*Murky Monster Poacher

  +10 Dexterity

  +5 Physical

  +Wetland Navigation

  +Slipping Resistance

  +Sound Coverage

  -Mud Prints

  -Rain Visibility

  Getting my first "negative" perk from my sub classes surprised me, I knew that they did exist but assumed that they only appeared in the main class after the twentieth level or so. Apparently, this isn't the case.

  And negative perks can be positive too? Unless reducing the prints I make in mud— footprints are the most obvious one but I'm guessing there must be more, like slip lines or something, maybe I can even dig in mud and leave no trace afterwards. — is somehow bad for me?

  Meanwhile, reduced rain visibility can either be interpreted as me being able to hide in the rain easily or that I can't see well in the rain. There's a good chance that it's both, making it a kind of double edged sword.

  Some might say that people can't see well in the rain regardless but it's not that simple in this world, my brother and father can see through murky water thanks to their main class so it's not that strange if other people have the same or similar abilities.

  Too bad it's too cold for rain nowadays, I would have loved to test this out with Howaph's own abilities and see which is stronger. His undoubtedly, still, seeing the extent of the perk's effects would have been good.

  Anyway, I now have my second class, which means I can start working on making a better wand. I plan on using two different kinds of magical aids: a staff/spear hybrid and a dagger/wand hybrid.

  There is a general risk of them getting shattered if I use them during melee— at least for the first few iterations. Later on, I'll make sure to add some kind of enchantment that makes them tougher. — so I shouldn't go around stabbing things and rely on my spells whenever possible.

  Not that the task is hard, I mean, why the hell would I even go into melee? That sounds so stupid and suicidal that it will never cross my mind in the heat of combat, I'd even argue that I'll run away before I think about fighting someone head on.

  Yeah, I'm a coward, which is fine by me, everyone else can risk their lives fighting while I'm gonna sit here, far away from danger and with my limbs intact.

  Being a mage, it only really makes sense for me to do this but there are cases that I have to go into melee and having hybridization between range and melee is the answer to the typical weakness people like me have.

  Money isn't the problem when making my new wand, nor is it a lack of a monster core to use, instead, the thing stopping me from making it is one simple question.

  What kind of spells should I put in the dagger?

  And yes, it is a decision I can't take lightly. I'm going to be using this thing for the majority of winter so I need spells that are both useful and powerful, lacking in one department can possibly mean life and death.

  The set that my current wand has is actually pretty good, I have an attacking spell, a debuff spell, and a defensive spell. Almost all of them have uses outside of combat, like casting [Freeze] and [Ice Wall] for ice, which I then use to preserve the excess food we have in storage.

  Even [Icicle Spear] can be used in this manner now that I think about it...

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  But that's besides the point, what I'm thinking right now is that I need a set of spells which are generalized enough that I can use them in a lot of situations as well as a few specialized spells I can use against the monsters found within Humus Dungeon.

  "Underground Creature" isn't exactly a theme you can just counter though, and using spells that produce bright light can hurt me as much as my enemies, the same goes for other sensory spells. Attacking the sensitive nose of the giant moles can work but is it worth the risk? I can potentially inhale whatever it is I throw at them thanks to the tightness of the dungeon's corridors.

  Using brute force won't work here as well, on account that I'm not strong enough to overpower the dungeon. I need to use cheap tricks, and I guess I have no choice but to start brainstorming just what these tricks will be.

  "The cheaper the better." I murmur as my quill glides along the top of the papyrus, the words written down the moment I say them. "Now, what kind of spells do I need?"

  Since it's already close to night, I didn't have to worry about wasting daylight, which would have messed with my brainpower. Right now though, I'm enjoying the process of reading about different spells and then writing down the ones that I personally liked.

  In the end, five spells got picked out of my list. The whole thing was extensive but I didn't need all of them, just a summary of the things that I thought would be useful.

  Out of the five spells that won, my favorite was [Cryonize], which is a mix between giving someone frostbite and also slowing them down? I guess? The term I'm looking for is stun I think.

  Anyway, the spell has a total of two effects and they both revolve around lowering temperature, if I point it in the air then it creates snow, any heat in the air is also killed off, once [Cryonize] is cast, heat ceases to exist in its area of effect. Physicists would love this spell I think.

  For my dagger, I'm planning on adding an effect that synergizes it with [Water Ball] and I think that would revolve around making a bunch of ice spikes to form at a given area. Not really sure if that's the effect I'm going for though, the whole thing is still getting workshopped.

  The main use of the spell isn't actually going to be for combat, no, I'm either gonna cast [Cryonize] on a wall to make it brittle, or I use it on food to instantly freeze dry it. I'm placing it in my dagger mainly because of its potential to boost the potency of the weapon's other spells.

  Which brings me to [Hail Shot], [Ice Prison], [Snow Cap] and of course, [Freeze].

  [Hail Shot] will officially take the place of [Icicle Spear] because of the amount of projectiles it can shoot out— without the boost from [Water Ball] — and also that it's basically just a massive shotgun blast of ice. The amount of damage I can do to not just monsters, but also the environment with this spell is substantial enough that I felt it was the best offensive spell to get from my list.

  [Ice Prison] is a mix between [Ice Wall] and my old usage of [Freeze], the spell's effects basically boils down to "cast this to create a series of interlocking ice bars" which can encase an enemy. Unlike [Ice Wall], the ice that forms is not that brittle and the amount gets increased when it's cast alongside [Water Ball].

  [Snow Cap] creates snow. That's it. It may not seem all that useful but it has its uses, especially inside a dungeon. Not to mention, my existing spells should be able to use the snow the spell creates to boost their effects.

  Theoretically, I haven't tested it out yet and unlike my previous synergies— which I'm confident works. — there isn't much written about [Snow Cap] for me to really make heads or tails about how it affects other ice spells. I'm gambling one of my dagger's available spell slots here and this either works or it fails spectacularly.

  [Freeze] is self explanatory, it's too useful for me to just let go. There's a good chance it will be in the next iteration of my wand as well.

  I was about to work on designing the wand when a knock came from the door, I opened it and saw Laself. "You're home already?"

  "We've been home for a while now." She corrected. "The food is ready, and also, we want to talk about something."

  "Okay." Sounds ominous but her expression tells me it's not going to be that bad? I leave my room and head to the dining table. "What did you guys want to talk about?"

  "The shop is doing well, Rontress, but aren't we donating too much of our food to the churches? The pier, I can understand, but the churches get donations all the time right?" My dad's complaint is technically valid. Technically. "It just seems like a waste to throw it all out like that."

  "No, it isn't." I deny immediately. If this is their only problem then it can be resolved with a simple explanation, "donating to the church, especially when it's almost winter, will make it easier for the townspeople to survive, and also get them off our backs."

  "And that's it?" Howaph asked with a frown. "Who cares if the church attacks us?"

  "No one, but I'm sure we'll need their help someday, we'll be able to profit from our donations when that day comes." I retort with a shrug. "We won't be doing this after winter so you don't have to worry, let's just eat okay?"

  At that, everyone agreed and the dining table got filled with the sounds of eating instead of complaints.