James was pleased with reaching level 9. Looking over his Status Screen, he noticed a couple of things right away. His Strength was 19, and James only needed one point to get to level 20. At that point, he would get a bonus of some kind. Did he wait until it levelled on its own or spend a point to increase it now? The same thing applied to Analyze. He had the same decision to make when Dexterity was at 19. it was not a decision he regretted. James was sure the arrow would have done more damage if he had not had those extra points in Armour Rating. He also noticed that the number of Skills he had matched his Intelligence. Making the decision, James spent a Free Attribute point on Strength, two Free Attribute points on Intelligence, a Free Skill point on Analyze and a Free Skill point on Stealth. Three new notifications appeared.

**********

Congratulations! Strength has reached level 20.

You have gained the Advantage KNOCK BACK. The Advantage requires that you are engaged in melee with the opponent. For 10 Stamina, you can knock an opponent back several feet.

**********

**********

Congratulations! Analyze has reached level 10.

You may now Analyze Enchanted items up to the Rarity Uncommon.

**********

**********

Congratulations! Stealth has reached level 10.

All attacks made from Stealth automatically use damage bonus from Back Attack.

**********

James thought about the bonus to Stealth. He felt that his arrows' attacks were causing more damage than usual. James looked back through the combat log and noticed that the Back Attack bonus was applied. But he suspected that it was being used because the arrow struck the back of the target. Checking further, James noticed that these attacks to the skeletons when they came around the corner did not have the Back Attack bonus. This was because he was not attacking their rear, even though he was attacking them from Stealth. Now, he would get the bonus when attacking them from Stealth, regardless of what direction they were facing.

James smiled broadly. Getting the Enchanted items he had in his backpack, he began to Analyze them.

***********

Cloth Bag

Quality: Very Good

Rarity: Uncommon

Durability: 8/15

Special: Dimensional Storage, Container (8/8)

***********

***********

(Gold) Ring of Poison Resistance

Quality: Very Good

Rarity: Common

Durability: 11/12

Special: Enchanted - Poison Resistance, gives a 5% bonus to resist Poison

***********

***********

(Silver) Ring of Fire Resistance (with Ruby stone)

Quality: Very Good

Rarity: Common

Durability: 9/12

Special: Enchanted - Fire Resistance, gives a 5% bonus to resist Fire

***********

***********

(Silver) Necklace of Darkvision

Quality: Good

Rarity: Uncommon

Durability: 8/15

Special: Enchanted ?

***********

***********

(Leather) Bracer of Shields

Quality: Good

Rarity: Common

Durability: 4/16

Special: Enchanted - Armour Rating +3

***********

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Oak Bow of Piercing

Quality: Very Good

Rarity: Uncommon

Damage Range: +18

Accuracy: +10

Crit Chance: 14%

Durability: 29/55

Damage Type: Piercing

Special: Two-handed, Enchanted - Piercing Shot

***********

The smile on James' face was starting to hurt his facial muscles. The bow was fantastic, but the real find was the bag, "Rocko, how do I access the bag of holding?"

Rocko shook his head and smiled, "You will need to buy the appropriate Advantage and then just place your hand into the Dimensional Storage Container."

"Right, right," James muttered as he accessed the list of Advantages and then purchased the next one on the list.

**********

Magic Immunity - Limited - Tier 2 - Enchantments (Self Only) [20]

**********

With those points spent, "Now to check the bag of holding."

"You mean the Dimensional Storage Container," Rocko corrected.

"Yes, the Bag of Holding for short." James stuck his hand into the bag and was pleased when he saw a list of contents.

**********

Standard Rations x10

Standard Rations x10

Standard Rations x6

Water Skin x10

Water Skin x10

Water Skin x4

Healing Potion (Common) x7

Coin (1932g, 744s, 480c)

**********

Calling to his hand the standard ration, he pulled it out of the bag, reaching in a second time, he pulled out a water skin. Making himself comfortable, James enjoyed the meal.

"Damn, didn't realize how hungry I was," James muttered around a mouthful of tack.

"Have you given any more consideration to your fighting style?" Rocko asked.

"I have. When I think of the style I want to use, I think of a flowing river, bending around the attacks. I can't rely on my physical Immunity to save me from sword slashes. I need to avoid the attack completely. That means I need to be more defensive and attack in ways that will disarm my opponent or even disable so that they can't attack me." James said between mouthfuls

"That makes sense," Rocko agreed.

After finishing the meal, James got up and sorted through his backpack. He emptied the many pouches of coins into the bag of holding, followed by three healing potions. He still had several more, but there was a limit of ten items per stack. With the rest of the items stored in the backpack, including the bag of holding, James picked up the bow and started exploring the rest of the dungeon floor.

James moved forward through the twists and turns of the main hallway. There were several side passages, but James was curious where this wider hallway ended. Ahead, he saw a glimmer of flickering light. Unsure of what it meant, James crept up to the corner. Peeking around the corner quickly, James leaned against the wall and closed his eyes. This was not ideal. There was a skeleton in scale armour was wielding a fucking flaming sword. It had on a sizeable winged helm and had glowing green eyes and a kite shield. None of the other skeletons had glowing body parts.

"A flaming sword," Rocko commented from the middle of the hallway.

"I know," James muttered.

"Flaming swords are usually Enchanted," Rocko offered.

"No shit," James retorted.

Rocko looked from the skeleton to James and then again, "I am afraid this does not bode well."

"Not now, Rocko," James said, getting to his feet.

He knew he had to avoid the sword and the shield bash. Because Dodge required 10 Stamina, he could use Dodge nineteen times. That didn't leave any room for errors. If he wore the chainmail armour and used a shield, he would be able to get more than his current AR of 19 with his bracer. With luck, he could get around 30. If that was the case, then it might negate most of the damage caused by the sword. Heading back to the first room, James put on the chainmail armour and grabbed the shield. He would have to use the bow to get his first shot in and then switch to the claw and shield. Checking his Status Screen, he noticed his AR was now 36. If the sword gave a bonus to +20, and the skeleton had a skill of +15 and a Strenght of +20, then the damage should be around 55-60. With the AR of 36, the damage taken should be about 20-25. That meant James could survive fifteen hits. On the inverse side of things, his injury was +36. Based on the shield and armour, he probably had AR of 25 plus half of its dex, probably another 10. That meant that James would be hitting for about 1-6 damage. The skeleton probably had more than James did. He would have to hit hundreds of times. The first arrow would probably do a great deal of damage with Back Attack and Piercing Shot. This fight was going to be one-sided, but he needed to figure out if he had a chance to beat the skeleton in the first place.

"Rocko, is there a way to disengage from an enemy?" James asked.

"Most people run," Rocko responded.

"Will the creatures stay in a particular area, or will they pursue?" James clarified.

"If you keep shooting them with arrows, they will pursue, but normally, if you are not in their line of sight, they will return to their patrol point."

James pondered that. He could run around a corner and then Stealth if he had to. So long as the skeleton didn't find him, James could retreat. He had to disarm the skeleton or break its arm so that he couldn't use it to attack.

Deciding to give it a try, James left his backpack in the first room and returned to the skeleton. The armour felt off to him. Not that he was familiar with armour or how to wear it, but it wasn't comfortable for him. Sensing something wrong, James tried one of the side passages he had not explored. Fortune smiled on him, and he found two skeletons with swords in a room at the end of the passage. Using them as test subjects, he moved in to attack and fought them both simultaneously. Using Dodge to avoid the Shield Bash, James noticed that the cost for his Dodge on Stamina had increased. His Melee - Unarmed was not as fast or as accurate as they once were. The fight lasted a little longer, and James turned to Rocko to explain.

"Is the armour making me slower or something?" James asked.

"Yes," Rocko said without explanation. James checked his notifications and saw that there was a new Skill to learn.

**********

You have the opportunity to learn a new skill.

Do you wish to learn Armour - Medium (Chain)?

YES NO

**********

**********

You have the opportunity to learn a new skill.

Do you wish to learn Shield?

YES NO

**********

James hovered over YES for the Armour - Medium (Chain) for a full minute. Although the armour bonus would be nice and not having any penalties for wearing it would be nice, he didn't think that the image of what he saw as his fighting style would be one to wear armour or use a shield. James looted the two skeletons and removed the chainmail armour, selecting no for both. Leaving behind the armour and the shield, James moved back to the room that had the skeleton with the flaming sword. Watching the creature from Stealth, James tried to figure out the best approach. An exchange of blows was a losing proposition for him. Now that his AR was back down to 19, he would probably take around 35-40 Health damage per hit. Using Dodge to avoid being hit was the best way to go, but that would only work for a short time. Deciding that this skeleton was not the ideal opponent to try out his new style, James moved back down the main hallway and took one of the unexplored side passages.

James Dodged the skeleton's sword swing and used its momentum to push it off balance. The skeleton tried to do a Shield Bash, but James side-stepped the attack and avoided it. As the skeleton moved forward, James smashed his elbow into its forearm to break it. The skeleton's bones were not as fragile as he had hoped, but the blow did cause cracks to appear in the bone. James stayed on the defensive during this fight. He was waiting until the skeleton attacked reacting. Usually, he would Dodge or sidestep the attack, then counter with one of his own. This seemed to slow down the fight, but he had not been hit so far. With a final punch to the skeleton's rib cage, the creature collapsed to the floor with a clatter of bones and metal. James stepped back and waited to see if the fight's noise had attracted the second skeleton's attention. Confident that the other skeleton would stay in the room, James looted the belt pouch and did his usual Analyze and Inspect of the skeleton and its gear. Checking his notifications, James was pleased with what he saw.

**********

Agility +1

Melee - Unarmed +1

**********

**********

You have the opportunity to learn a new skill.

Do you wish to learn Critical Strike - Unarmed?

YES NO

**********

James shared the information with Rocko before making a decision.

"Any idea what Critical Strike is?" James asked.

"It increases your chance of having a Critical hit. A critical hit can normally occur in a fight. They can cause more damage, but the main advantage is applying a debilitating effect."

"Like Bleed," James asked.

"Yes. When you were struck with the arrow, it was a Critical Hit, which caused extra damage and the Bleed Effect. Fortunately, you also have Resistance - Debuff, which may have reduced the duration or severity of the Bleed Effect."

"I would have died if the Bleed had been worse," James said.

"I was confident that you would have remembered your Shift Healing Advantage before then." Rocko encouraged.

"What about breaking bones, like I was trying to do in that last fight?"

"To break a bone like that, you need to score a Critical Hit. This Skill will improve your chance of doing that."

"But it seems that I have the same chance of scoring a Critical Hit regardless if I am trying or if I am not," James said

"I have seen you fight, James. Most of your attacks have been brutal and straightforward, but each is with the intent of disabling your opponent. So, I think that all of your attacks are intended to cause Critical damage." Rocko countered. James wanted to disagree but couldn't argue the logic. The main difference was that he was hoping for a specific critical instead of a more generic one. The system would do what it wanted.

James purchased the Skills. "Is there a way to increase Intelligence without spending points on them?" James asked.

"Spellcasting is the easiest way. Which you can't do because of your Immunity."

"How come I was not able to disarm the skeleton. I tried several times and was not able to learn the Skill?" James asked.

'Disarm is a combat maneuver, not a Skill. As such, you need to spend Advantage points to learn Disarm." Rocko explained.

"How are they different? Why would Disarm not be a Skill?" James was confused by this explanation.

"Skills are things that work on a scale. Your Dodge Skill improves with each level of the Skill. Whereas Disarm would just work unless your opponent resisted the effect."

"What other Advantages are there that could help with combat?" James asked.

"Hundreds. But based on your fighting style, you could learn Trip, Disarm, Sunder and Power Attack. Each of those is 20 points to learn, but if you learned them with the restriction of Unarmed, they would only cost 10 points each. Just as a note, Knockback is an Advantage."

"Disarm would make a world of difference if I am getting that sword away from the skeleton before he can hit me with it."

"You may have to use it several times. If your target is higher than you, they will have a better chance to resist the Disarm attempt."

"I got Knock Back when I got to level 20 in Strength. Is there a chance I can get an Advantage when I increase some of the other Attributes or Skills?

"Yes. When you reach a threshold for an Attribute or Skill, the bonus that you get is personalized to you. Not everyone who gets 20 in Strength will get the same thing."

"How about magic? Would it be a Skill or an Advantage if I picked up a Spell?"

"Spells are Advantages. You are buying them with the points you get when your level is painfully slow. That is why Ignatius used all those points at the start to buy all your Spells. There are other ways to earn Skills, Advantages and Spells outside of Avatar Creation."

"Oh, please, don't keep me in suspense," James joked.

"Some quests have them as rewards," Rocko explained.

"Which doesn't help me right now," James grumbled.

"None of this helps you right now; you have no Free Advantage points."

James agreed. Checking his Stamina and noticing it was back to full, James moved into the room. James saw a pattern when attacking the skeletons. It would open with a Shield Bash and then follow up with a sword slash from right to left. The next attack would be a backswing, followed by a forward thrust. After that, things sometimes mixed up a bit, but as soon as the skeleton did the Shield Bash, the pattern would repeat. Knowing this did help James avoid most of the attacks. With the skeleton destroyed, James checked his notifications.

**********

Luck +1

Critical Strike - Unarmed +1

**********

James looked over at Rocko, who just shrugged.

Deciding it was time to try the skeleton with the flaming sword, James moved down the main hall and tried to Stealth. Using the bow and Piercing Shot, James hoped that his Back Attack would damage enough to cause it a critical wound or something. Of course, the new point in Luck didn't sway things that much into his favour, and James was only able to shoot two arrows into it before they were engaged in melee. The first arrow had penetrated deep into the skeleton's chest, up to the fletchings. The second arrow bounced off the shield that moved to deflect it. The first attack was a Shield bash, followed by a swipe right to left. James was able to Dodge the Shield Bash and avoid the second attack by taking a step back. Moving forward, James crouched low and tried to do a foot sweep, hoping to knock the skeleton to the floor. Although his hit caused the skeleton to stagger a couple of steps to the side, the skeleton could still swing the sword back and swung it low to clip James on the shoulder. The tip of the blade didn't dig deep, and James was pleased that the damage was minimal, but it was still damaged, and he wasn't sure if he had even hurt the skeleton other than the arrow to the chest.

James had to Dodge the subsequent two attacks as the skeleton came at him with a burst of speed. The lunge was expected, but the skeleton used a Shield Bash almost the same time. James rolled backwards and was on his feet again. So far, James noticed that this skeleton was faster than the others. The armour that it had made it harder to damage, but James still had confidence that he could win the day if only he could get behind it. Deciding to try something new, James waited for the Shield Bash attack sequence and prepared his move. When the skeleton swept the sword right to left, James leaped to his left and rolled across the floor. It was hoping that they would be able to get up in time and be behind the skeleton, but the skeleton just continued its swing around in a circle and returned face to face with James. This time, James was in the room and not the hallway entrance. James was sure this skeleton was more intelligent as well. James decided to use his Strength to try and push the skeleton over. Using Knock Back, he kicked the skeleton in the gut and closed the distance as the skeleton staggered back. Grabbing the sword arm, James tried to pry the sword from the skeleton's hands. The skeleton used Shield Bash and stunned James for a couple of seconds. The skeleton pulled the blade free from his grasp and buried its hilt first into James' gut.