Chapter Nineteen
In the next three weeks Alex resumed the successful hunting that had been her hallmark before the Ghostly Cobrawasp. She managed to kill enough critters to level her to four, which gave her a little more cushion with her hit points and faez.
As an experiment, she put a point into Intelligence, which increased her faez bar slightly, suggesting it affected the faez pool available. The other point she put into Agility to help with the whip, climbing, and stealth. The last point, she put into Cunning since that was her main stat, or at least she hoped that would be her main stat when it came time to choose a class. The line next to "Class:" still annoyingly said Undecided.
During the time she was hunting, Alex didn't see the cobrawasp, though she kept up her precautions in case it decided to show up and attack her while she was distracted.
On the day her minions were luring a barkhippo from a swampy section of the Warped Forest, Alex stood on her lookout perch. Both Inky and Blinky were positioned above, watching for the cobrawasp while Pinky and Clyde carried the bait harness.
You have gained a skill point: +1 Analyze (Tier Two)
She was excited about the additional skill point because it pushed the analyze skill into the second tier, but she didn't have time to take advantage of the level because she heard the crunching of leaves from her left. Through the trees, Alex saw the hunched back and long snout of the gatorbear that had escaped her trap weeks ago.
It was marching through the forest, its snout raised as if it were sniffing the air. It was the first time she'd seen it since that day. She wished it'd come at a different time, because the barkhippo was almost in the trap, but then had an idea how she might kill both creatures.
It was going to require some risk, but if she didn't increase her experience gain, she was never going to get to level 20 by the end of the year.
"This is probably a bad idea," she said, grabbing the rope hanging nearby and sliding back to the forest floor.
Her Boots of Ascending crunched dead leaves, before she surged forward, headed towards the gatorbear. With the link to her minions, Alex sensed that the barkhippo was nearing the pit trap.
But thoughts of the barkhippo disappeared as she stumbled into a clearing the same time as the gatorbear. It rumbled to a stop, growling and snapping its long snout.
"Come at me, punk," said Alex, sending a wind gust in its direction.
A gray cloud shot forward, cracking with electricity. A single snaking bolt zapped the gatorbear right on its snout, enraging it.
You have learned a new spell: Cloud Taunt
The gatorbear shook its head before charging at Alex. The sudden surge caught her by surprise, as it moved faster than she expected. Alex barely dodged its toothy mouth as it snapped shut behind her.
She ran through the undergrowth, momentarily disoriented by the charging attack. Alex used the connection to her minions to triangulate the location of the pit trap. She knew that timing would be everything.
The gatorbear made a second surge, forcing Alex to deviate from her path, screwing up the clock in her head. She pushed herself faster, ignoring the slap and scratch of branches whipping her face. Behind her the saprolings and bushes that tried to entrap her were trampled beneath the enormous gatorbear.
Adrenaline burned through her body. She felt like the world was on fire. Nothing mattered but every last ounce of speed she could get to stay ahead of the gatorbear.
She was pushing so hard, she almost missed that she'd entered the clearing where she'd dug the pit trap. At that moment, the other side of the undergrowth burst aside, revealing the barkhippo, a watery-looking beast covered in tree bark and sprouting small saprolings from its back.
The barkhippo had its head raised as it tried to get at the floating meat held by Pinky and Clyde, so it never saw the giant hole in the forest floor.
Alex leapt the corner of the trap, avoiding the trigger wires right as the barkhippo tumbled in. The gatorbear, however, which was right on her tail, sensed the hole and tried to maneuver around it, but its forward momentum was too great and it tipped sideways into the hole.
As the trigger ropes released the heavy logs to fall, the two massive creatures jammed together, fitting perfectly in the rectangular hole.
With the trap closed, the gatorbear and barkhippo squirmed to release themselves but there was no extra room in the pit.
Alex straddled the pit, looking down between her legs at the trapped creatures.
Carnivorous Gatorbear, Warped Animal, Level 13
Ability: Destructive Sawtooth
Sprouting Barkhippo, Warped Animal, Level 12
Ability: Reactive Hide
The new information was a nice bonus for reaching the second tier of the analyze skill. It was her first higher-tier skill.
"I almost feel bad about this," said Alex, then looked up to her minions, who hovered above her head. "Feeding time."
The bloats attached themselves to the two trapped warped animals, while Alex practiced her spells and One-handed Whip on them, alternating between the two while her faez pool refilled. It took ten minutes to wear them down, but eventually Alex was greeted with a scrolling of information.
Critical hit! You deal the Carnivorous Gatorbear 32 damage! The Carnivorous Gatorbear is affected by Shock for 56 damage! You have killed the Carnivorous Gatorbear!
The Sprouting Barkhippo is affected by Shock for 52 damage! You have killed the Sprouting Barkhippo!
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
You have gained experience: 1,300 XP
You have gained experience: 1,200 XP
Special Achievement Reached: You have killed two creatures more than ten levels above yours at the same time!
You have gained bonus experience: 50,000 XP
You have gained a skill point: +1 One-handed Whip
You have gained a unique skill point: +1 Cunning Strategist
You have reached level 5!
You may now choose your class!
Congratulations! Don't screw it up!
Between the adrenaline of running through the forest barely ahead of the gatorbear and the wealth of increases, she couldn't catch her breath. Alex walked around the trap for a few minutes before she was calm enough to loot.
Aware that she was so spiked with post-fight energy that if the Ghostly Cobrawasp showed up she'd be in terrible shape, Alex finally looted the two beasts and headed back to camp.
She was thrilled upon seeing her acquisitions.
You have received: Jagged Gator Bones x3
You have received: Bark Hide x6
You have received: A Large Chimeric Stone x1
Both bodies disappeared, which made reusing her trap much easier. She was intrigued by the large chimeric stone, which was a first. Maybe it would give her a clue on how to solve the quest she'd been given when she found the smaller versions. She also received meat from both, but those were uninteresting in the greater scheme of things.
Back in the camp, her minions settled in their nests, plump from feeding. When she realized she didn't cringe as much when she looked at them, and that their eyes were more rounded and the length of their proboscises much smaller, Alex checked them with the analyze skill.
Inky, Minion, Level 2
Blinky, Minion, Level 2
Pinky, Minion, Level 2
Clyde, Minion, Level 2
"That's interesting," said Alex, though she was disappointed they didn't have any abilities yet.
If she squinted, they were beginning to look more like fuzzy floating puffer fish than creepy bloats.
"Now, for the good stuff," she said, opening her stat sheet.
Character: Alexandria Duke
Level: 5
Strength: 1
Intelligence: 2
Cunning: 6
Agility: 2
Endurance: 3
Charisma: 1
Class: Undecided
Subclass: Undecided
Health: 55/55
Faez: 55/55
Fatigue: 23%
XP: 101,023 / 270,000
Skills:
Analyze: 10
One-handed Slashing: 1
Fire Spells: 2
Devious Device: 6
Sense Direction: 7
One-handed Whip: 6
Water Spells: 6
Cooking: 8
Stealth: 5
Climbing: 3 (+5 Ascending Boots)
Air Spells: 5
Unique Skills:
Cunning Strategist: 2
Mastermind: 1
Spells:
Dewdrop Orb: 6
Minor Creation: 4
Transference: 4
Cloud Taunt: 1
The undecided part of her class blinked. When Alex touched it a menu bloomed into existence.
You have shown an affinity for the Cunning stat. Choose your class from amongst these three options:
Arcane Mastermind
Sub-Stat: Intelligence
Signature Spell: Misdirection
Passive Ability: Luck of the Bold
Related Skills:
Related Unique Skills: Cunning Strategist, Mastermind
Base Element: Air
Mistress of élan
Sub-Stat: Charisma
Signature Spell: Panache
Passive Ability: Velvet Tongue
Related Skills: One-handed Whip
Related Unique Skills:
Base Element: Water
Devious Artificer
Sub-Stat: Endurance
Signature Spell: Masterful Creation
Passive Ability: Artificial Life
Related Skills: Devious Device
Related Unique Skills:
Base Element: Fire
Usually she sorted classes into the distinct playstyles that usually propagated online games: tank, DPS, healer, or support. But an initial glance told her they didn't neatly fit into one or the other. Having spent the past few months in the game, she realized that occupying a singular role in Gamemakers Online was a mistake.
Those roles were a nice shorthand for game designers to give opportunities to every type of person to enjoy the game. But Gamemakers Online hadn't been made for pure enjoyment. There was no mass player base that it had to appeal to.
In a way, she felt like the early humans having to carve out a piece of civilization for themselves in whatever way they could. But that didn't help her narrow down the classes.
Arcane Mastermind seemed to have a strategic bent to the abilities, and it matched the stats and skills that she had developed the most. When she hovered her hand over the Signature Spell she saw:
Spell: Misdirection – Tier 1
Faez: 20 ? Range: 50 feet
Effect: Divert a spell or attack from one creature into another.
In single combat, this ability was rather useless, which suggested the class was meant to deal with larger groups of enemies. There would have been few opportunities to use this spell, but having it available might change her tactics.
The name for the next class, Mistress of élan, immediately appealed to her sense of style. While she'd never stoop so low as to play a bard, the idea of being able to manipulate and control others with a Machiavellian flair sounded like a class she could leverage.
Spell: Panache – Tier 1
Faez: 20 ? Duration: 1 minute
Effect: Beguile an enemy into believing it's your friend (wears off if attacked).
The problem was that she was stuck in the Warped Forest with few enemies to charm, and given they were higher level, she doubted she could do it easily or effectively. The class could be a great choice if she had access to a city, or larger humanoid network, but based on that, she eliminated it as a possibility.
Which left Devious Artificer, a class meant for creating objects and creatures. As a lone adventurer in the middle of a dangerous area, that ability was mighty appealing. She imagined that she could augment her minions and herself with additional gear. She was a sucker for magical items, especially ones with unique effects.
Spell: Masterful Creation – Tier 1
Faez: Varies ? Range: Permanent
Effect: Create a Devious Device with the supplied materials.
She couldn't deny how important the items she'd created already had been for her survival. Without them, she'd still be level 1 and weaponless. She assumed this spell could create higher-level equipment.
But was the class appealing because of that? Once she moved on from the Warped Forest, would it still be as useful?
She needed to choose the class that gave her the best chance of leveraging her creativity. She'd almost beaten the Avatar of Destruction, not because of her items, but because she'd found a way to exploit the base abilities. Not that item creation couldn't facilitate that, but would the Arcane Mastermind be more effective?
Alex hovered her hand over the Luck of the Bold ability.
Luck of the Bold
Passive Ability
Gain a luck bonus when fighting against overwhelming odds
"That pretty much sums up my experience in this game," said Alex, chuckling.
In the end, she settled on the class she thought would be more beneficial in the long run. She had to maximize her potential to survive Gamemakers Online, and what she'd seen so far suggested that it would only get worse. Plus, it was a bonus that the two unique skills she'd already discovered fit within the class.
"Arcane Mastermind it is," she said.
With her class selection out of the way, Alex increased her Cunning by two and her Intelligence by one. The latter was to gain a larger faez pool so she could use Misdirection multiple times per combat.
Alex examined her character sheet, admiring that it no longer said Undecided by the class.
Character: Alexandria Duke
Level: 5
Strength: 1
Intelligence: 3
Cunning: 8
Agility: 2
Endurance: 3
Charisma: 1
Class: Arcane Mastermind
Subclass: Undecided
Health: 63/63
Faez: 68/68
Armor Class: 4
Fatigue: 23%
XP: 210,045 / 270,000
It appeared she'd gained an increase in faez pool from choosing her class.
Next she examined the spell she'd learned when she'd lured the gatorbear to the pit.
Cloud Taunt – Tier 1
Faez: 15 ? Duration: 30 seconds
Dmg: 5-15
Effect: Enrages the creature to attack you.
It was her first spell that did direct damage, though it wasn't much, but she hoped as she leveled it up that it would do more. The taunt was a bit of a boon and a curse. She could easily imagine spots where taunting a creature would be less than advantageous. Still, being able to affect the flow of combat was important as battles got more complex. She planned on practicing it later until she had it down cold.
Finally getting to choose her new class was exciting, but just as important were a couple of items she'd received from the gatorbear.
Item: Jagged Gator Bones x3
A bit of bone was something she'd been hoping to receive for quite some time. If she could use them the way she hoped, she might start making real headway in the game, and maybe—just maybe—she might be able to track down that Ghostly Cobrawasp and put an end to it stalking her.
