I appeared in the jungle just after nightfall, about a 3 miles away from the large city that had been established in at the world portal. I was only wearing pants, due to the fact that tigerkin around here don’t need or want to wear shirts since they live in a tropical climate, and they were often climbing trees anyway, and extra clothing increases the chance of something being snagged. As a tigerkin, I had a tiger’s ears, eyes, tail, and claws. I had the coloration of a golden-furred variant and had made this body a 30-year-old male at level 18, which was a little bit above the average. I was white, since while there were black tigerkin, there were mostly white ones left, due to, you guessed it, racism. While they had stopped killing each other, this group wouldn’t be as helpful if I was black, and their actions weren’t what I wanted to test.

I opened up my stat sheet, preparing to distribute my stats.

Name

John Pitcher

Race:

Tigerkin

Classes:

Jungle Runner, Crafter, Beta Tester (hidden), Aura Master, Mana Manipulator

Level:

18, 1800 XP to next level

Health:

200/200

Stamina:

200/200

Aura:

150/150

Mana:

150/150

Fate:

60

Perk Points:

18

Spirit:

19/19

Karma Points:

3

Vitality

14

Intelligence:

15

Endurance

11

Wisdom:

12

Constitution

13

Willpower

10

Strength

12

Perception

12

Nat. Armor

1

Charisma

11

Agility

16

Focus

6

Aesthetic Appeal

15

Luck

12

Undistributed Stat Points:

144

Skills:

Running lvl 8

Climbing lvl 5

Unarmed Combat lvl 7

Repair lvl 4

Beta Tester Passive (hidden)

Aural Shield Lvl 3

Aural Blade lvl 4

Aura Manipulation lvl 6

Mana Manipulation

Qi Spiral lvl 2

Mana Shield lvl 2

Qi Reinforced Body lvl 8

The passive for Beta Tester was something that I had added for the purposes of expediting the testing:

Skill:

Description:

Beta Tester Passive

Greatly increases the chance of someone to give you a quest of great importance. Increases speed of skill leveling

After distributing my points and modifying my skills using perk points, this is what I had:

Name

John Pitcher

Race:

Tigerkin

Classes:

Jungle Runner, Crafter, Beta Tester (hidden), Aura Master, Mana Manipulator

Level:

18, 1800 XP to next level

Health:

520/520

Stamina:

400/400

Aura:

300/300

Mana:

300/300

Fate:

60

Perk Points:

0

Spirit:

19/19

Karma Points:

3

Vitality

26

Intelligence:

30

Endurance

20

Wisdom:

20

Constitution

24

Willpower

15

Strength

24

Perception

25

Nat. Armor

3

Charisma

24

Agility

25

Focus

14

Aesthetic Appeal

20

Luck

18

Undistributed Stat Points:

0

Skills:

Running lvl 6 (Main)

Climbing lvl 4

(Main)

Unarmed Combat lvl 7

Repair lvl 3 (Main)

Beta Tester Passive (Hidden)

Aural Shield Lvl 2 (Main)

Aural Blade lvl 4

Aura Manipulation lvl 6 (Main)

Mana Manipulation

Qi Spiral lvl 2

Mana Shield lvl 1 (Main)

Qi Reinforced Body lvl 8 (Main)

Jungle Movement lvl 3 (Sub)

Tree Climbing lvl 2 (Sub)

Magical Repair lvl 1 (Sub)

Magical Aura Shield lvl 2 (Sub)

Mana Reinforced Body lvl 1 (Sub)

The only reasons that I was able to get as many extra skills as I had were due to the synergy between several skills and me accepting them at lowered levels.

With that taken care of, I took off running towards the city just a couple miles away.

* * * * *

Arriving at the main gate on the nearer side of the city, Agrath, he wasn’t surprised to be challenged, as it had become full dark while he was distributing his points.

“What are you called when among friends?” one of the guards called down.

“I’m known as John Pitcher, a Runner and Aura Master, seeking battle in the Arena,” I told them, using my prepared excuse. The Arena was a sporting area, where warriors would battle in a competition event for gold rewards, and the winner of the tournament and the direct runner-up got to meet the king and get important quests from him. I planned on using this to show the people in this tier how they could advance, by going through the process myself and bringing people along so that they could return and share the process. Hopefully, I would eventually make it so that everyone is aware of the ability to ascend.

One of the guards opened the small door and beckoned me forward into the light of his torch. I complied, and he studied my face for a minute before letting me through. On the inside were several wanted posters, showing why he examined me, to see if I was a criminal in a disguise.

“Know of a good place I can stay the night?” I asked

“If you want good food and board for cheap, I would suggest The Wandering Inn. If you want a truly luxurious stay, you can go to the Jade Dragon. It’ll lighten your purse quite a bit, but it is the best place in the city. As a competitor in the Arena, you’ll be given a room in the barracks for the duration of the event.”

“Thanks,” I said, heading into the relatively uncrowded streets, though there were a few people walking about, taking advantage of the racial night vision.