blow to the head and.. well, he had been drinking. ”The basic training sure paid off soon” Leo continued as he opened the combat log to see the notifications that had been blinking.

Xp gained 72. (Angry rabbit * 12. (4xp * 12 angry rabbits * 1.5 difficulty, due to low average party level)

Skill increased: Conjure weapon (sword) (Novice II)

You have better understanding in how to use your conjured sword, allowing you to be more efficient with it in the future.

Skill increased: Dodge (Novice V) Dodging attacks makes it easier to dodge more attacks! Good job!

Skill increased: Battle instincts (Novice II) keeping your head in the battle is good lesson for everyone to learn. You did (almost) well.

He liked his skill increases. Even if the experience gained from the rabbits was bad, they were after all just the first enemies available.

”So. Training is useful, but let's not push our luck any further” Leo said, looking at Stonks with concern. ”I think we should head back and come outside once every evening to see how much we have improved. Train during the day and just.. make a solid foundation. No need to rush things, right?”

Jehmaan nodded and while Mark looked like he wanted to continue, he agreed to take things slow after seeing how Stonks was staring at the distance.

”Is he okay?” Mark asked

”Took a blow to the head. Probably a concussion or dazed debuff.” Leo soothed the concerned rogue. ”We should try to fill our party with a healer, if we manage to find one. I saw today that potions are really expensive in here”

”So.. back to the tavern?” Jehmaan walked to Stonks, wrapped his arm around his shoulder and lifted the brawler up on his feet.

They started walking towards the city gates, when Mark tapped Leo on the shoulder. ”Hey!” Leo slowed down, looking curiously at Mark

”Would you mind helping me out here? I got a quest from the kitchen to gather some wild herbs.” Mark asked Him, and of course Leo agreed.

”Hey Jeh! Escort Stonks back to the inn. I'll help Mark around. We'll be back before the nightfall”

Jehmaan nodded, so Leo and Mark made a course correction, heading for the grassy paths.

”So what kinds are you looking for?” Leo queried ”Also, can you share the quest with me?”

”Sorry Leo,” Mark stated ”No can do. It is a quest for chef profession. I gain 'held' experience. When i am level five and choose the chef as profession, i will receive the rewards.” Leo nodded. He had no plans to become a chef. ”For the herbs, i am looking for red clover blossoms, blackberries, spearmint, and wild ginger. I have small pouches for each of them. Anything else will be extra profit”

”I see.” Leo thought for a moment. ”Do you have herbalism, or some gathering skills?”

”Nope. But This should help me get them.”

The sun was still high when the duo came across first blackberry bush. Couple rabbits were guarding it, but they were dispatched quickly. Leo stood guard while Mark collected the ripe berries.

”Yes! Gained herbalism at novice one” Mark said, excitedly. Leo grinned at his friend. He had known Mark ever since they were children. Marcus had always been interested in cooking and how things tasted. When Leo was wasting his life with video games and all the other nerdy stuff, Mark studied in finest culinary school the country had to offer. He had graduated with straight A's and even went so far as to work in Michelin star restaurant.

Food was his passion, and to see him being able to continue his pursuit of culinary arts in Eternium made Leo happy.

”All done here!” Mark soon called out and they set off to gather the rest of the needed materials.

It took rest of the day, but finally Leo crossed the massive outer gate with Mark.

They had accumulated few more bruises and cuts, but the Rogue's quest was completed and their spirits were high. Mark had even stumbled across some blood moss. A rare ingredient in alchemy. Even if it was not useful for cooking, he gained few silver after selling it to an off putting alchemist.

During this extended trip Leo had gained total of 32 experience, and no skill increases. He had even declined to help Mark collecting the herbs, since herbalism wasn't something Leo was interested in. However for Mark, the skill had jumped straight to apprentice VI, after he had identified some plants and demonstrated his knowledge of herbs from the real world.

For that, Leo was somewhat envious. His friend already had a Journeyman and apprentice ranked skills, while his highest was just past mid novice tier. But then again, he had done nothing noteworthy with his skills or real world knowledge. Hmm.. That needed to be fixed soon.

They arrived at the Golden Ball tavern and the head chef greeted Mark enthusiastically. Mark gave him the pouches and followed the man back to the kitchen while Leo found his friends back in the booth they had dined in last night Stonks looked to be doing better and judging by the barrel sitting on the table, had a good buzz going on. Leo joined in and ordered spiced mead for himself. Why settle for only beer or ale, when you had proper old fashioned mead on the menu? A server placed a tankard in front of him and Leo tipped her a silver for the drink.

”Did anything interesting happen when we were gone?” He asked his friends, while sipping the cold liquid. It tasted excellent. Soft sweet taste of honey accompanied by juniper berries. It was like nothing Leo had ever tasted before. His friends told him a confusing story about a brawl they had witnessed when coming back to the city, but other than that, their evening was peaceful. Like previous night, Mark soon emerged from the kitchen, carrying trays of steaming meat and vegetables. ”Sorry guys. I can't sit with you tonight. The cook asked me to help out with other customers.” He apologised before heading back, tying an apron strings behind his back.

Next week went fast, following similar routine each day. They started their day with training at the guard's training area, followed by testing their skills against rabbits and completing minor social quests to the NPCs. His training with the guardsmen had also increased his characteristic points. Strength and constitution mainly, but according to their trainer, every characteristic point could be increased by doing training suited to corresponding stat. At the end of their first week they stood proudly at level three, not dying once to now relatively easy rabbit mobs. They only hunted a group or two of them each day, just enough to see their skill progression and get meat for the tavern. Mark now worked evenings in the kitchen and his roast rabbit was gaining attention from the customers. Place owner had even given them quests to bring bunny meat to them, giving them incentive to stay outdoors longer.

At some point a group apparently had survived a night outside the city walls, so they had been offered guard duty in addition their normal missions. A member of their group would stay awake for the night, giving an alarm and waking others up if an attack was on the way.

Leo had gained tons of new skill points due to his efforts and had raised his Sword mastery to beginner one. He also had gained a new skill: 'Medium armor mastery'. It increased the armor rating of his gear and reduced weight penalty and stamina consumption per level. Leo could now effectively slay rabbits with one good, non critical hit.

He looked at his character sheet and felt proud for this achievement:

Name: Leo

Class: Bladecaller (artificially rare)

Profession: (locked)

Level: 3

Exp: 6,820

Exp to next level: 3,180

Hit points: 210/210 (50+10 points for each point in constitution

Mana: 137/137 (12.5 per point of intelligence)

Mana regen: 2,5 (0.25 per point of wisdom)

Stamina: 210/210 (50+5 points for each point in strength and constitution

Characteristic: Raw score (modifier)

Strenght: 18 (1.18)

Dexterity: 16(1.16)

Constitution: 23 (1.23)

Intelligence: 12 (1.12)

Wisdom: 11 (1.11)

Charisma: 10 (1)

Perception: 12 (1.12)

Luck: 9 (0.09)

Karmic Luck: +2

He still hadn't gained a title, but that didn't bother Leo much. Even if the effects they granted were great, he was sure he'd gain few in time.

Now, as good as the things were going, Leo had found himself in a routine loop. He had done nothing noteworthy or special. No interesting missions or anything of the sort. Even the guards at the training are had recommended Leo that he should break the repetition cycle.

”Listen, lad. You have good foundation under you and a good party. There really is nothing i can teach you at this level.” The guard had troubled expression on his face ”Have you thought about joining a guild? I could give you a recommendation and You would get tons of different quest options if you did”

Leo only shook his head.

”Perhaps at some point, but for now.. I don't think i want to tie myself up to an organisation.” He took a breath and continued ”Thank you anyway.”

”Hey guys” Leo got his group's attention at the end of their first week, before heading out for their daily rabbit hunt. ”I've been thinking.. and we really should go out and do more.” He paused dramatically ”We've been doing the same thing over and over again for a week now. We are strong enough and work well enough together that we should take on more demanding missions. We are lacking behind experience hard, when compared to other player population.”

Others nodded their heads as Leo continued: ”So, how about we venture out to try out our skills beyond rabbit territory. Maybe find a beginner dungeon or something else.”

”Sure thing” Jehmaan agreed and gripped his glaive harder. ”I have actually been thinking the same thing.”

”So.. it's settled then?” Leo asked as they stepped through the city gates. Affirmative murmurs were their only response.

The party walked past the rabbit warren, into the fox territory. Their teamwork and week worth of training made dispatching the foxes easy work, so after few encounters they edged closer to an old looking forest. Leo had heard, that this was the border of wolfmen domain. A recommended level for this area was eight, so the group stepped really carefully through the first few yards, keeping their eyes out for lurking enemies.

Soon the trees surrounded them, leaving them in dim green tinted light. Woodpeckers pounded their beaks against tree trunks and a sound of wind whistled above them.

They were as tense as stones. Even when nothing seemed to happen, the party moved slowly, keeping their weapons ready. Soon Mark waved them down and pointed at a bush twenty or so yards away. Leo saw it moving slightly and activated his 'Conjure weapon' spell. Like always, the blade formed in his hand and they crept closer. Stonks pulled one of his whiskey bottles and downed it in few deep gulps. He broke the empty bottle against a stone, making the rest of the party wince as the sound of shattering glass registered in their ears. The thing hiding behind that bush had obviously noticed the sound too and soon a pack of four wolves was charging at them.

”Now come here you dirty little mutt!” Stonks shouted, waving the broken bottle in his offhand threateningly, while rising his 'nail mace' above his head, ready to strike.

”Stonks you idiot!” Jehmaan shouted as he slashed his glaive at a charging wolf ”We had a drop on them!” Stonks didn't care about the shouting, now swinging his odd weapon around like a mad berserker. ”WAHAHAHAAA! COME AT ME!”

Mark had climbed up a tree couple feet and now held his skinning knife in reverse grip, waiting for an opportune moment to drop down on a wolf while Leo was exchanging blows next to Stonks with the alpha of the pack. He needed to avoid his friend's wild blows in addition to the wolf's various attacks, and try to deal damage to the beast at the same time. Not an easy feat to complete.

His stamina was dropping in dangerous speed and his weapon would expire in six minutes. Sure the cooldown was now shorter than the duration, but it took some time to cast his spell. Leo was starting to sweat. So far he had managed to avoid the wolf's attacks completely, but soon he wouldn't be able to even move. 'This was a mistake' He thought while dodging yet another charging attack. When the wolf passed him, he delivered a powerful kick, connecting his armored right foot with the wolf's belly. The beast yelped, making Leo feel a tinge of guilt that soon vanished as the wolf turned to face him, eyes filled with rage. Leo readied himself for another charge, as something clicked in his mind.

He glanced at his active effects and saw that 'Conjure weapon' had come off cooldown. An idea struck him, and as the wolf leaped at him, Leo tucked and rolled under it, letting his mana flow to the spell formation, and summoning a new blade to his offhand. To his surprise and glee, his old weapon didn't vanish and a notification icon popped up at the edge of his vision. He would open that up later. Leo turned around, raising his two blades and as the alpha tried to bite him, he gave it an elbow blow straight to it's muzzle, followed by two fast strikes from his swords. It backed away, but Leo was on a roll. He kept slashing and poking with his blades, not giving the beast any time to counter his blows. It didn't stop the wolf from trying. It tensed it's back legs and lept once again at Leo, giving him the opening he needed. Leo ducked, slashing his right hand at the wolf, disconnecting a paw from it, while thrusting his left hand upwards, penetrating the magical blade through the leaping wolf's heart. The beast fell on him, but with a tiny bit of effort Leo managed to push the corpse off of him. He surveyed the battle field- Jehmaan was bleeding on the ground, multiple bite marks in his leather armor, some leaking blood. Mark was still going at it with the last wolf alive with Stonks' help and soon the duo delivered a finishing blow. Neither of them seemed to have serious wounds, few bite marks here and there accompanied by couple claw marks.

Leo rushed at Jehmaan's side, checking his pulse. He didn't feel it. ”Guys! HELP!” Leo shouted, trying to find if his friend had big wounds to patch up. He couldn't find any, so he tore the leather plate off his friend's chest and started doing chest compressions. Mark joined by his side

”Leo. That's no use” He stated, solemnly.

”I am not going to let him..” Leo started shouting before Mark interrupted

”Leo! Man! Chill down! Even with how real this feels, remember, this is still a game.”

Leo stopped, dumbfounded. How could he have forgotten. ”Right..” he agreed slowly and soon enough Jehmaan body started to expire in accelerated rate. It reminded him of one of the superhero movies, where the bad guy turned people to dust.

”Well.. there is no point in continuing forward” Leo said in somber tone. ”At our full strength we are missing one person. Going further would be the same as suicide”

Stonks and Mark nodded, so they spent a few moments to skin the beasts, and Mark sliced few cuts of meat off, shrugging at Stonks' disgusted face ”It's a fantasy game and this is virtual animal. I don't see a problem in trying it out”

Stonks looked like he wanted to protest, but couldn't come up with a good argument. ”Stupid animals.” He grumbled, pulling another bottle of whiskey from his bag.

The trio traced their steps back to the edge of the forest, and when out, Leo opened his notifications:

Experience gained: 72 (12 * wolf*4 * 1.5 (experience increased due to low average party level)

Skill gained: Dual wielding (Novice I). If one sword is good, then two must be better. Gain 1n% increased accuracy with your weapons while wielding two at the same time. Off hand weapon penalties reduced by 30 + 1n%

Skill gained: Counterattack (Novice I) Why look for the perfect time to strike when it is right after your opponent has delivered one of its own. 1n% chance for your attacks to deal 1n extra damage when striking an enemy that is performing an attack.

Skill upgraded: Conjure weapon (Novice V) becomes 'Conjure weapons' (Novice V)

Skill 'dual wielding' has been recognised: By doubling initial mana cost, you may now conjure two weapons at the same time. (Note, you may still choose to only conjure one blade)

Title gained: ”I am the Alpha now” By going toe to toe with an Alpha wolf, without taking a single point of damage during the combat, you have established your dominance as the pack leader. Effect: Wolves have now 10 + (character level) % chace of ignoring you and your 'pack'. This effect stays active until 12 hours has passed or until you show aggression towards them. + 5% training speed when taming and training canine animals.

Achievement earned: Battle mastery. You have now learned three most basic combat skills; Dodge, parry and counterattack. Good job! Reward: 100 exp. 1 free skill point.

Extreme skill synergy detected! Skills 'Dodge', 'Parry', 'Counterattack' and 'Battle instincts' all share similar effects. By paying eight hundred gold, you can combine these four skills into one single skill. The level of the new skill will be the average of the original skills, and any remaining skill points (rounded up) will be returned as free skill points! If you do not have the necessary gold on hand, you may choose to have the money taken from your bank account. As this is the first time you have found two or more skills with extreme synergy, you have been informed as a courtesy. You will receive no further information on skill synergy from the system.

New system menu available! Congratulations! You have unlocked the ability to use 'Soul Forging'! By meeting certain requirements, you can combine skills or even classes! Be careful, as combining skills with low synergy will lower the new skill's efficacy.

The blast of information assaulted Leo's vision. He went each point through carefully, slowing his walk down as he did so. Now there was some good to know stuff! Also! He had gained a title! A first for him. But to be completely honest, he was more interested in the soul forging portion. This was his way to achieve his dream class! 800 gold was a huge chunk of money, almost all what he had brought in.. but.. he didn't have to combine those four skills. He could save them up for later when he had more money, but for now, he wanted to test the option. There was couple problems in that plan. First of all, He had no spare skills to combine. That issue needed to be fixed sooner, rather than later. Leo set a goal for himself to get couple useful combat related abilities that he could mash together.

The sun was setting as they once again reached the city gates. Mark and Stonks went back to Golden Ball, but Leo had other plans. He waved his goodbyes and took a familiar route to guard's training area. The huge guard he had been training under sighed as he saw Leo coming closer and seemingly prepared himself to shoo him off. Afterall, Leo had been bugging him for a week to get training. Before he could say anything, Leo greeted the guard with casual salute ”Don't worry! I'm not here for a training session, rather i'm asking for an advice on where to get more specialised skill training?” The tension that had been on the guard's face lessened, as he measured the young swordsman.

”More specialised training huh? Why the rush? Nevermind that.. Well the place is here, obviously. My job is only to offer the basics of combat skills. More advanced courses and skills are gonna cost ya” The guard responded after thinking a moment.

Leo blanched and felt like to slap his face. So all this time.. he could've gotten better training if he had just.. asked for it? He really should start asking more questions and listen the people around him.

A notification popped up as he finished that thought: Wisdom + 1

That confirmed it. ”So what would you recommend for me? My plans are to be light frontline fighter. I recently gained 'dual wielding' skill, and i would like to include it to my training”

”Sounds like you're aiming to be a skirmisher.” The guard looked at him carefully. ”For that role i would suggest strength and dexterity training. We offer basic strength courses, but for dexterity, you should visit the rogue's obstacle course. Now for the skills, we can get your skill level higher in all of those, teach you some new weapon skills and stances. I also know a guy who can offer you combo training. It means chaining different attacks together in order to bypass a shield or leave very little breathing room for counter attacks.” He finished, helpfully.

Leo pondered the information for a long moment. Skirmisher.. that sounded about right. Light DPS overclass that usually ran around with very little protection, but huge damage output. Most rogue types fit to that role perfectly and Leo had no problem with joining that group himself.

”That all sounds fine, but what that will cost me?” Leo queried.

”A basic training course from novice to apprentice in any given skill will be fifteen gold. Characteristic training with us comes up to five gold for a month of training. You can only increase each characteristic once a day by training, so this would give you thirty points in either strength or constitution. Or both if you get both courses and pay for them. Our combo trainer usually charges up to twenty gold for each combo, and she only trains you up to beginner nine”

”Gotcha.” Leo paused. ”So where i can sign up? I would love to take advantage of your characteristic training and.. hmm.. I could take offensive and defensive stance training. Sword mastery and dual wielding, obviously” He calculated the price in his head, seventy gold so far ”To the abyss with it. I want attack and defense break combos too. And finally I would like a new skill of your recommendation” a hundred and twenty five gold. Leo thought it would be good investment.

”Follow me then. Let's sign you up for the courses. A skill of my recommendation huh? Oh I know exactly what skill to teach you”

Leo followed the man to a clerk's desk. He paid for the courses with bank notes after registering to them and allowed himself to be escorted deeper into the guard's area. It was early evening, so the guard figured that he could use few hours of training before letting him go.

They started out with characteristic training. His trainer made Leo wear weighted armor and while wearing that, they sparred. This was surprisingly effective way of training, since he got actual combat experience while his stats were being increased. They went at it for an hour, during which the guard, Murray, beat him to pieces, showing no mercy as Leo tried to utilize his more evasive style of combat. The heavy set of armor drained his stamina over and over again as Leo tried to dodge the blows. Soon he was heaving in great gulps of air while swinging his two lead filled wooden swords, trying to hit his opponent. They only stopped after Leo got a system notification:

Characteristic point training completed!

+1 to Strength and constitution! These stats cannot be increased further by any means other than system rewards, study or practice for twenty-four hours game time.

”Neat” Leo exclaimed as he shared the info with his partner.

”That was way faster than it should've been” Murray stated, confusion rich in his voice

”Well.. my class gains experience double the speed of normal in combat related skills.. I think it applied itself to this training, since we.. you know.. fought” Leo tried to explain himself, not knowing exactly what the problem was

”Ah! That would do it i suppose” The guard accepted his explanation with little hesitation.

”Are you good to continue? We could start with couple stances”

Leo only nodded, removed the overly heavy metal suit and got ready as the teaching went on.

Murray taught him well past sunset, and Leo left the training area sweaty, bruised, but in a good mood. His skill levels had gained huge leaps, since Murray was a master in combat skills.

Skill gained: Stance of relentless (Beginner 0) Why defend yourself, when best way of not taking damage is to kill your enemies faster than they can kill you.

Effect: adds 20 +1n% attack speed and 10 +1n% attack damage in exchange for -2n% accuracy and -10 -1n% overall defence rating (where n= skill level)

Skill gained: Stance of unbreakable (Beginner 0) Damage? What damage? I ain't taking any.

Effect: adds 20 +1n% defence and 10 +1n% success rate in parries and dodges in exchange for -10 -2n% attack speed and -2n% attack damage (where n= skill level)

(Note! You may have only one combat stance active at any given moment. You can switch between your stances in 'active effects' tab. New option available in 'Active effects tab', called 'Combat stances')

Skill gained: Cleave (Beginner 0) group of enemies? Slash, slash slash. No more enemies.

Effect: Deals 10 + 1n% of your damage as magical slashing damage in 5ft. cone behind your enemies.

Cost: 5n Stamina (Where n= skill level)

Skill increased: Sword mastery (Beginner IV)

New effect added, based on previous usage: 'Sword mastery' becomes 'Magical sword mastery'. Effect: +10% attack speed when using conjured weapons.

Skill increased: Dual wielding (Novice IX)

Skill increased: Parry (Beginner II)

New effect added, based on previous usage: off handed parry.

Effect: You have now two parry instances, instead of one. (2 * 1.5n% chance to deflect incoming attack when no other action is being performed. 1 * 1.5n% chance to deflect incoming attack if you are performing an action with only one hand)

Class unlocked: Guardian (common). You have gained basic skills of guardian. This class specialises in defending others and taking damage without flinching.

Switch your active class as Guardian? Yes. No.

Leo beamed when he read through his notifications. He declined the offer on switching his class, but was happy to learn that this was how you gained new classes. Leo set Stance of Relentless as his active combat form and strolled leisurely back to the tavern. He took his time, once again really enjoying himself and his stay in Eternium. Even if his body ached all over, something about the chilly night air and the sounds of people happily chattering in various inns and taverns lifted his mood considerably.

The golden ball inn was packed up more than usual. Leo found Stonks drinking alone at their usual booth and he asked the brawler what's going on.

”Itssh Mark” Stonks slurred his words drunkenly. ”His food issh drawing new chusthomersh in” He swayed on his stool happily. Leo could see that he was well on his way to awful morning. Did this game penalize substance abuse? Was addiction a thing? This could be bad in a long run.

He ordered a wolf steak with vegetables on the side and set out to wait for his food. Starting a conversation with his thick headed friend didn't work out, him being drunk as well as being intellectually challenged at the moment, so Leo went to get a drink on the meantime.

He thought about his gains so far. Soul forging. The ability to combine skills and spells was going to be a key to his success. He tried to remember his past conversations with the world AI, during the testing phase. It had hinted about combining skills and how the order you combined them could affect the outcome. Thinking that the most important skill should be added first, and everything after it would be to alter its effects, Leo started to sketch out a plan for his advancement. Fighting with two weapons was cool, but he wanted more. But what 'more' could mean? This game had almost limitless number of options to grow, so finding out what suited him was important. He could try out mage's college, to get couple spells to mash up, but Leo had heard that the fees in there were pricey. Also, since combining skills cost money the option of learning spells from the college was soon ruled out. This was proving to be more difficult task. In every past game he had played, you followed a straight forward class path. Fighter class focused on fighting, Mages cast spells. But not here. It frustrated Leo to no end, not having a solid meta to follow.

After vigorous pondering and stretching His imagination to it's limits, Leo had a concept ready. He had taken inspiration from prof. Octopus and Cratos. Both infamous pop culture characters. Leo would aim for pseudo sentient weapons that could act without his commands. In his mind the skill (or would it be a class at that point), should work with his current skill set well. ”What skills i should aim for for this effect..?” Leo muttered as a server brought a plate in front of him. He munched the delicious meal as he continued his train of thought. A tamer skill could work.. After all, i would be 'taming' those weapons. Some form of spell or skill to summon them? Was 'Mage armor' a thing? A shielding he could conjure around him. It must exist, but could he learn it on his own? That was a whole different question. Add it to the list anyway. This would most likely eat his parry and counterattack skills too.. now that i think about it, battle instincts should probably be thrown into the mix. Would his stances affect the weapons without being mixed in? Most likely.

A plan formed in his head slowly, but surely:

First, i should add 'Conjure weapons'. That should allow me to summon them at will. Then should i add 'battle instinct' or 'taming' next? Taming would most likely give me better control over them, so that should go next, then battle instinct, followed by sword mastery, dual wielding, parry and counterattack. With this combination, mage armour would not be needed, though it could offer some additional defence. I'll put it in the 'maybe' section. Without mage armor, combining those skills would cost me.. Leo winced. Almost thirteen thousand gold! He had a bit over a thousand, stored in his bank. And better yet, when converted to dollars, that attempt at an unique skill would come out as 128 000 dollars! That's an insane amount of money to throw at a gamble!

Leo sat still, contemplating this fact as a prompt appeared, startling Him out of his daze.

Title gained: I have a goal! Planning out your future growth without a trainer to feed you information, can only lead you to glory! Effect: When you follow your previously set plan, you gain +20% learning speed to the skills you need to accomplish said goal. Additional effect: one time use. When combining skills in order to finish your goal, gain 90% monetary cost reduction in your Soul forging . After using this ability, this title will vanish, and turn into a skill that helps you reach your goals.

The goal must be set before the effect takes place and it may be edited only once.

Set goal now? Yes. No. (Warning! Selecting no will lead to loss of this title)

”Well that was helpful.. Great timing” Leo smirked and nodded at the ceiling, thanking the system. He had almost given up on pursuing that goal. Pressing the 'yes' button, Leo put his desired skill combination in: Conjure Weapon, Taming, Battle instinct, Sword mastery, dual wielding, parry and counterattack in that order, and confirming his decision, a new notice appeared:

Attention! You do not have skill 'Taming'. 20% increased learning speed to that skill applied. Can be edited: 1 time(s)

”Whaa?” Stonks slurred, hearing Leo's words. ”Nothing big guy. Enjoy your beer”

”Will do!” Stonks replied happily, taking a deep gulp from his tankard.

Leo did a bit of a mental math. With the cost reduction, combining those skills would come out as.. one hundred and forty two gold and twenty silver. Much more manageable. The option to edit his choices was also neat, and could come in handy if he learned skills he hadn't thought about in his planning session.

Leo finished his meal stood up, planning to retreat in his rented room when he saw yet another familiar face in the crowd. ”Ramen” He called out, waving his hand, getting his coworker's attention. Tim Ramen, the medical worker who escorted Leo to his pod, looked up, confusion apparent in his eyes. Leo walked over to him. ”It's me. Leo. I haven't changed that much for you not to recognize me!”

”Oh! Leo!” Tim said, his confusion switching to happy smile when he made the connection.

”So good to see you man!”

”You too!” Leo grinned. ”I didn't realise that you joined the game too. You got a Pod?”

”Nah. Too expensive for me at this point. I have a spot reserved, but it will take a month or so before i am able to fully join.” He lowered his voice ”But you should really keep that down. Player killers like to hunt down people in Pods”

”Right.. i've heard about that” Leo whispered, conspiratorially. ”Anyway” He continued in a normal tone ”How have you been? What class did you get?”

”Ah!” Tim sighed ”I got plain and simple Mage. I aimed for cleric or some form of healer, but the trials didn't think the role suited me. So.. fireballs and stuff for now. How about you?”

”Bladecaller. Weapon conjuring wizard and fighter mix” Leo smiled

Tim's face paled as He heard the explanation ”Man! I haven't seen you in the college! Have you signed the Accords?”

”Accords? No.. I haven't..” Leo answered ”I really can't afford the classes at the moment.”

”Well then, you should really keep your magical abilities hidden.. I ain't gonna rat you out, but if the college finds out, they will send people after you” Tim stated in serious voice. In Leo's eyes, it looked like he wanted to say more, but then Ramen changed the subject

”You haven't by any chance run across with a player called Joey Nelson?” He queried ”He's a friend of mine who joined the game just before you did, but I haven't seen Him around. I've checked all the places”

”No, sorry. I've been mostly hanging with my party” Leo felt bad for hin inability to help, so he put a hand on Tim's shoulder ”You'll find him yet.” ”Yeah” was Tim's only response.

They chatted for a while, exchanging their experiences so far in game. Leo told Tim about their recent skirmish with wolves and his plans for his character.

”Soul Forging, huh?” Tim, or tSnake as he was now called, said. ”I haven't come across anything like that yet. It sounds indeed useful. I should ask my master about it soon.”

”Speaking of masters” Leo interrupted ”Is there any way you could teach me a spell or two? So far i only have my 'Conjure Weapon', and since i am planning on using it in soul forging, i really could go for another spell”

tSnake stayed silent so long that Leo was certain, he was going to refuse him, but then he spoke: ”Well.. Strictly speaking, we shouldn't be teaching college spells for outsiders. It would put you in more dangerous position, but i do know couple that could help you in the future. I am no master of those spells by any means, but i think i can show you the ropes, if you want to.”

”So as long as i don't go gallivanting in public areas with my spells, i should be safe?” Leo asked.

”Theoretically, yes.” T said, still a tinge of worry in his voice.

”Then let's do it! Do you have time now? I got a room upstairs”

Leo led tSnake up in his room and begun the process of training three new skills. First off in tSnake's list was 'Mana manipulation' and 'Coalescence'. He guided Leo with guided meditation through his mana channels, making him spin and condense his mana pool down before leading him through a tourist trip inside Leo's.. mind? Soul? It was tedious work, but after it was done, two new skills waited for Leo in his notifications:

Skill gained: Coalescence (Novice I). You have taken the first steps on the path of the mind! By collecting your mana in an orderly form, you will be able to pack more mana into a single usage, with far greater effect. +1% spell efficiency and +1% mana regeneration per skill level. Wisdom +1. Increase your wisdom to coalescence your mana to higher degree (Maximum 50% spell efficiency)

Skill gained: Mana manipulation (Novice I). Where others are content to throw unseemly amounts of power into a spell-swiftly fueling their own destruction- you use a lighter touch. -30% mana. +1% mana and +1% spell efficiency per skill level. (Maximum 25% efficiency) Intelligence +1.

Leo paled after reading the info provided in mana manipulation. His total mana pool had.. decreased? By thirty abyssal percent! ”Umm.. Tim..” he started, anger seeping in his voice. ”Why did you teach me a skill that decreases my mana?”

”What? No!” tSnake hurried to explain ”It is actually really useful skill to have. It guides your mana output through ready made channels, making it easier to cast in the future. At the student ranks, the mana reduction is completely gone, and it actually starts to increase your total mana pool”

Leo thought about it, and decided that it was just another skill to get up. He trusted Tim.. tSnake.. whatever, to not guide him wrong. ”Okay then. Too bad for now.. 'Conjure weapons' will drain practically all my mana if i want to summon two swords at once.”

”Better start practicing then!” tSnake said, cunning smile stretching on his lips when he said his next words. ”Do you want to store that spell? You said that you were planning on using it in the soul forge, and as far as i understand from your explanation, you will lose the skills you combine.” He paused for a moment to gather his thoughts. ”So if you teach the spell to me, i may be able to teach it back to you”

”You would do that?” Leo asked, grateful for tSnake's willingness to help him out.

”Absolutely! This scheme has the added benefit or me learning a new spell aswell!”

They stayed in Leo's room well past midnight. With some difficulty, Leo was able to teach 'Conjure Weapons' to his friend, and in return, tSnake showed him how to cast a mage armor. For now, Leo had very little use for the spell, since it would hold 10% of mana allotted to it, to keep the spell active, but perhaps after gaining few points of intelligence, he could use it. Or add it into the cooking pot with the other skills. Though, even with the 90% cost reduction he could gain, the price added up so fast that at the maximum he could add one or maybe two more spells into it, before the price would be out of his range again.

After tSnake had left, Leo once again opened his most recent notifications and browsed them through:

Skill gained: Mage Armor (Novice II)

Effect: For every point of mana devoted to this spell, negate one point of damage from primary sources of magic and half a point from primary sources of physical damage. Increase conversion by .025n (where n = skill level)

Skill gained: Teaching (Novice II). While others are content to simply learn a skill, you never stop until you are good enough at it to teach that skill to another person. Anything worth doing is worth passing on to someone else, am I right?

Effect: Boosts the speed at which a person you are teaching can learn a skill by 10% based on your own rank in the skill, your student may acquire the skill at a higher ranking than normal.

Huh. So that's how it worked. This skill explained how his training had better results than working on his skills on his own. Could this be used instead of taming? I might try it, if i can't get taming skill in a timely manner. What creature i should try out? Wolf could be awesome, but Leo imagined it being hard to control. But he had a title that helped him with canines. Would foxes work? Technically foxes were vulpine, but isn't that just a subspecies? No other way to go about it than try. He felt like he was still missing something, but decided to push the feeling off, and crawled in his bed instead.

Night passed without problems, but Leo felt awful. He looked at his active effects and noticed that he had 'Stinky' debuff at level two. Right. He had sweat a lot last evening and went to bed without a bath. Planning on fixing the issue, Leo put on his armor and went downstairs. Jehmaan was apparently respawned and was already chatting with Stonks and Mark. Leo greeted his friend, happily, but Jehmaan looked sour. ”Dying really sucks in this game. I got five six hour respawn, which amounts to full twelve hours in game time. Something about respawn time being increased due to being in too high level area. Lost a crap ton of experience too. So much that i lost a level.” Leo winced. Leveling was ridiculously hard, so being able to lose levels when you died was definitely something to keep in mind. ”ouch. We should really try to get that back for you. How about we focus on questing instead of going outside without a purpose? Missions tend to offer higher exp gains after all” They all nodded in agreement and Leo continued ”Also, last night i found out about better training. It costs you, but if you want to go back and get better skill gains, you can buy skill courses at the guard's training area. I bet other places offer them too” He finished, looking at Mark. He nodded, and left to gain a quest from the chef. After a while he came back, looking troubled. ”So.. Good news and bad news. Good news are that we got a high reward mission. Bad news are.. Well.. We are going to have to return to the wolf forest.” Jehmaan let out a high pitched yelp at the mention of returning to the forest. ”What's the pay?” He asked, troubled.

”ten exp and twenty five silver per pound of wolf meat we bring back.. and he promised to teach me a new skill” Mark explained, giving them a 'I'm sorry' look at the mention of exclusive skill just for him. ”We all get the exp reward, but we will have to divide up the money”

”So two pounds would pay for the night. I think we should really try to invest in a backpack. Maybe a magical one, that holds more stuff” Leo stated out loud.

”Already got that part covered!” Mark said happily, showing a small pouch made from cloth. ”The head chef loaned this to me for this quest only. Spatial bags are controlled items, since they were used for smuggling back in the day, so I will have to return this one. But it holds up to two hundred pounds worth of meat, in addition of keeping it fresh.”

”So filling it would come out as.. fifty gold!” Leo calculated quickly. ”I say we go for it. We should also go around asking leather workers if they need pelts or something. Boost our gains and so on”

They agreed and separated to go out and look for additional missions to complete.

After regrouping, they shared their quests with each other and stepped out from the gate.

MarkMyMark has shared a quest with you: Meat for chef. Mark's wolf steaks prove themselves to be a gold mine. Head chef of Golden Ball tavern has offered to purchase a pound of meat for twenty five silver. Objective: Bring thirty pounds of wolf meat back to the chef. 0 / 30.

Reward: 10 exp per pound of meat. 25 Silver per pound of meat. A skill 'Quick Butchery' for MarkMyMark only

Failure: No reward. Minus 50 reputation with the head chef.

Jehmaan has shared a quest with you: Hide out in the open. Recent increase of travellers has ran local leatherworker out of raw material. Bring back ten wolf hides for him.

Reward: 200 exp. 10% discount at store 'HideyHole'

Failure: No reward. Prices increased by 10% at store 'HideyHole'

Stonks has shared a quest with you: Lost Drunk. A brewery has lost it's most valuable customer. Figure out, what happened to Him.

Reward: Variable, depending on quest's outcome. 200 exp.

Failure: No reward.

You have shared a quest with your party: Stolen heirloom. A servant of a baron had a rare sword stolen from him by another traveller. Bring back the lost weapon to servant within 24 hours.

Reward: 400 exp. A Rare item suited for your class. + 200 reputation with Callor noble family.

Failure: No reward. The servant gets executed for losing said item. -100 reputation with Callor noble family.

(Attention! This is a PVP-Player versus Player- quest. Killing your target while completing this quest will not mark you as a 'player killer'. The target will drop the stolen item if killed. If he has stored it somewhere, It will be transferred on his corpse)

Mark looked at Leo. ”How did you manage to get this type of quest?”

Leo laughed at his stricken face. ”Well i saw the servant panicking, and asked him what's wrong. I was just in a right place at the right time. Got even two points in luck for it. Now, I suspect that the player is outside the city walls. Stolen items are glowing red and it would draw the attention of guards like bees drawn to flowers. That being said, I have no idea how strong the player is, so we should be careful”