Chapter 73 – Skill Issues

  Jack awoke sometime later. Night had fallen and most people were already asleep. He pulled himself out of the tree bed, dropping down to the ground. He was already starting to feel better after what he hoped was just a few hours of sleep. Elaine was cooking something nearby while Elizabeth was chatting with Daniel. Jack walked over hoping there was still food left.

  “Going to be a little while,” Elaine said seeing him. “Been a minute since I had to cook for this many and basic foods don’t do much for my Cooking Profession now.”

  “Guess it’s a good thing we have three cooks now,” Jack said.

  “More than that. Some of the elves have the profession as well.”

  “Alright, anything I can help with?” Jack asked.

  “Nothing right now,” Elaine said. “Had a good sleep?”

  “Not bad for only a… few hours?” Jack asked uncertainly.

  “Relax,” Elaine said. “It’s the same day. Near end of it now.”

  “That’s a relief,” Jack sighed. “Anything happen?”

  “Just a few things,” Elaine said. “Nothing Clayton or… moon elves related.” She whispered the last part so no one else could hear.

  “Are we keeping it a secret?” Jack whispered back.

  “Not sure,” Elaine said. “I didn’t want to spook the elves. We still have Clayton to deal with, and they are already cautious around me. But we will have to tell them eventually.”

  “What about you?” Jack asked. “How do you feel about them being here?”

  “I’m not scared of them,” Elaine said. “But I have a healthy amount of respect for them too. They can be dangerous people. I knew that before people told me.”

  “Tell me about it,” Jack nodded.

  “But they can also be nice,” Elaine added. “I got to know several during my time in Vess. I think they are misunderstood, but it isn’t a popular opinion.”

  “Didn’t you tell us they were talking about killing you when they first saw you?” Jack asked.

  “That was when they thought I was a spy,” Elaine explained. “Once they figured out what had actually happened, they were a lot more understanding. They aren’t bad people. They are just protective, and something has them on edge right now.”

  “I believe you,” Jack said. “Anyone can be dangerous. But I don’t think they are evil. At least that wasn’t the feeling I got when I spoke with Hes.”

  “You think they will help with our Clayton issue?” Elaine asked.

  “I don’t think so,” Jack said. “The one I met said they don’t do anything for free, and it sounds like they already got the thing they wanted.”

  “Pity,” Elaine muttered. “Would be an easy solution to our problem, but it’s probably for the best. I doubt we can afford their help. I like not being in debt.”

  “Well, all we can do is wait until they make themselves known to us,” Jack said. “I think we should at least let Rayne and Sylvian know about it. Maybe Alzona? She’s like their leader, right?”

  Elaine nodded at that. “What are you planning to do now?”

  “Not sure,” Jack said. “There is a lot that needs doing. I think I’m going to try to improve my spear skills. I’m a lot stronger and faster than I used to be, but against all those elites, I am lacking in fighting skill.”

  “That would be difficult for most people to handle,” Elaine said.

  “What is everyone else up to?” Jack asked.

  Elaine gestured towards the jungle. “Rayne took Sylvian, Teresa and Sia to set up traps throughout the jungle. They wanted to get the elves’ help, but Reynard’s illusions haven’t had the time to come down yet and would only get in their way. So, the others busied themselves by making arrows and working the spare leather into armor, but there is plenty more that is needed. Could help out there, but I think Nyph just went to sleep. She’s the best leatherworker among the elves. But if not that, then we could use more bows. There are plenty of arrows now, but not enough bows to go around. Other than that, in the morning I need to go gather more ingredients to make more poison.”

  “I can help with some of that,” Jack said. “Think I’ll start with the bows for now. Maybe try and get that self-repair enchantment on my armor.”

  “Alright,” Elaine said. “I’ll get you some food when I can get it cooked.”

  Jack left Elaine and went over to change out of his armor into some basic leather clothes for the time being. Elaine was right in that his armor had seen better days. He just hoped that enchanting it now would work on returning it to the state it was before.

  He joined Elizabeth and Daniel by the fire as he set about enchanting his armor. Daniel was showing her the basics of enchanting as he had with Jack and Elaine before. Jack showed her what he was working on, getting some insight from Daniel at the same time. He was still using aspects to enchant with, but he was quickly running out of those.

  His first thought was to use Darkness Aspects in the enchantment as the armor was darkness base. Daniel confirmed it would have a decent amount of compatibility if he did that, but he had already given all his Darkness Aspects to Ciao. Without the Darkness Aspects, Daniel suggested using the Water Aspects, as Water was known to be good for mending and connecting and was compatible with leather. It took a while to get the enchantment just right, but eventually Jack was looking at a working self-repair enchantment on his Umbral armor and an empty vial of Water Aspects.

  *Level up! Enchanting (Level 3)*

  +2Int., +1 Wis.

  *Level up! Enchanting (Level 4)*

  +2Int., +1 Wis.

  Once he was done with the enchantment, the only thing left was to give it some time to repair. He placed the armor nearby and picked up some wood to start working on making some bows, but he wanted to try and improve on the design he had from the previous ones.

  Jack pulled out his vial of Primal Aspects. There was only a little left in it, but he was curious what effect it would have on the creation. As he carved the bow, he channeled the Primal Aspects from the vial into the body of the bow. He watched as a small stream of yellow Aspects flowed from the vial and into the wood as he carved it into shape, warping and hardening the bow as he did.

  Once he had the shape down, Jack grabbed a scrap of leather and wrapped it tightly around the center of the bow for gripping. He continued to channel his Mana and Aspects into it the whole time. Once he was satisfied that everything was sufficiently suffused in Mana, he turned to the string.

  Working on an idea. Jack cast his Summon Net spell creating a very long but thin net. Once the net was in his hands, looking much like spider silk, Jack used his Instant Thread spell to twist the net into one long string. He looped it into place on the bow, testing the tension on it as he did.

  “Now, I just need to make it permanent,” Jack muttered. He poured Mana into the creation until he felt something within the bow take hold. He picked it up, inspecting to see what had changed.

  *Item created: Longbow of Primal Life (Advance)*

  This longbow was created using refined Primal Aspects and infused with an intense amount of stable Mana. Every shot fired from this bow will draw on the archer’s Mana to empower the shot. Arrows that land on the ground will grow a sapling from the wood the arrow was created from.

  *Multicrafter skill activated*

  -Increase experience

  *Level up! Carpenter (Level 8)*

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  +2 Dex.

  ~*~

  *Level up! Carpenter (level 10)*

  +2 Dex.

  *Skill gained: Carving (Beginner)*

  Ornamentation is not just for looks.

  -Increased speed of working wood to create intricate designs.

  *Level up! Alchemist (Level 8)*

  +1 Wis./Perc.

  *Level up! Leatherworker (Level 3)*

  +2 Dex.

  *Level up! Weaver (level 2)*

  +1 Dex./Int.

  The bow was a long stave of light brown wood, looking unassuming at first glance but he could feel the Mana contain within it. Strangely, once created, the string on the bow disappeared, but he quickly realized that if he supplied some Mana to it, the translucent light blue string would return.

  “At this rate I’m going to turn into some kind of specialized bowyer,” Jack muttered.

  “What’s that?” Elizabeth asked.

  Jack handed her the bow to look at. “First Advance creation I made so far.” He glanced down at the now empty vial of Primal Aspects. “And the last for a while. Running out of Aspects to work with. Going to have to refine more Aethyr soon.”

  “You’re already making Advance rank creations,” Daniel asked.

  “Just the one so far,” Jack said. “Not sure how useful. Looks hyper-specific in designed.”

  Elizabeth handed it over to Daniel to inspect. He looked it over carefully, before sighing and handing it back.

  “Jack,” Daniel started. “That bow in the hands of a master archer, could start the creation of an entire forest in the space of a few days. The forest could be fully grown with a little bit of help and some spells within a month. You could even design formations into the forest by the type and placement of the trees.”

  “Okay yeah,” Jack said. “I can see that now, but it doesn’t really help our situation. I don’t think we will be planting trees any time soon. Otherwise, it’s just a normal bow, right?”

  “Sylvian would probably be interested in it,” Elizabeth added. “Isn’t her path growth?”

  “Yeah,” Jack acknowledged. “She might like it, but again, I don’t think it will do much for her either. Maybe if we were somewhere else, but there are plenty of trees around us to work with.”

  “I suppose, but it could be worth putting up for auction,” Daniel said. “Talk to Zajowle about it, could be worth a lot to the right people.”

  “I haven’t thought about selling anything since I got here,” Jack admitted. “Strange that money just doesn’t seem important right now, but I imagine it will become an issue later.”

  Daniel nodded. “If nothing else, there might be more shops in Kharzast with something worth buying.”

  “Oh, speaking of,” Jack said. “I haven’t gotten around to telling you, but I learned Karzasic. Ciao been reading the books I took from the library.”

  “Excellent!” Daniel said delightedly. “I should confer with Ciao then. There are several tomes I happen across that looked promising.”

  They continued their chat as they worked. Elaine finished cooking and joined them at the fire. Jack showed her the bow he had made telling her about possibly selling it. Elaine had other thoughts than selling the bow.

  “Could be great at quickly growing rare trees,” Elaine said. “Or bushes. Lots of possibilities. At the very least, it will give us a good source of wood to work with. Just don’t show Savgar. I think he is just starting to tolerate trees right now.”

  Jack wasn’t able to create any more Advance items that night. The only Aspects he had left were Fire Aspects now, and when he tried to infuse the bow with those the same way, against Daniel’s insistence that he shouldn’t, it burned to pieces in his hands. Jack decided to put bow making aside for the night after that incident.

  Eventually, Daniel went to sleep, followed shortly by Elaine and Elizabeth. Reuf and Jasper took their place at the fire. They chatted for a while, passing the time. Eventually, Jack decided to pull out his skill crystals. He stared down at them trying to determine how he should use them.

  “Stuck on something?” Jasper asked.

  “Just trying to figure out how to best use these,” Jack said.

  “What are they?” Reuf asked.

  “Skill crystals,” Jack said. “I have one that gives me the chance to increase one skill to a higher rarity and another that will allow me to combine some of my skills into something new. But whatever I choose I will lose, and I don’t even know what the new skill would be.”

  “Sounds like a conundrum,” Reuf said.

  “Yeah, I was thinking of combining some of the skills I don’t care about and upgrading a skill that is useful but not something I already rely on regularly. But most of my skills help to support my various crafting classes. Even if I don’t use them all regularly, they still help in different ways, and if I upgrade one of my useful skills, I could end up with something like that bow or Bryant’s stealth skill. Technically an upgrade, but too specific and not that useful in most situations you’d want to use them in.”

  “You could always wait,” Reuf suggested. “Most cities can offer information of known skill upgrades and combinations. Less chance of an issue.”

  “Could be a good idea,” Jasper said. “You could even try to learn a skill specifically to upgrade it. That way you won’t lose a skill you like, and you might end up with something better.”

  “Not really looking for more random skills,” Jack said. “With all my classes, I already have a ton of skills and spells, and I’m sure I’ll keep getting more naturally. What I need right now is more combat skills. My combat class has so far mostly given me more utility abilities to expand my options, but what I really need is something that will help me improve my physical fighting abilities. I’m too reliant on my spear and the poison it creates.”

  “There’s a thought,” Jasper said. “Why not try to go for a higher rank skill in one of those abilities?”

  “I’m a little worry that I could become useless if I lose some of those skills,” Jack said.

  “You don’t have any combat skills you no longer use?” Reuf asked. “That is unusual.”

  “Sword, martial and improvise weapon proficiency,” Jack said. “I’m pretty sure I will be sticking with the spear so I don’t really need the others, but what kind of skill would combining those make? Would it help me use the spear better?”

  “No idea,” Reuf admitted. “But if you aren’t using the skills anyways.”

  “Higher chance of getting something that will help you with your spear if you add your spear proficiency into the mix,” Jasper said. “So long as the spear proficiency is the higher of the different skills.”

  “Isn’t that dangerous though?” Jack asked. “If it doesn’t work out, I’ll have to start over relearning the spear.”

  “That is true,” Jasper said. “But what skill are you at right now? Unless you are at the Expert rank, would it really be that hard to get back what you lost. Meanwhile, gaining a higher rarity skill takes work and understanding to develop.”

  “Suppose that makes sense,” Jack said. “All this time, and I am only at the Novice rank for spear proficiency. Maybe it’s worth it.”

  “I’m sure Teresa can help you get back to that level,” Reuf said.

  “I could just use the skill increase gem on the spear proficiency,” Jack said. “Might be enough by itself.”

  “You could,” Jasper said. “But then you’d still have those other skills you don’t want, sitting around. Unless you have other skills you want to get rid of, it might be better to use the combination gem right now. Then you can save the upgrade gem for another skill that you want to improve later.”

  “That could work,” Jack said.

  Taking the skill combination crystal, Jack assigned his four weapon proficiency skills to the gem. He activated the crystal and felt knowledge and energy leave his head. The Crystal glowed brightly, before cracking and Jack felt energy flow into him as a System Prompt appeared in front of him.

  *Skills lost: Martial Proficiency (Beginner), Sword Proficiency (Beginner), Improvised Weapon Proficiency (Beginner), Spear Proficiency (Novice)*

  *Skill combination gem used: Success*

  *Skill gained: Polearm Mastery (Beginner)*

  You have chosen your specialization and stepped along the path of mastery of it. A thousand steps stand between a novice and a master, but now you can confidently claim to be walking the path.

  -Increased control and speed with all polearm weapon type

  -Reduced stamina when using a polearm

  “Anything good?” Reuf asked.

  “Eh,” Jack said. “It’s not bad, but nothing really great. Got the skill Polearm Mastery. Does basically what my spear proficiency was doing to a lesser extent, but for all polearm type weapons now.”

  “But now it’s a mastery skill,” Jasper said. “Not a proficiency. I think that is a win.”

  “What’s the difference,” Jack asked.

  “Mostly level of understanding,” Reuf said. “Like the difference between getting a Fighter class or a Warriors class. If two individuals fought each other with the same weapon, but one has a proficiency in the weapon and the other a mastery. Even if they are the same rank, the one with Mastery would be the better fighter. I am certain the Mastery skill will prove itself as it grows. Higher rank skills usually increase in power better than the lower rank ones.”

  “That is something at least,” Jack said. “But I don’t think I’m done yet.”

  “You’re going to try and upgrade a mastery skill?” Reuf asked worriedly.

  “Yeah,” Jack said. “The Mastery skill sounds good, but I don’t think it is enough for what I am aiming for right now. Need more of an edge to be able to hold my own in a direct confrontation, and I don’t want to risk upgrading my parkour or shadow shifting skills. I don’t think I’ll be able to get those back as easily.”

  “Just be certain about it,” Jasper said. “You already upgrade it once. Higher rarity skills are often better than their lower rank versions, but they take a lot longer to grow. If you do get a higher rank skill, it may help you out now, but it could prove impossible for you to keep improving it.”

  “That is an issue for future Jack,” Jack said.

  “Who is future Jack?” Reuf asked.

  “You know, the Jack in the future that looks back on this moment with regret of his former self’s poor life decisions,” Jack said. “It’s a thing.”

  “You do things intentionally that you know you will regret?” Reuf asked.

  “Sometimes,” Jack said. “Look… It’s not really… Just let me do this.”

  “Fine, fine,” Reuf said.

  Jack took the Skill Upgrade crystal and assigned his new Polearm Mastery skill to the gem. He activated the crystal and felt the knowledge he had just gained once again leave his head. The crystal glowed bright like the last crystal but kept getting brighter and hotter. It shattered in his hand and energy and knowledge slammed into Jack’s skull like a Wenduag’s punch. Something he was intimately familiar with now. He barely caught a glimpse of the new skill before blacking out.

  *Skill lost: Polearm Mastery (Beginner)*

  *Skill combination gem used: Success*

  Skill gained: Rask Hydra Spear style (Beginner)*

  The spear style of the Rask Tharum clan. Renowned for its quick vicious strike said to resemble a many headed serpent. As a practitioner of this style your knowledge of the spear has been refined to a deadly level.

  -Greatly increase speed when using a spear

  -Greatly reduce Stamina cost of spear related skills.

  -Increased chance for your spear strike to slip past your opponent’s defenses and armor.

  Jack fell backwards, unconscious.

  “You think that means it worked?” Reuf asked.

  Jasper only let out a small croak in response.