Chapter 017

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‘ ‘ for thoughts.

“ “ for speech.

* * for actions.

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On the return journey to Rotang City, Jack was quickly developing a tolerance to the spider venom. Initially he would be poisoned for a whole minute after drinking the contents of a single poison gland and would lose approximately 10% HP in total. But when Lt. Gail ordered for the first halt, Jack had finished half of the total venom glands he had. It was quite a feat considering that Jack had collected over 300 of them!

With boosted regens from the acolyte’s blessings and the reduced PP consumption from his free running skill, Jack was able to keep up on foot with rest of the guards. Jack used a bit of fire mana to quickly roast the empty venom glands and ate it. The other guards were disgusted with this behavior of Jack.

But Jack simply didn’t care; he wanted to grind his survival cooking as much as he could. He had noticed that if he ate the same kind of wild meat, his skill progress would plateau after a while. Survival Cooking gave a passive bonus to Jack’s Vitality, so Jack took every opportunity to grind it as free stat boosts were always welcome. After Jack was done with his grisly meal, he noticed that he wasn’t poisoned.

Jack: ‘Nice. So either the trace amounts of venom in the glands were insufficient to poison me, or maybe roasting them made them edible. Also, my thirst seems almost full, but I didn’t drink any water. Holy shit! Is the spider venom actually quenching my thirst?’

Jack let out a maniacal laugh. He was imagining the consequences of this. He browsed his notification log. Most of them indicated stat gains in Indomitable Spirit. He had also gained a few points in agility, sustenance, and occasionally, dexterity and vitality. He soon found a log indicating he had gained a new trait ‘Iron Stomach’. Jack summoned information on his newly acquired trait.

Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:Iron StomachTrait----

Due to withstanding constant abuse and your high constitution, your digestive system has adapted to become more resilient. This trait allows you to gain nourishment from potentially toxic sources, restoring your satiety and thirst. However, this trait does not reduce the detrimental effects of unsafe foods and drinks consumed.

Jack was imagining the consequences of this trait. He could drink the blood, and eat the flesh of potentially any monster to quench his thirst and satiate his hunger, like some kind of nefarious demon! With a high enough indomitable spirit, he could eat poisoned food and still survive! Jack also deduced that he had gained some kind of poison resistance.

This was because; he was taking significantly less poison DoT with every subsequent drink of spider venom. His rise in indomitable Spirit stat wasn’t sufficient to account for the drastic reduction in poison DoT. Unknown to Jack, his eccentric behavior were causing him to slowly, but surely accumulate infamy.

Lt. Gail: ‘Training your skills diligently is good. But this traveler doesn’t seem to be right in his head. He is keeping up with a horse’s canter on foot while being poisoned voluntarily! I feel like vomiting every time I see him drinking from those poison glands as if it were a wine pouch!’

Lt. Gail wasn’t alone in his sentiments. Many of the guards were betting on how the poison tasted. Once the odds were set and bets were collected, one of them approached Jack.

Swordsman: “Hi there Jack. Enjoying your fine wine and dine?”

Jack: *smiles* “Not really. I am just training my survival skills.”

Swordsman: *shrugs* “Well you seem to be having fun in any case. You haven’t had any rations from us have you?”

Jack: “Umm no. I have plenty of stuff to work with. I wouldn’t want to unnecessarily deplete your rations, when there is an alternative available.”

Swordsman: “Well our rations comprise of hard biscuit and dried and salted rabbit meat. It doesn’t taste bad as much as it is tasteless. How does spider meat and venom taste anyway?”

Jack: “Spider meat just tastes like shellfish. But it leaves a sour aftertaste and has a very pungent flavor.”

Jack: *pondering* “As for spider venom… I never really paid attention. I was too busy concentrating to fight off the disabling effects and keeping up with all of you on horseback. Give me a moment.”

To the guard’s disgust, Jack retrieved yet another spider venom gland from his inventory and took a mouthful. Before swallowing, he swirled the venom in his mouth like some kind of wine connoisseur. Jack then quickly finished gulping rest of the venom. Since Jack wasn’t receiving any poison DoT (Damage over Time), Jack quickly drank the contents of another poison gland. Once he confirmed that he was receiving poison DoT, Jack turned towards the guard noticing the expression of barely suppressed disgust.

Jack: ‘I bet I am losing some intimacy with the city guards due to my behavior, if this poor sob’s expression is anything to judge by. I doubt it is enough to offset the gains made by competition of this quest, and grinding my stats and skills is more important in the long run anyway.’

Jack: “Well it is difficult to describe. The closest I can think of is like molasses, sweet with a slightly bitter aftertaste. It does burn like a bitch when you swallow though.”

Jack: *offers an unused spider venom gland to the guard* “You can try it if you are curious. The acolytes will promptly detoxify and heal you anyway.”

Swordsman: *visibly panicked* “Err, no thanks. I have to get going now. Have a good day traveler.”

Jack was amused at the reaction and stored the venom gland back in his inventory. He noticed that he was developing tolerance to this specific venom far too quickly. Now two whole venom glands caused him to lose just 8% of his HP over 50 seconds. Jack resolved to find more poisonous species and harvest their toxins to grind more effectively.

Jack: ‘Perhaps I could find someone selling poisons in the city. It is probably all hush-hush as I haven’t noticed any for sale openly. There probably is a thriving black market for these sorts of goods though. If I had picked up alchemy instead of enchanting, I could probably distill more potent poisons myself. Oh well, what’s done is done. No point on second guessing my decisions now.’

While Jack was pondering on methods of acquiring new and unknown poisons and toxins, Lt Gail ordered to break camp. Jack readied himself, and waited near the acolytes. When they broke into a trot, Jack matched his pace with them and was soon blessed with boosted regens.

When it was time for the second break, Jack had already exhausted his stockpile of spider venom glands. He however, kept the empty glands and ate them at every opportunity to grind his survival cooking. In this manner, they travelled a little over 7 hours to reach Rotang City.

Jack accompanied Lt. Gail to Captain Zubin’s office. Captain Zubin was updated by Lt. Gail on jack’s contribution. Hearing Jack’s exploits made Cpt. Zubin visibly impressed, especially during the first encounter with the blue spider and Jack’s role in disposing of the critters during the boss fight. Cpt. Zubin also seemed pleased when Lt. Gail informed him that Jack had kept their gear in top condition, and had enchanted it to boot!

Cpt. Zubin: “I must say Jack. You have far exceeded my expectations, once again! Your contribution made it possible for us to avoid even a single casualty! That is indeed rare on these exterminations. Moreover, you also reduced the burden on our budget significantly by keeping all equipment in tip-top shape.”

Jack: “Thank you Captain Zubin. I was just doing my best. It was thanks to Lt. Gail’s leadership and prompt decisions that the extermination went so well.”

Jack: *smiling outwardly* ‘Enough with the pleasantries baldy. Give my rewards. Give my Rewards. Give my Rewards!!’

Lt Gail: *snorting* “Jack is far too humble. He is a bit eccentric though. Captain, on our way back, he voluntarily poisoned himself…and refused detoxification from acolytes, just asking them to heal him. He also kept pace with us on foot…Impressive for his level.”

Cpt. Zubin: *slightly alarmed* “Is that true Jack?”

Jack: “Yes Captain, although I was only able to maintain my stamina, due to the blessings of the acolytes. Without their blessings, I would have run out of stamina in an hour.”

Cpt. Zubin: “Not that, Jack. I meant about the poison. Why would you voluntarily be poisoned and refuse detoxification?”

Jack: “Because it trains one of my skills? And after the first few gulps, it wasn’t painful anyway.” *shrugs*

Cpt. Zubin: *laughs* “Ha ha. Strange spells, beginner melee skills, repair, enchanting with a masochistic flair! You seem to have lots of strange skills with you. Anyways you are primarily an arcane spellcaster correct?”

Jack: “Yes Captain.”

Jack: ‘Gimme my reward now please!’

Cpt. Zubin: “Hmm I had a nice set of chainmail in mind for your bonus, but you won’t be able to use it. You seem to lack headgear, so I will give an item we recently acquired.”

Jack: *smiling outwardly* ‘No No No. The chainmail sound expensive. Your shitty bounties are very low. I would gladly accept a set of chainmail armor and sell it!’

Cpt. Zubin called a private and whispered some instructions to him. The private’s eyes almost popped out of his socket when he heard his superior’s instructions and was staring at Jack with newfound respect. He left and returned in around 10 minutes. He placed a plain looking cap and a small chest on Cpt Zubin’s desk. He was then excused, and left saluting his superiors. Cpt. Zubin handed Jack a plain looking cap.

Cpt. Zubin: “Now caps of this type are usually worn by male peasants. We raided a bandit hideout a few months back and this cap came into our possession. Although it is a peasant’s cap, it is a very powerful magical item. None of us can use it and we prefer heavy headgear. We were about to auction it off, but you said you have the survival skill. Try it. If you can use it, you can keep it.”

(A/N: The cap looks something like: this)

Jack thanked Cpt. Zubin and used mana identify on it. It took almost 30 attempts with system assist, but he was finally able to identify it. Jack viewed the item information:

Survivor’s CapType:Cloth HeadgearDurability:75 / 75Rarity:RareGrade:EThis is a kind of cap commonly worn by peasants. However, this cap seems to have powerful enchantments which are usually favored by skilled rangers.

Restrictions: Have the Survival Skill

Bonus on Equip: +500 Max HP

You gain significantly more nourishment from food gathered and prepared by you.

Jack immediately equipped the cap.

Jack: “Thank you Cpt. Zubin, I meet the requirements to fully utilize it and this hat will boost my survivability a lot!”

Cpt. Zubin: “Yes, but be a bit careful. Some nobles might be prejudiced towards you if you wear ‘peasant clothing’ in their presence. Also, here are 25 gold coins for helping the extermination. I am authorized to give you a maximum of 15 gold coins for aiding the extermination. However, I included some of gold you saved with your repairing.”

Jack: “Thank you Cpt. Zubin. I am currently very poor, and this will help me a lot in the near future.”

Jack quickly pocketed the gold and returned the leather pouch to Cpt. Zubin. Then he noticed that the Captain seemed to have an internal struggle, pondering something. Finally, Cpt. Zubin shrugged, and removed a key on a necklace tied around his neck. He unlocked the chest, removed a thin book from it, and locked it again, tucking the necklace back inside his armor. He then handed jack the book.

Cpt Zubin: “You have saved the lives of my men, and that means a lot to me. The book I handed to you is a rare tome on Leadership. It is a very valuable skill. With a higher leadership, you can command troops under you to fight more effectively.”

Lt. Gail: “Furthermore, if you impress some residents of Terra with your actions and have the leadership skill, they may become your followers, aiding you in your adventures. You care about the life of your comrades, and put yourself in danger for their sake. If anyone deserves this, it has to be you.”

Jack: ‘Another rare skill. Wow. Just wow. I had expected something good, but this is sweet. I also might get NPC flunkies in the future? Nice. It is definitely worth more than some chainmail armor.’

Jack: “Thank you Captain Zubin and Lt. Gail. I am at a loss of how to respond. This is beyond my wildest expectations.”

Cpt Zubin: *laughs heartily* “Now you know how I felt when you returned from ‘investigating’ the kidnappings. What are you waiting for? Use the skillbook.”

Jack held the skillbook in his hands and mentally willed himself to use it. The skillbook disintegrated in front of their sights. Jack silently summoned the skill information and quickly glanced through it.

Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:LeadershipBeginner100.00%

You have learned the art of influencing people to aid and support you in the accomplishment of common goals. This skill provides a bonus to your subordinates (including party members) when you undertake a position of leadership (including party leader). The bonus depends on the size of troops and the level of this skill. Commanding too many troops with too little of this skill may incite mutiny.

You can also have followers, from the residents of Terra if you impress them sufficiently. However, they are not your slaves or pets, and may have hidden agendas. Be careful while accepting them and treat them well, or they might abandon and sabotage you.

Current level effects:

You can have a maximum of 6 followers. (does not affect the number of troops you may command)

Cpt Zubin: “There is still the matter of your share of loot from the extermination. Negotiations with the Alchemist’s guild can get…involved. Return to me in a few days to collect your share.”

Jack: “Thank you Cpt. Zubin and Lt. Gail. If there are any more extermination scheduled and you would want me to accompany it, please send word to Instructor Theon. I will be around Rotang for quite some while. It was an honor to fight with the brave guards of Rotang City.”

Jack: ‘The leadership skill seems like a double edged sword. Only hard cap is the amount of followers I can have. Looks like I need to use my judgment while commanding troops and selecting followers. Can’t treat them like mindless minions either.’

Jack then left the Guard barracks and went to the Training Hall. He found instructor Theon and Master Janus chatting. He approached them, and waited at a distance waiting to be noticed. Soon enough Instructor Theon noticed him, and beckoned Jack to come closer.

Instructor Theon: “So what brings you here Jack? I see you got yourself a nifty headgear.”

Jack: “Greetings, Instructor Theon and Master Janus. I got this cap as a reward from Captain Zubin for helping in an extermination quest.”

Instructor Theon: “Haha. I heard how you dealt with the kidnappings lad. That was impressive work. So did you develop some new tricks for combat?”

Jack: “Yes! I developed a couple of AoE spells! One is mana breath…which breathes out an elemental cone. Another is soul scream, which is more of a crowd control spell.”

Instructor Theon: *amused and glances and Janus* “Impressive. Very few can develop AoE spells with Mana Manipulation alone, without the aid of sigils or mantras.”

Jack: “Sigils? Mantras? What are those? I just imagined myself as a dragon and out came a fire breath. Soul scream was more of a desperate move in a bind…but it created a spell somehow.”

Master Janus: “You are growing well initiate. But don’t worry about mantras and sigils now. They will come into the picture after you have mana manipulation at the Intermediate tier at least. Meanwhile try to experiment more and create new spells.”

Jack: “Of course master. Anyways, in the extermination quest with the city guards, we came across a stone pedestal. It had a similar depression like the tombstone I was sent to. However, the depression on it was larger, and the coin I have didn’t fit in it.”

Immediately, the relaxed mood shifted, and there was tension in the air. Master Janus and Instructor Theon exchanged a glance. Instructor Theon seemed to nod slightly, but Jack wasn’t sure. Master Janus then inquired Jack about the location of the cave where he had encountered it. Jack conveyed the location of the cave to Master Janus.

Master Janus: “It is too soon. But it must be a sign, I suppose. We do not have the key to that prison. However, I know who might have it. Far southeast of here, deep in the forests, there is a coven of druids. They are aware of our order and we are usually in contact. However, we have not been updated this year. Establish contact, and aid them in case they require it. Report your findings.”

Quest InformationNameContact the DruidsGrade???Description

Master Janus has tasked you to make contact with a coven of druids who are located deep in the forests, far to the southeast of Rotang City. They have friendly relations with Brahman Sangha. However, they haven’t made contact this year, suggesting something is amiss. You are ordered to aid them, if they require it.

Duration / Time Limit???Privileges

You gain knowledge regarding the location of the druid coven.

Failure

???

You cannot abandon this quest.

Rewards

???

Jack: ‘??? for duration and failure? That is a first. I also cannot abandon this quest it seems. That seems ominous. There is some big shit going on. Hopefully, the reward is equally big.’

Jack: “Yes master Janus. I have a few affairs to tie up, and then I will leave to meet the druids. I lack the knowledge to reach them however, and my map is rudimentary at best.”

Instructor Theon: “Of course. Wait a minute. I will get a suitable map.”

Instructor Theon then promptly returned with a map and spread it on the floor. Master Janus then pointed out their current location, the City of Rotang. He then instructed Jack how the reach the coven of the druids. It looked like he had to travel for almost a week through the wilderness to reach them.

Instructor Theon: “After you reach the clearing. You will see a small fountain with a mossy statue on it. Wear the stone coin you have around your neck and place your hand on the statue. Release some force attuned mana into it and say ‘I am grateful to you Gaia, for shouldering my burden, but I am the captain of my fate and the master of my soul. I will never serve any deity, including you.’ That should signal the druids of your affiliation and one of them will come to retrieve you.”

Jack committed the details of the location and the password to memory. To be safe, he also made a copy in his NOTEPAD. He then checked his map, and was pleased to see that ‘Mysterious Clearing’ was updated on it. Jack then thanked Master Janus and Instructor Theon. He then went to the marketplace to look for Timon. He had little difficulty finding the chubby merchant.

Jack: “Hi there Timon! I am back and ready to get you that enchanting! Do you have a contract prepared?”

Timon: “Oh hi there Jack. Do you wish to sell loot, buy consumables or just broker the enchanting for me?”

Jack: “Just the enchanting for now. I need to buy a few things, but a contract won’t be necessary for that.”

Timon: “OK. I will pay you 80 silvers for enchanting common Grade E body armor and all weapons excluding dagger. I will pay 65 silver coins for enchanting other pieces of armor and dagger. I have slightly reduced them from our agreed rates from the contract. You should have a notification detailing the terms of the contract. Just say ‘I, Jack agree to enter this contract.’”

Jack: “Hey why have you reduced from our agreed rates?”

Timon: *looks sheepishly at Jack* “Umm contracts cannot handle fractions of coppers. The exact 65% rate was going into fractions of coppers. This here is a nice closest amount of silvers.”

Jack: “Hmm fair enough… if you pay me the calculated spare change outside the contract. However, the enchanter is a bit short of time and will only enchant limited stuff, say for a total of 50 gold, for this batch of enchanting. Maybe he will enchant stuff for you later. Deal?”

Timon: “Fine you penny pincher. After you deliver me the enchanted goods, I will pay you the balance coppers. Now accept the contract already.”

Jack browsed his notifications and found the contract window. He carefully studied the terms. He asked Timon to keep the +3 stat enchantments only for the items he was paying 80 silvers to be enchanted. The items he was going to be paying +65 silvers to enchant had a lesser potential for enchanting and hence Jack insisted that the minimum for those should be kept at +2.

After Timon grudgingly made the modifications, Jack accepted the contract. As he was filling his inventory with the items to be enchanted, he was warned by Timon about the dangers of breaking a contract. If he ran away with his stuff, Timon could report him to the merchant’s guild.

The guild would send professional bounty hunters after him. He would be a known fugitive in most towns. If he was caught by the bounty hunters, he would be stripped of his possessions till he could pay the penalty, and be imprisoned for certain period of time. Jack assured him that he wasn’t aiming to cheat him.

Jack then overloaded his inventory with the items to be enchanted and he was slowed down to a crawl. He painstakingly made his way to the enchanter’s guild and entered the Apprentice Workshop. Jack was exhausted, but he motivated himself that he could get stat boosts for his hard work.

Jack then unloaded all the items to be enchanted in an empty corner and began his task. He quickly identified all of them using system assist. Since it was all Grade E common equipment, it took him a maximum of 5 attempts to identify one piece of equipment. Timon had kept his word, and according to the contract all of it was at full durability.

Jack then started enchanting each item with the desired enchant with the aid of system assist. Even after he had enchanted the guard’s equipment multiple times, it took Jack 2-3 attempts to get the desired +3 and +2 on the items. After every failed attempt, Jack used mana repair to fully restore its durability. It took Jack around a couple of hours for the rush job.

Once Jack was done, he painstakingly made his way with an overloaded inventory to Timon’s stall and dumped the enchanted equipment on the chubby merchant. The merchant was surprised at the speed at which Jack returned with the enchanted gear. After verifying his enchanted goods, he paid Jack 50 gold, 60 silver and 32 coppers.

Jack thanked the merchant, and bought a few health potions and darts from him. He then left the merchant to enthusiastically hawk his wares as he went to the blacksmith’s guild. He wanted to have a weapon forged from the spider fang. But the blacksmith’s guild informed him that they couldn’t deal with the material as it wasn’t metal.

Dejected, Jack went to the tailor’s guild hoping for better luck with body armor. The tailor’s guild said that they could create a set of reinforced leather armor and leather leggings with the spider carapace. However, since it was a difficult material to work with, only one of the senior tailors could work on it.

Most of the senior tailors were busy with orders, and Jack had to leave the material with them for a month ingame! Jack instructed the tailor he was dealing with that he didn’t want his new armor to restrict his movements. He was fine if defense was a bit low, but he absolutely did not want his armor to encumber him. He also told the tailor, that he might be late by a few months to collect it, as he was leaving Rotang City for a while.

After he was assured by the tailor and his measurements were taken, Jack paid an advance of 10 gold. He would pay the remaining fee of 10 gold when he collected his body armor and leggings. Jack then went towards the Training Hall, intending to ask Instructor Theon, what to do with the spider fang he had in his inventory. He reviewed his status and invested his free stat points.

STATUS WINDOWNameJackClassBhikkuRaceHumanGenderMaleLevel50 (12.42%)Fame / Infamy110 / 20TitlePackrat, Vermin ExterminatorCONDITIONHP6546/(5846+700)HP/s7.8552/sPP7525/7525PP/s63.6000/sSpirit Energy0/120SE/s- 0.8% current SE/sSatiety / Thirst78% / 78%Weight Limit81/200Active EffectsControlled Breathing (Intermediate lv5)BASIC STATSStrength100Vitality183 + 10Dexterity95Agility115Intelligence250 + 10Willpower200+10Free Stat Points0SPECIAL STATSLuck10Endurance85Sustenance85Balance75Flexibility75Concentration135+10Wisdom130+10Indomitable Spirit95Elemental AffinityPhysical20%Soul25%Void19%Fire13%Elemental ResistancePhysical4% + 5%Soul5%Void3%Fire2% + 5%Ice0% + 5%

SKILL LISTAmbidexterity (Trait)Enigmatic Wisdom (Trait)Iron Stomach (Trait)Spirit Senses (Trait)Dagger Mastery (Beginner Lv 4: 12.38%)

Assassinate (Beginner Lv 5: 02.86%)

Enchanting (Beginner Lv 7: 32.61%)

Bestow Enchant (Beginner Lv 8: 21.73%)

Absorb Enchant (Beginner Lv 6: 43.25%)

Free Running (Beginner lv 4: 02.83%)Leadership (Beginner Lv 1: 00.00%)Mana Control (Beginner Lv 8: 82.48%)

Imbue Projectile (Beginner Lv 8: 58.46%)

Mana Blade (Beginner Lv 4: 12.31%)

Mana Identification (Beginner Lv 9: 82.13%)

Mana Repair (Beginner Lv 9: 64.53%)

Meditation (Intermediate Lv 6: 10.03%)

Meditative Stasis (Trait)

Controlled Breathing (Intermediate Lv 5: 12.13%)

Spirit Eater (Intermediate Lv 1: 00.00%)

Devour Soul (Beginner Lv1: 00.00%)

Eternal Rest (Beginner Lv1: 00.00%)

Sword Mastery (Beginner Lv 2: 56.23%)Survival (Beginner Lv 7: 01.55%)

Opportunistic Striker (Trait)

Danger Sense (Beginner Lv6:42.21%)

Poison Resistance (Beginner Lv 5: 34.12%)

Survival Cooking (Beginner Lv 8: 27.05%)

Survival Stealth (Beginner Lv 7: 06.13%)

Thrown Weapon Mastery (Intermediate Lv 2: 71.18%)

Improvised Missile (Trait)

Axe Throwing (Beginner lv 5: 87.34%)

Boomerang Throwing (Beginner Lv 9: 12.25%)

Chakram Throwing (Beginner Lv 6: 67.34%)

Dart Throwing (Intermediate Lv 2: 19.87%)

Javelin Throwing (Intermediate lv1: 29.54%)

Knife Throwing (Intermediate Lv 1: 27.78%)

Unarmed Mastery (Intermediate Lv 3: 17.02%)

Mana Fists (Beginner Lv 9: 12.23%)

Mana Gloves (Beginner Lv 5: 26.81%)

Mana Breath (Beginner Lv2: 23.65%)Spiral Mana Bolt (Beginner Lv6: 23.65%)Soul Scream (Beginner Lv3: 12.75%)Soul Strike (Beginner Lv8: 46.23%)

Jack had made stat gains across the board. However, most of the gains were very small. The only exception was Indomitable Spirit, in which he had gained a whopping 60 points! Hunting with the guards had caused him to levelup five times. He had gained two level ups just from turning in the quest and he was now lv50!

Jack decided to invest all of his stat points into intelligence and willpower, turning them into nice round figures of 250 and 200 (without equip bonuses). The Survivor’s Cap he had acquired gave him a significant HP boost of +500, so Jack felt that he could invest his stat points into Intelligence for offense. He invested some in willpower, since many of his skills and the Indomitable Spirit stat received a bonus from Willpower

Jack also noticed that his maximum capacity for Spirit Energy had increased to 120, and the decay rate had reduced to -0.8% current SE/s once he invested his stats in Willpower. He also noticed that he had gained two additional skills, for which he had missed the notification logs. They were Sword Mastery and Poison Resistance. Their names were self-explanatory; nevertheless Jack summoned the relevant skill information.

Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:Sword MasteryBeginner256.23%

You have learned how to fight with swords. This skill increases your damage, attack speed and the potency of bleeding effects when using swords.

Current level effects:

+14% damage.

+12% Attack Speed

+1% to bleeding effects

Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:Poison ResistanceBeginner534.12%Subskill of Survival

Having received exposure to poisons and surviving, your body has developed natural resistance to it. This skill reduces the detrimental effects of poisons on you.

Current level effects:

Reduces poison DoT by 20.

Reduces poison duration by 5 seconds.

Reduces the magnitude of detrimental effect of poisons by 5%

Jack was extremely pleased with these skills. Sword mastery was what he expected, a variation of dagger/unarmed mastery. But the real kicker was poison mastery. The flat damage reduction of 20 and duration reduction of 5 seconds would be very useful at lower levels, whereas the 5% reduction in detrimental effects would scale to be quite powerful at high levels.

While Jack was pondering his skill and stat gains, he received an ingame notification that it was time for dinner in RL. Jack planned to log in after dinner, but he had to return to his day job from tomorrow. Lamenting at the responsibilities of real life, Jack logged off.

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chaolindy7, I implemented your suggestion about the poison taste in this chapter. :D

I had a bit of free time, so here is you chapter early. This is also longer than my usual length. But on the flip side, next weekend I might be a bit late for my release, or may not release at all. Weekly releases will continue after that, unless i have more/less free time.

Does this count as a double release?

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