A moment after closing the Status Screen, James noticed another notification pending.

**********

Congratulations! Melee - Unarmed has reached level 10.

All unarmed attacks not made with the primary hand now have a penalty of only 50% of the Skill to speed, damage and accuracy.

**********

"I just got a message for reaching level 10 in my unarmed skill," James shared the details with Rocko.

"That is a nice improvement. You normally do not benefit from your Melee - Unarmed Skill on any off-hand attacks."

"Strange wording, 'attacks not made with the primary hand'?"

Rocko looked over at James and shrugged, "The only thing I can think of is that it is trying to include any other body part."

James had to agree, "Makes sense." He also noticed that he now had nine skills. This put him almost at his maximum for his Intelligence. Melee - Unarmed could go up to level 20 at his current Intelligence, but he liked the idea of having room to grow. James decided to put an Attribute point into Intelligence.

**********

Intelligence +1

**********

"We should go," James said as he stood up. Moving to the water pitcher, he refilled his canteen with fresh water after drinking his fill.

"What are your plans," Rocko asked.

"I thought I would explore the rest of this floor before going down to the next level."

"Be aware that this floor will have reset some of the creatures you killed yesterday," Rocko offered.

"How do you mean?"

"Based on the level of this dungeon, it would most likely reset after one day. So the creatures you killed before your encounter with the ghoul will have reappeared, and the skeletons at the bottom of the stairs leading out would not have reappeared yet," Rocko explained.

"How do you explain the body we found? Was that less than a day old?" James asked.

"Based on what I know of dungeons, it would have to be, Some dungeons have unique rules that govern how they operate. Let's hope we are not in one of those."

"Why is that?"

"Because those dungeons are usually dangerous. I would expect that if an Amulet were to be in a dungeon, it would be in one that has unique rules. Making the difficulty that much worse." Rocko explained.

James nodded as he put the backpack on his back, "Let's survive today."

James moved down the hallway towards the two skeletons that wore chainmail armour. He intended to fight them separately to focus on his Melee - Unarmed and Dodge Skills. Using Stealth to sneak up to the room, he used the same trick to lure one of the skeletons out of the room. When the skeleton exited the room, James continued to use Stealth to fall back. James used the Inspect Skill before attacking from the rear only after the skeleton turned to return to the room.

**********

Name: ?

Race: Skeleton - ?

Level: ?

**********

James had no luck finding out the level, but if he kept doing it, he would eventually level the Skill. His claws came down on the back of the skeleton's head and then continued down its back. Chainmail links went flying as the creature stumbled. The fight was similar to James's first fight against these creatures, but this time, it was much faster, and the second skeleton didn't join in. James also had a lot more Stamina than he did the first time, and for that reason, the skeleton fell to the floor in the hallway after only a few minutes. James smiled broadly at his success as he stripped the skeleton of his coin purse. James noticed that the coin purse was bulkier than usual. Looking inside, he found a rolled-up paper. Using Analyze, he examined his new find.

***********

Scroll of Firebolt

Rarity: Common

Damage Range: 5 - 15 + Intelligence + Magic - Targeted

Spell Range: 25'

Accuracy: Dexterity + Magic - Targeted + 3

Critical Chance: Magic-Fire + 1%

Durability: None

Damage Type: Magic - Fire

Special: Enchanted, Magic - Fire

***********

James blinked, "Wow, that is the most information I think I have ever got with this Skill."

"Yes, new information may be discovered about new or previously Analyzed items when the Skill increases," Rocko hinted.

"So, I should Analyze all the items I previously Analyzed when my Skill increases?" James asked.

Rocko just looked at James with a grin and shrugged.

"Later, nothing there will help me right now."

James moved forward and looked into the room with the remaining skeleton. He was interested to note that the previous two skeletons and the gear he left behind were gone. Waiting until the skeleton had its back to him, James pounced. Working on his footwork, James tried to keep the skeleton off balance by shifting to the side or rolling on the ground to try and get behind it. James would never do something this dangerous in any other situation, but since the skeleton couldn't hurt him, he decided to try some new moves to see what worked. James smiled when the skeleton finally collapsed to the floor to see the flashing notification.

**********

Inspect +1

Stealth +1

Melee - Unarmed +1

Analyze +1

**********

**********

Dexterity +1

**********

* Unmodified Attributes shown as [ ]:

Name: James Gleason Race: Weretiger (Hybrid) Class: Etherian Warrior Specialization: Level: 6 XP to next level: 15% Armour Rating: 9 Age: 42 Health: 300 Unarmed Damage: 25 [24] Stamina: 115 Claw Damage: 28 Mana: 230 Bite Damage: 26 Attributes: Unspent Attribute Pts: 3 Strength 14 [13] Agility 16 [14] Dexterity 18 [16] Endurance 17 Willpower 17 [18] Intelligence 11 [12] Charm 4 [5] Luck 10 Skills: Unspent Skill Pts: 2 Analyze 6 Back Attack 3 Detect Traps 1 Deflection 1 Dodge 6 Inspect 2 Meditation 1 Melee- Unarmed 11 Stealth 7 Unspent Advantage Pts 10

James was pleased. He was sure that he would be able to get at least another level before too long, and James would soon be able to buy an Advancement that would give him access to the magical gear that he had in his backpack. Before leaving the room, James Analyzed all the items once again. The only new information he got was on the chainmail.

**********

Rusted Iron Chainmail Shirt

Quality: Poor

Armour Rating: 14

Durability: 9/38

Special: Worn - Torso

**********

Some of the other items now displayed Durability and damage range, but nothing came close to the damage he was doing with his claws. Deciding to move on, James followed the path that he took yesterday, avoiding the traps. After clearing out the next room of the three skeletons, James was surprised to see that the skeletons did not give him as much experience as expected. He noticed that the skeletons gave about 5% less experience with each level, but they gave 10% less this time. It was a bit surprising, but it was still an excellent experience. He had started to collect quite a bit of coin, which was useless to him, but he also found another healing potion. He made sure to Inspect each of the skeletons and Analyze each of the items, but there was very little new information, and he did get a couple of notifications from the last three fights.

**********

Detect Traps +1

Inspect +1

Analyze +1

Back Attack +1

**********

Deciding to avoid the ghouls altogether, James followed the previous path leading to the dead-end room with the skeleton. Of course, it wasn't a challenge, but he did get another level and some improvements.

**********

Dodge +1

**********

* Unmodified Attributes shown as [ ]:

Name: James Gleason Race: Weretiger (Hybrid) Class: Etherian Warrior Specialization: Level: 7 XP to next level: 0% Armour Rating: 9 Age: 42 Health: 315 Unarmed Damage: 26 [25] Stamina: 120 Claw Damage: 29 Mana: 250 Bite Damage: 27 Attributes: Unspent Attribute Pts: 5 Strength 15 [14] Agility 16 [14] Dexterity 19 [17] Endurance 17 Willpower 18 [19] Intelligence 11 [12] Charm 4 [5] Luck 10 Skills: Unspent Skill Pts: 3 Analyze 7 Back Attack 4 Detect Traps 2 Deflection 1 Dodge 7 Inspect 3 Meditation 1 Melee- Unarmed 11 Stealth 8 Unspent Advantage Pts 20

James turned to Rocko, who had been silently following him for the past couple of hours, "I now have 20 points for Advantages. I am thinking of getting that ability that would allow me to use magical items."

"That should allow you to use the rings you found, depending on their level," Rocko commented.

"What about the Bag of Holding?" James asked.

Rocko cocked head to the side, "You mean the Dimensional Storage Container? They start at Uncommon. You will need at least another two levels. Of course, if it is Rare, then you would need another four levels."

James took out the bag, the two rings and the necklace to see if more information was available. James grumbled, but the idea of having the rings did please him a little. But the bag could be filled with food, and right now, the only thing between him and starvation was half a ration pack and a bunch of rats.

***********

Cloth Bag

Quality: ?

Rarity: ?

Durability: ?

Special: Dimensional Storage, Container

***********

***********

Gold Ring

Quality: ?

Rarity: ?

Durability: ?

Special: Enchanted ?

***********

***********

Silver Ring with Ruby stone

Quality: Very Good

Rarity: ?

Durability: ?

Special: Enchanted ?

***********

***********

Silver Necklace

Quality: ?

Rarity: ?

Durability: ?

Special: ?

***********

James swore when he noticed that no new information on the Enchanted items appeared. James opened his Status Screen and focused on his Advancements. A new list appeared with too many options.

"What was that Advantage called that I am looking for?" James asked Rocko.

"Magic Immunity - Limited," Rocko responded.

James found the list.

**********

Magic Immunity - Limited [100]

Magic Immunity - Limited - Tier 1 - Potions [20]

Magic Immunity - Limited - Tier 1 - Scrolls [20]

Magic Immunity - Limited - Tier 1 - Enchantments (Self Only) [20]

Magic Immunity - Limited - Tier 1 - Spells (Self Only) [20]

Magic Immunity - Limited - Tier 1 - Spells (Beneficial-Others Only) [20]

**********

James read the list and paid close attention to the wordings. If someone had an Enchanted item that could help him, it would not work because it did not originate from him. He wondered if he took the Advantage that cost 100 points if that limitation would be removed.

'Worry about surviving today', he thought as he made his selection.

**********

Advantage purchased

Magic Immunity - Limited - Tier 1 - Enchantments (Self Only) - Enchanted items that are Tier 1, used by you, will now bypass your Magic Immunity.

**********

Feeling a little giddy with excitement, James slipped on the two rings before moving down the hall towards the trap with the sleep gas. Remembering that the first trap was the flame trap, James stepped carefully through the hallway. He was happy when he noticed both traps and received a notification.

**********

Detect Traps +1

**********

James was not surprised to see three rats ready to jump on him, moving into the next room. Using his Inspect Skill, he was pleased to learn more information than previously given.

**********

Name: None

Race: Rat - Dungeon

Level: 6

Damage Range: 12-15

Damage Type: Pierce

Armour Rating: 5

Special: Disease (Rat-Bite Flavour) 5% chance per bite.

**********

James decided to play a little since there was no threat from the rats. Choosing to use Dodge to evade the attacks of all three rats at the same time, James leaped into the air and used the walls to twist and turn. The fight lasted a little longer than intended, but they still fell. James was surprised to see the rats were worth about 8% each. Still, considering how easy it was, he was pleased. Keeping his distance, he moved back to the room that now had some dead rats. James arrived near the room where he found the body following the path. Five ghouls were wandering around inside.

"What do you think?" James asked Rocko

"About?" Rocko asked, cocking his head to the side.

"Taking on the ghouls."

Rocko sighed, "You know I can't give you any advice. If you wish to endanger yourself needlessly, I can't stop you."

James looked down at the gargoyle, "Endanger myself needlessly? You realize that I am competing in a challenge created by the gods. Their Champions fight it to the death. I don't think I can get in any more danger than that."

"I wish I could help you more directly, James, but my wings are tied. I can share, which is common knowledge, that you don't want to let your Skill sit dormant for too long. They will only grow with exercise."

James smiled, "Any idea how Meditation works?"

"When you use the Meditation Skill, you regain Health, Mana and Stamina at an increased rate. It usually starts with a 100% bonus, which is good, especially for Stamina. How you activate the Meditation Skill just requires you to concentrate on the Skill, you can not be in combat, and you need to be seated, or at least, at rest."

James sat down and straightened out his legs, figuring out how best to activate the Skill. When he was using his other active Skills, it was apparent. Melee skills were activated when in melee. Dodge was triggered when trying to avoid an attack. But Meditation was not as obvious. James tried starting the Skill by closing his eyes and relaxing. To his surprise, an icon in the shape of a man sitting in the lotus position appeared in the corner of his vision. Once he was sure of his success, he opened his eyes and noted that the icon had disappeared.

"I think I got it," James told Rocko.

"Excellent, you should spend some time practicing. I understand that the higher your Skill, the faster your recovery."

"Now that I have had some time to think about the Status Screen, I have a couple of questions," James said.

"How can I help?"

"When looking at the rats, I noticed that their damage range was 5 to 10 points. I can assume that means health. How come on my screen I just see my unarmed damage is 26"

Rocko looked over at James and smiled, "The information on the rats means that their damage minimum is 5 and maximum is 10. That means their strength is probably 3 with a point in unarmed. Or it could be a strength of 4 with no points in unarmed. Their range is 1 to 6 damage, which is respectable for that size. Your claws probably do a similar range of 1 to 6 with plus 26 due to your strength and unarmed Skill."

James thought about that for a moment. I made sense to him but made him wonder. "How is Armour Rating used?"

"Armour Rating is used to determine the amount of damage that your body can ignore before it starts affecting you. It also shows the amount of damage armour blocks or prevents. If you use the chainmail and shield, your Armour Rating would be 20. That alone would negate almost half of the damage you do. If the person you were fighting had an Armour Skill or Toughness Skill, they could absorb most of it.

"So, if I had enough Armour Rating, nothing could hurt me?" James stated.

"Barring being hit with a Critical, that is correct," Rocko added.

"Last question, do all Attributes have bonuses at level 20?"

"Yes."

James waited to see if Rocko would add any more to his statement but just shook his head when Rocko didn't. "If you need to deal with something else, you may as well go. There is no need for you to sit here for hours watching me Meditate. I am sure you have been bored for the past few hours of watching me kill things." James said with a grin.

"Alright. If you need me, just call my name. I will go get some food." Rocko said. A moment later, he faded away.

With Rocko gone, James reached into the backpack and pulled out a pullover shirt and his water canteen. He got up and walked over to the dead rats with them in hand.

**********

James watched the ghouls as they moved around the room. He had the cloth tied around his face like a bandit mask. James wasn't confident it would last very long, but he hoped to avoid ghoul drool all over his face again. James left the canteen on the floor when he was ready. He didn't want Rocko to see this. This was personal. He needed to do this, but he didn't want anyone to see him being helpless again. Having both his Endurance and Willpower increase dramatically was not something he could ignore either. He knew that there was a greater risk with five ghouls instead of one, but he figured he might be able to balance things out with the rats. Waiting until one of the ghouls was nearest to him, James tried to lure it out of the room with his tried and true method. As soon as the stones hit the ghoul, it screeched in protest and started running toward him. The other four ghouls followed quickly behind it. James threw one of the dead rats over the head of the first ghoul. He had left the other two about 10 feet behind him, hoping that they may decide to go after the rats during their frenzy to eat him. This would give him more chance to resist the Paralysis. James did a front thrust kick when the lead ghoul was a few feet in front of him.

With his Strength and Melee - Unarmed, the ghoul was thrown back into the next one behind it. As those two fell to the hallway's floor, the third ghoul leaped onto the dead rat and started tearing it apart. The fourth ghoul ignored the rat and jumped over the two ghouls on the floor. It barreled forward as it slashed with both claws at James. Using his Dodge, James avoided both blows and responded in kind. The ghoul was thrown to the side with a bone-jarring swipe of James' claw. The last ghoul soon followed and was able to land a hit, but James resisted the Paralysis.

Stepping back, James used his more extended feet to sweep the ghoul who had just hit him off its feet. James pounced forward and landed with both feet on the ghoul's chest, but the first and second ghoul had gotten off the floor and tried to tackle James. He was able to resist for the first couple of seconds, but he could not break their hold in time before he succumbed to their Paralysis.

Collapsing to the floor like a rag doll, James could do nothing about how his body was tossed around the hallway by the four ghouls who tried to assault him. James opened his Battle Log and watched the instances of Paralysis. James resisted most of the Paralysis attempts, but it took only one in sixteen to keep him on the floor. He also attempted to use Inspect on the ghouls, but a message in the Battle Log stated that he could not use active Skills while Immobilized.

The next couple of hours were somewhat dull. The rats didn't last long, but they did cause one or two of the ghouls to leave James alone for a while while they fed. Each time he was able to move, he took a swipe at the ghouls with either his hands or his feet. To his surprise, he was able to move a lot sooner than he thought. He was pleased to note that he could view his notifications while Paralyzed and watched as his Endurance and Willpower slowly increased.

**********

Endurance +1

**********

**********

Willpower +1

**********

James was surprised that he got a new notification when he got his Willpower up to level 20 in his human form. He thought he would have to wait until he hit level 20 in the hybrid form.

**********

Congratulations! Willpower has reached level 20.

You may now increase resistances independently of each other. You will still need to meet the number of Skills based on Intelligence requirements.

**********

A few minutes after getting his Willpower up to level 20, he got two new notifications.

**********

You have the opportunity to learn a new skill.

Do you wish to learn RESISTANCE - IMMOBILE?

YES NO

**********

**********

You have the opportunity to learn a new skill.

Do you wish to learn RESISTANCE - DEBUFF?

YES NO

***********

James immediately selected YES twice. Within a few minutes, he started to get notifications that both Resistances were increasing.

**********

Resistance - Immobilized +1

**********

**********

Resistance - Debuff +1

**********

**********

Endurance +1

**********

**********

Resistance - Immobilized +1

**********

**********

Resistance - Debuff +1

**********

**********

Resistance - Immobilized +1

**********

**********

Resistance - Debuff +1

**********

**********

Endurance +1

**********

James looked at the new notification regarding level 20 Endurance.

**********

Congratulations! Endurance has reached level 20.

Resistance to Poison and Disease increased by 10%

Stamina based on 75% of Endurance instead of 50% (round down)

**********

That was impressive. James was surprised by the number of things that Endurance seemed to improve.

By this time, James was playing possum. The increases to the new Skill had petered off considerably, and he had not seen a further rise in the past 10 minutes. On top of that, he had not been Paralyzed in the past minute. Deciding that he had milked this cow for all it was worth, he stood up and started the enjoyable task of slaughtering the bastards. Using the Inspect skill on the ghouls resulted in some new information.

**********

Name: None

Type: Ghoul ?

Level: 8

Damage: 19-24

Armour Rating: 9

Special: Ghoul Touch (causes Paralysis), Ghoul Stench (Causes Nausea)

**********

With the fall of the last ghoul, James laughed. It felt good to get his revenge on these creatures. He no longer felt helpless against them. They had made him stronger. He checked out his pending notifications.

**********

Dexterity +1

Luck +1

Inspect +1

Melee - Unarmed +1

**********

James closed the notifications and added two more points into Intelligence.

**********

Intelligence +2

**********

James cleaned off his face and body with some fresh water from the canteen and the remains of the pullover shirt. Looking around the room, James noticed that the human body there yesterday was gone. The sword and the plate armour he had taken off the body were also gone. Frustrated, James looked around the room to see if there was anything left behind. It was then that he noticed that one of the ghouls had a bracer on its wrist. With Analyze, James was able to see that it had some value.

***********

Leather Bracers

Quality: ?

Rarity: ?

Durability:

Special: Enchanted ?

***********

James slipped the bracer into the backpack and headed back to the room with the first batch of ghouls. James didn't even concern himself with protecting his face this time. He dropped his backpack at the entrance to the room and looked at the ghouls. "Alright, you sons of bitches, let's dance." The ghouls screamed in their tortured voice and rushed him. James didn't hold back, and he also didn't bother dodging. Instead, he swung his arms with abandon. With is a new strength and combat skill, the ghouls didn't last very long. They did knock him to the ground a few times with Paralysis, but it was more a game for him. With the death of the last ghoul, James leaned back and roared into the air. It was primal. It was also very unlike him, but it seemed appropriate for the battle he had just fought. James quickly searched the room and found a small wooden box with a lock. James grabbed the wooden box and the backpack as he headed out of the room and away from the stench.

James sat at the top of the stairs eating the last half of the ration. It took the edge off his hunger, but he was still worried. James had just hit level 8, so he was confident that he would be able to the level soon, but down the stairs were the unknown. He had no way to recon the area or any intelligence on what to expect. He could only hope that whatever was down there was not much different from what he had faced already.

James checked his last two notifications.

**********

Stength +1

Resistance - Debuff +1

Resistance - Immobilized +1

**********

* Unmodified Attributes shown as [ ]:

Name: James Gleason Race: Weretiger (Hybrid) Class: Etherian Warrior Specialization: Level: 8 XP to next level: 25% Armour Rating: 10 Age: 42 Health: 365 Unarmed Damage: 29 [28] Stamina: 190 Claw Damage: 32 Mana: 280 Bite Damage: 30 Attributes: Unspent Attribute Pts: 7 Strength 17 [16] Agility 16 [14] Dexterity 21 [19] Endurance 20 Willpower 20 [21] Intelligence 13 [14] Charm 4 [5] Luck 11 Skills: Unspent Skill Pts: 4 Analyze 7 Back Attack 4 Detect Traps 3 Deflection 1 Dodge 7 Inspect 5 Meditation 1 Melee- Unarmed 12 Res – Immobility 5 Res – Debuff 5 Stealth 8 Unspent Advantage Pts 10

James decided that since he was going down the stairs, it would help if he had some extra power. Spending a single point on Dexterity got him up to 20 and gave him a new notification.

**********

Dexterity +1

**********

**********

Congratulations! Dexterity has reached level 20.

Armour Rating is now based on 75% of Dexterity instead of 50% (round down).

**********

"Rocko, time to go."