I'm trying so very hard to look terrified. My hands are up and I'm forcing them to shiver in false fear. With my mask on, I'm hiding my amusement much better than Victoria who is actively biting her lip to stop from giggling. I've already whispered the others the situation and asked them to hold so we can have some fun. Kona and Elsbeth monitor our situation from the tree tops, heavily shrouded by the foliage. The players and the soldiers should be waiting behind the door.

Surrounding us is a group of highwaymen and women. There are twenty-five of them, all between levels nine and twelve. All of them are armed to the teeth and all of them are wearing matching black and brown striped leather armor. Their leader, a male Vulpine (fox) Half-Faunus Scout, level 13, has his longbow trained at my chest. He's smart enough not to aim for head, so I give him credit for that. But, I'm more worried about the others keeping their emotions in check and not going full Bereserker after what happened in the dungeon.

"So very sorry, you two," he sneers at us, "but we'll be needing whatever's in your carriage more than you, so just sit there until our transaction is complete and you might leave with at least your lives." Every one of his cohorts snickers at this.

Victoria finally gets into the proper mood and with a scowl she slaps the top of my head, "I told you, didn't I! I told you I had a bad feeling about this road! Lady Dawn is in danger because of you!" Her onslaught is relentless, but painless as the raiders laugh harder at us.

"I- I didn't- I didn't want her to be late!" I try to pull back on the overacting, but I can't help myself, "She's got to deliver her dowry or she can't get married!"

She stops in fake shock to my revelatory declaration and frantically searches the faces around her. I can tell she's really just assessing them, calculating a plan of attack.

At my words, the highway robbers became audibly and visibly excited, looking at each other with great interest. I think I even heard someone quietly shout "jackpot" in an overjoyed tone. The fox man's smile widens as he motions for someone to open the doors. I can hear everyone's hearts quicken and smell the sweat dripping from their greed.

More people poured out of the carriage than should be possible. Terrible war cries and fast moving weapons disorient our would be robbers. A cackling figure swoops in from no where and throws out multiple bolts of magic, it's shadowy figure splitting in half . One figure dropping to the ground before the rest disappears into the trees. An arrow with my name on it zips through empty space as I teleport behind and rend one, then two bandits. A flying shield and hammer crash into foes with the force of fast pitch baseballs.

The Scout and the Ranger find each other in the frenzy and each tests the other's nerve by fighting in melee range with their bows. They parry each other while simultaneously trying to draw an arrow on their target. They're a blur of self and opponent control as they patiently try to out maneuver one another.

With our area clear of enemies, we watch Elsbeth as she coolly deals with her peer. The scout uses a kick to create space and manages to loose his first arrow and fires another in rapid succession. Elsbeth only fires one, but it magically splits into a total of three, breaking the oncoming arrows and planting one in the Faunus's leg. His motion becomes slowed, the debuff from the Dridersilk Longbow, and she runs over to him.

He's drawing an arrow out of a quiver at a crawling speed and we can see the anguish in his eyes. Elsbeth is within five feet of him and his arrow is still a ways from being knocked. She fires an arrow into his chest and it bursts with eletricity and paralyzes him completely. Still on his feet, her next arrow glows yellow and the power of it sends it barreling out through the other side of him, sending what sounds like a rifle shot echoing throughout the forest. The high powered arrow displaces a huge amount of dirt like a canonball would. Needless to say, the man died, losing the contest to a lower level, but far better archer.

I clap her on the back, shaking my head in disbelief, "That was amazing! A bit over the top, but amazing to say the least."

She smiles her sad smile and signs, "I feel much better now."

Being the last of our attackers, we loot the bodies and toss them naked into the bushes. We kite some monsters to them and leave while they feast. I actually consider burying them for a moment, but I would hate for them to come back to haunt us.

I ask aloud if anyone knew how to dye leather like our attackers did and Dawn informs me of a couple of tailors inside who are trying to get back into their former profession, "I've asked them before and they said they can do it."

I nod my head with a grin, "And that's why the cloth we bought is as white as they can make it. Good thing you guys were able to get to the wishlist, huh?"

Richter slaps his forehead, "That's what you meant! Bro, I thought you meant, like, lots of dice!"

I pinch the bridge of my nose and squeeze my eyes closed as Rachel gestures wildly, "Oh. Em. Gee! That makes so much more sense! But, like, why would they be so far from the other similar items on the list? Would you get milk, and then, like, a bunch of other things, and then get creamer? No! You'd get them together! That's why you'd put them together on-"

"Okay, okay. I get it," I wave my hands in surrender, "As a port town, Higo should have all kinds of stuff for sale and trade. Hopefully, they'll have dyes as well."

Some time before this fight, my War Party Leader Feat increased to the maximum level three, allowing me to have up to twenty in my party, two way communication as long as I initiate, and a bonus of thirty percent XP. Between the sixteen of us, we each got an astounding 487XP and a bunch of Life Crystals.

As generous as our victory is, I grumble loudly, "Argh! I'm so close to leveling up!" The soldiers head back inside, chuckling and chatting about the battle.

Dawn fishes out a level 10 Life Crystal and tosses it over to me, "Will this do?"

I catch it, but look at her in confusion, "What about everyone else? What about the other Crystals?" I can't say I'm not exciting about using it, but I do feel guilty being the only one.

Dawn motions everyone else to follow her back inside, "Think of it as a one time bonus. We're going to use the rest to level up the citizens who have decided to become more active as an incentive."

Its a great idea and I let her know. She smiles and jumps back in the vardo. I get back in the seat with Victoria with my prize and access it.

[Would you like to absorb 320XP from this Crystal Y/N?]

I chose Yes and the crystal shatters into a fine, blue, glowing dust that flows directly into me.

[You received 320XP!]

[Level up! You have reached Level 13!]

[You have 7 stat points to allocate!]

[You have reached Level 2 of your Skill,

[Discipline/Tempest Fist]

[You have learned a new spell through

[Basic Enchantment: Sleep (40MP)]

My mind is spinning with all the information trying to rush in all at once and I nearly fall over the side.

"Hey!" Victoria grabs onto my arm and pulls me closer to her.

"Thanks," I drool, trying to collect myself, "I didn't think it'd be that overwhelming."

I put 2 points into Arcane, bringing it up to 38, and 5 points into Dexterity, bringing it up to 50.

[DecaStat Reached: +1 Dexterity Skill]

[As you have reached the pinnacle of low level Skills, your next DecaStat point will be at 70]

Victoria is glancing over at my screen as I try to go over everything one by one, saving the DecaStat point for last.

[Discipline/Tempest Fist II

[- all unarmed strikes may use Strength or Dexterity as the Modifier.

[- (On/Off) decrease Max SP by 30%, reach of Hand based unarmed attacks is extended to 15ft.]

[- Level 15

[- Level 17

[- Level 19]

"Keep going,” I say absent-mindedly, Victoria barely hearing me and asking for clarification, "I want to check something."

I leap from my seat into the distance and activate the new ability. My SP drops hard, from 80 to 56, but my hands crackle with yellow energy.

I judge a large stone on the side of the road to be at most ten feet away from me and I throw a jab at it. A yellow phantom of a fist strikes at the same time as mine, mirroring and timing it perfectly. The rock thumps with each hit as I throw blow after blow. I get no feedback from the hits, but the rock starts to crack from my assualt. I check Echo Strike, and both attacks strike the rock. I note that, even though I'm closer than fifteen feet, the fists do not appear past the rock meaning they must stop at the nearest object.

Victoria is passing by me now, and she has a curious look on her face, "Is that a Monster Skill?"

I shake my head and jump back into the seat, "Its a tier skill, a Discipline called Tempest Fist. Right now it's only level two."

She gives me an impressed nod, "I was thinking of getting one, but the space in between is so long!"

"Trust me, I think they're worth it." I'm scrolling to the next item on my agenda. "As a matter of fact, I have a tier spell ability too, and it just capped out at level three. They're easier to get abilities for, but you don't get as many."

I bring up the new spell's description screen and we both read it together.

[Sleep (40MP) 60ft/50% chance to cause the target to fall into a magic sleep. They can only be awakened by an attack or by removing the debuff through spell or item.

[Upon failure, there is a 75% chance to inflict the Slow debuff for 5 seconds.]

I glance quickly at her and she puts her hand right on my face, "You better not, Winters. And not because I'm driving either. Dimitria, magic is magic, but what you do is unnatural sometimes. What if you absorb a monster and you get stuck looking like that monster? If you think I'm having sex with a Slime or an Abomination of any kind-"

"It does NOT work that way. Not that I fully understand how blue magic works, I just know I don't absorb creatures and become them. Not yet anyway."

I clear the screens and access the pool of abilities for my DecaStat point, a little sad that I need twenty to get the next one.

I reminisce to the beginning and the length of the lists, the system trying to learn how we as players prefer to do things. Some players prefer to hack and slash through the world, so they stack as many passive abilities as possible and focus on swinging their weapons about. Some players can completely memorize all of their abilities, unleashing the most efficient spell for each monster. Like a giant game of rock-paper-scissors, they aim for the one hit kill.

When I used to play tabletop RPGs as a kid, we had other roles besides the main three of Tank, Support, and Damage.

Tanks took all the hits, Support heals and buffs, and Damage dealt as much damage all they could.

Utility is the person with all the non-combat, yet useful abilites, the role playing equivalent to a tool box. They had spells that could carry stuff, unlock things, search for particular items on people, et cetera. Then there's the Face. That player would be the one to interact with the world to obtain the best results from NPCs to enemies. If we were a group of friends playing Arc, we probably would each have a distinct role to play, but since we all started solo and in the dark, we have to make do with what we have now.

All that being said, it seems my list of available Skills has grown since the last one. I wonder if it's because the stat has reached 50, a sort of milestone, or if its because the situations are going to become more complex as we go along.

"Sure wish there was a tutorial or more descriptions for things," I mumble to myself.

Some of the Skills are actually just the upgraded versions of the ones I have now: Critical Stab II, Stealth II, and Echo Strike II. I'm tempted to increase Critical Stab since I've been using it in every single battle, but I scroll through them just in case.

[Critical Stab II…

[Stealth II…

[Echo Strike II

[Leap…

[Rend Equipment…

[Illusionary Feint…

[Distracting Footwork…

[Primal Flurry I…

[MP Conversion I…

Aside from Leap, which keeps popping up no matter what I do, I actually want every single Skill on the list.

Rend Equipment attempts to reduce a targeted item to zero durability. Illusionary Feint creates three ghostly images of me performing three possible attacks and I can chose which one to follow through with at the last possible second. Distracting Footwork is actually a taunt, an ability that forces a number of enemies to target only me for a duration, but it also significantly increases my Agility. Primal Flurry does an instantaneous five-hit combo as long as the user is unarmed. And MP Conversion is a utility ability that changes MP into SP at a rate of two-to-one.

I look over at Victoria, pleading with my eyes for assistance, but she pretends not to notice and looks as far into the distance as she can through all the trees.

I sigh in resignation and go over the pros and cons of each Skill. This time around, I actually consider Leap as an option, since it's usage cost is a paltry 3SP and it triples one's jump distance. With the new add on from Tempest Fist my use of other skills will become severely limited. Too bad I didn't get it sooner. Anyway, I boil it down to Critical Stab II, Leap, Illusionary Feint, and Distracting Footwork.

I'm not a Rogue by any means and I haven't been getting that second hit as often as I like. I want to keep any equipment my opponent has on them and I need to keep my combos versatile and flexible. Also, I need MP just as much as SP so I can't just trade it in unless its back and forth at an equal rate.

I know it'll benefit the team immensely. I know it's a type of skill that no one in our group has yet. And, I know that I'm probably going to hate every minute of it, but I make my choice.

[You learned Distracting Footwork (40SP) Self/ 90% chance, all hostiles within a 20ft radius will consider you a primary target.

[For every hostile targeting you, your Agility will increase by 5% to a maximum of 100%.

[The effects of this Skill will last for 3 minutes. If any hostiles targeting you are still alive when this Skill ends, your SP will drain to 1.]

The punishment is brutal, but if I use it right it won't matter at all. Besides, with a normal Agility of 64, I've become quite adept at dodging almost everything. If twenty people are targeting me then my Agility will be of someone twice my level.

A stifled snickering catches my attention and I look over at Victoria with a hand over her mouth. I shoot her a look, "What's so funny?"

"Kih! It's nothing…!" Her cheeks are dangerously red from the laughter she's containing. I ask her to get on with it and the dam breaks, "Hahahahaha! You're going to dance the enemy to death! Oh, Theatri! That's going to be the best once we see it in action!"

Crap.