《Combat Appraisal》 1.1 The Day Before Valerian stepped back, narrowly avoiding the wooden practice blade heading for his chin. He noticed the slight shift in his tutor¡¯s stance, front foot sliding forward, and leaned back as the false swing suddenly switched into a lunge towards his face. ¡°Good!¡± said Thomas, resetting and swatting aside Valerian¡¯s unbalanced counter. The point wasn¡¯t to hit his instructor; Valerian needed a moment to get space and recover. ¡°Always keep an eye on the feet,¡± Thomas said. ¡°Hands can lie. Eyes can deceive. But it¡¯s hard to fake your stance without falling over!¡± Valerian kept his guard, watching carefully. It wouldn¡¯t be the first time Thomas had attacked in the middle of instruction. Valerian had the bruises to prove it. ¡°Yes, sir,¡± Valerian said, going in for a quick jab. They had been sparring for only a few minutes but he could already tell he was slowing down. Valerian began a series of attacks to see if he could break through Thomas¡¯ guard before he ran out of energy. There! An opening! Thomas had overextended and Valerian rushed in, excited. At the last second, however, he saw the trap, but it was too late to recover. ¡°Ow, uh¡­¡± Valerian groaned on the soft dirt of the training yard. He¡¯d fallen for a feint. ¡°You saw it coming, but a bit too late,¡± Thomas said. ¡°You usually catch those, even when tired. Does tomorrow have you distracted, young master?¡± Valerian huffed, still trying to catch his breath. Thomas reached down to help him up and he took Thomas¡¯ hand. Valerian bent over, catching his breath. Then, before Thomas could speak, he stood back up, putting his arms over his head. ¡°Tomorrow is my Awakening Day. How could I not be excited?¡± Valerian asked. ¡°It¡¯s only the most important day in my life. It wasn¡¯t just that, though¡­you wore me out. I just missed it.¡± ¡°I remember my awakening, Master Valerian. But while tomorrow is certainly important, it¡¯s not the most important day in your life. You¡¯re young and have plenty of life ahead of you. Whether you get your dream class or something that feels bad to you now, remember, this is the beginning of your journey, not the end. The System is fair, even if it doesn¡¯t always seem like it!¡± Tell that to Rowan, Valerian thought bitterly. Out loud, he said, ¡°I know. And it can¡¯t be too bad even if it¡¯s a crafting class. Cassius will do great, and Rowan is making a name for himself. It¡¯s just¡­I want to live up to the family name. There¡¯s a part of me that¡¯s worried about letting Father down.¡± ¡°You won¡¯t,¡± Thomas rested a hand on Valerian¡¯s shoulder. ¡°I¡¯ve trained you for almost ten years now and I¡¯ve seen how you¡¯ve grown and how hard you¡¯ve worked. I know you¡¯ll succeed no matter what class you get.¡± ¡°The System is fair, I know. It just doesn¡¯t feel that way sometimes. I just can¡¯t help but feel like tomorrow is going to change everything,¡± Valerian said. Thomas sighed, tossing a small cloth to Valerian. Valerian wiped off his face and head, brushing off the dirt and sweat. He opened the arena gate and slumped down on a nearby bench. The training yard had no shade and there wasn¡¯t a cloud in the sky. Thomas put away the training swords in a rack and followed Valerian. He raised an eyebrow at the tired boy. Valerian looked up, confused for a moment, and then grimaced. ¡°Sorry. I forgot,¡± he said. He normally helped his instructors clean up after training, but it had completely slipped his mind. ¡°It¡¯s no problem, Master Valerian,¡± Thomas said. ¡°I always clean up after working with your brother.¡± Valerian winced. Being compared to Cassius made him feel even worse. Chastised, Valerian moved over and Thomas sat down next to him. ¡°What class do you think I¡¯ll get tomorrow?¡± Valerian asked, trying to change the subject. ¡°I have no idea,¡± Thomas said. ¡°My instinct is that you will awaken a magical or knowledge class, but only the System knows for sure.¡± ¡°I think I¡¯d enjoy a magical class,¡± said Valerian. ¡°Although I¡¯d prefer something like mother¡¯s [Sorcerer] rather than Ella¡¯s [Bard] class.¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t let your sister hear that!¡± Thomas laughed. ¡°And [Bard] isn¡¯t a magic class.¡± ¡°Really? I thought the unique skills were considered magical.¡± ¡°Close, but not quite!¡± Thomas said. ¡°People made the categories, not the System. The System makes the rules, it doesn¡¯t follow them! And so you aren¡¯t entirely wrong¡­many people consider [Bard] a magic class. But the official classification is knowledge with some hybrid in magic. So, do you think Lady Elowen can fight?¡± Valerian winced. ¡°Most definitely. We were all pretty shocked when she went to the Royal Academy instead of Military.¡± ¡°Everyone has their own path. The System gives us options, it doesn¡¯t define our future. Valerian wasn¡¯t so sure. His oldest brother¡¯s future sure seemed to have changed after he awakened to a common class. ¡°All right, I think I¡¯m ready,¡± Valerian said, moving to stand up from the bench. ¡°I¡¯ll grab the swords.¡± ¡°Hold, young master,¡± Thomas said. ¡°We¡¯re done for today. Go get cleaned up.¡± Valerian blinked. ¡°Huh?¡± he said. ¡°That was only our third round. It¡¯s not even 9th bell.¡± They usually trained from 8th to 11th bell most days. They hadn¡¯t gone a full hour yet, let alone three. ¡°We¡¯re cutting this short today,¡± Thomas said. ¡°Your mother insisted. She wanted to give you the whole day off, actually, but I convinced her to give me three rounds while you were still unawakened.¡± Valerian glared at him. ¡°Wait, I could have had the day off? And I only had to do three rounds? I could have finally won!¡± ¡°And that¡¯s another lesson for you. You never know how long you¡¯ll need to go in a real fight. Conserve your strength, conserve your anima, but don¡¯t let holding back get you killed. Like, for instance, a few minutes ago.¡± ¡°Fine, you win,¡± Valerian growled. ¡°When I prove you wrong tomorrow and get a rare martial class you¡¯ll be eating those words!¡± Thomas laughed. ¡°Looking forward to it!¡± * * * * * Valerian walked as quickly as he could to the washroom. Normally he had to practically drag himself there after a full training session, but the short lesson meant he had almost completely restored his energy by the time he was done talking to Thomas. Closing the curtain, he stripped and touched the shower rune, causing water to rush out of the wooden spigot near the top of the room. He let the cold water rush over him for a few seconds before tapping the heat rune a few times to increase the water temperature. He had heard that archnobles and royalty had massive baths and servants to bathe them, but as a Viscount house, his family had the more practical water and heating runes for simple showers. Also, I can¡¯t imagine Father letting his children do anything so lazy as using servants for bathing, he thought. After a few minutes, Valerian activated the [Cleanse] skill rune on the wall to fully clear off any residual dirt and grime, then deactivated the shower and dried off. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. After dressing in his proper attire, the light red vest symbolizing the blood his house shed for the empire and shared with all her citizens, along with a gray jacket and brown pants, Valerian went back to the manor proper. He went up the stairs in the main entry way, greeting several maids who were cleaning the entrance to their manor¡¯s central hall, and walked straight to his mother¡¯s study. If his mother had tried to cancel his training with Thomas she would almost certainly have some sort of plan for him. She looked up from her desk as he walked in, smiling and putting down a large feather quill. His mother, Isolde, looked up from her desk with a warm smile. Short and slim, with reddish-blond hair and piercing blue eyes, she always seemed delicate¡ªuntil her mask slipped. No one in the family doubted what she could do when she got serious. She always looked tiny next to his father¡¯s tall stature and muscular body. All of her children were taller than her but none would think of making her angry; they had all seen what happened when her friendly, polite mask slipped, and if anything had convinced Valerian not to underestimate a civilian track mage it was his mother. ¡°Greetings, mother¡ª¡± Valerian began, then paused. Something was off. The lighting? He felt¡­Valerian turned, spinning back to the door. Thomas said he had good instincts and he¡¯d learned to trust them. And sure enough, someone was standing there, against the wall and behind the door. It took him a moment to recognize them. ¡°Ella!¡± Valerian shouted, excited to see his sister. ¡°What are you doing here?¡± ¡°I told you he would notice, Elowen,¡± said his mother. ¡°Nothing gets past Valerian.¡± ¡°How are you doing, Val?¡± Elowen said, ignoring Isolde. ¡°Still catching Cassius at hide-and-seek?¡± ¡°Ella, that was years ago,¡± he said, making a mock groan. ¡°Cassius is far too important to be playing hide-and-seek with us peasants.¡± She narrowed her eyes. ¡°Are you calling me old, rabbit?¡± He held up his hands in defeat. ¡°Never. I want to survive until tomorrow,¡± he said. ¡°But seriously, why are you here? The Academy doesn¡¯t break for months.¡± Elowen huffed at him. ¡°I took time off. How could I miss my little brother¡¯s Awakening Day?¡± ¡°That¡¯s great!¡± Valerian said. He paused. ¡°Have you heard anything from Rowan?¡± ¡°Yup!¡± she said, then went silent, smiling innocently. Valerian narrowed his eyes. ¡°And?¡± he prompted. ¡°He¡¯s not here!¡± Valerian cradled his head. He¡¯d forgotten how his sister could be. ¡°Rowan is on tour, Valerian,¡± his mother interjected. ¡°There¡¯s no helping it.¡± Valerian nodded. He¡¯d hoped with Elowen here that his oldest brother might have made it back too. But the military moved on its own schedule and getting time off was a challenge. ¡°Hey, I¡¯m here. Don¡¯t look so disappointed!¡± said Elowen, pouting. ¡°Keep that up and I¡¯ll show you this new instrument I discovered that makes the most lovely sound. I¡¯ve even figured out how to keep it from breaking the windows!¡± ¡°No thanks!¡± he replied quickly. ¡°Also, Mother would set you on fire if you broke the windows in the manor.¡± ¡°True,¡± Elowen said. ¡°But you won¡¯t be here forever. And a lady never forgets a slight,¡± she said, her posture and voice changing to that of a proper noblewoman. ¡°It seems the Royal Academy has been good for you,¡± his mother said. ¡°If only you would use your proper manners all the time and not just when being sarcastic.¡± ¡°Yes, Mother,¡± she said politely. Elowen had a wild side but she wasn¡¯t crazy. ¡°Anyway, I¡¯ll see you at dinner, Val. Mother and I already caught up. I just wanted to surprise you.¡± ¡°I¡¯m glad you¡¯re here, Ella,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯ve missed you.¡± ¡°Of course you did,¡± she said, beaming. ¡°I¡¯m the best. The best¡­¡± And she vanished. Of course she had an invisibility skill. Valerian groaned. He never would have detected her if she¡¯d used it before. ¡°That girl¡­¡± Isolde said, frowning. Using skills like that was impolite, especially on the unawakened. His mother sighed. ¡°We should head to the dining room, Valerian. We don¡¯t want to keep your father waiting.¡± * * * * * Valerian and Isolde arrived at the family solar before his father. The great hall was already set up for tomorrow¡¯s ceremony and they usually had smaller meals on the upper floors when not entertaining guests. Valerian took his usual seat, a nearby servant pulling out his chair. While Aldric Steelwurth would never be considered a man who indulged in noble frivolities, he made sure his household maintained proper decorum. Outside the manor, Valerian and his siblings had a lot of freedom in how they behaved, but inside, he needed to maintain his bearing, especially around those who weren¡¯t members of the family. Cassius sat across from him as the second youngest. He had proper bearing but Valerian noticed he seemed more tense than usual. While Cassius could be high strung, Valerian couldn¡¯t think of anything he had to be nervous about. It was Valerian¡¯s awakening tomorrow; Cassius already had his class and it was a great one. As Father would say, it¡¯s a proper noble class, as if those with common classes are somehow defective. This was a sore spot for Valerian; Rowan had been raised as the house heir, only to have that effectively ripped away when he awakened to [Warrior], a common martial class. While his father never officially said anything about it, they all knew that Rowan¡¯s future had changed right then. When Rowan had declared his intent to join the Military Academy and focus on serving the empire rather than learn administration skills at the Royal Academy, his father had been silent. It was one of those unwritten rules that Valerian hadn¡¯t picked up on at the time. While those with common classes could still be nobles, they couldn¡¯t lead a noble house. It just wasn¡¯t done. Elowen sat next to Valerian, closer to his father¡¯s chair at the head of the table. His mother sat at the opposite end, the children in the middle, with seating ordered by age, as was tradition. Valerian had secretly found the seating uncomfortable; his parents were on the opposite ends of the table and mainly seemed to communicate with periodic glares or smiles. Rowan¡¯s chair was empty, of course. Valerian couldn¡¯t help but feel a bit sad at that. Still, he¡¯d spent the past few years with it being just him and Cassius between their parents, so having Elowen there was nice. Valerian just couldn¡¯t seem to have a conversation with Cassius lately that didn¡¯t end with them bickering. Shortly after they were seated, Valerian¡¯s father entered the hall. Aldric Steelwurth was a giant of a man with dark eyes and darker hair. Isolde¡¯s fair skin was a contrast to the deep tan of Aldric and their children had an eclectic mix of their features. Rowan looked the most like his father; tall, dark skin and hair, and a powerful build. Elowen shared her mother¡¯s light hair and eyes but had darker skin more like her father. Cassius looked the most like his mother and was thinner in his frame but still tall, with light skin, hair, and eyes. Valerian was the shortest of his brothers, although still average height among the people he knew, and had his mother¡¯s hair and father¡¯s eyes, with light skin that easily tanned. As his father took his seat, servants came out and delivered food to the family. Once placed, Aldric took the first bite, and the family began to eat. ¡°So, tomorrow you become a man, Valerian,¡± his father said. ¡°This is an important day, one you will never forget. I know you will make me proud.¡± ¡°Yes, Father,¡± Valerian replied. ¡°I have some good news,¡± Aldric continued. ¡°A good friend of mine has agreed to send a magic tutor if you awaken a magic class. He worked for a Count¡¯s household in the past and has impeccable credentials. He has even agreed to tutor you if your class is a mental focus.¡± ¡°Thank you, Father,¡± said Valerian, some excitement creeping into his voice. While Thomas¡¯ talk of classes stayed in the back of his mind, he was still excited by the idea of magic. While he had learned about magic skills his whole life, he could only actually practice basic martial combat before his awakening. His father coughed. ¡°And of course, if you do awaken a Magic class, you will also have the opportunity to learn from your mother.¡± Valerian fought the urge to smile. He suspected his father had gotten a Look while Valerian was listening. While Aldric was known for being tough and traditional, his family also knew that he absolutely adored his wife and almost never contradicted her. Nobody was brave enough to call him out on it but it was obvious to those who knew him. ¡°I would love that,¡± Valerian said. He was still nervous. His food felt like lead in his stomach. But at the same time, tomorrow he would know. Valerian had always been curious, always wanted to know everything about the world. And it was getting harder to stay nervous when he was so close. The dinner continued with small talk but Valerian had trouble concentrating on what was being said. Cassius was oddly quiet, avoiding even his subtle barbs. Maybe it¡¯s because Ella is here? In many ways, Elowen and Cassius were a study in opposites; she was outgoing and flippant while he was dour and serious. It wouldn¡¯t surprise Valerian if he didn¡¯t want to invite trouble with his normal behavior in front of Elowen. While his parents mostly ignored it, expecting the children to learn to solve their own conflicts, his sister had no such limits and Cassius would be helpless against her in a battle of wits. That¡¯s something I definitely should not say out loud, Valerian thought, grinning internally. Things moved in a blur after dinner. Valerian had conversations with his family, words of encouragement from the servants, and his normal evening routine, but Valerian couldn¡¯t remember any of it. This was it. It was the last day he¡¯d be classless. Tomorrow morning, by 5th bell, he¡¯d have a class and have his whole future ahead of him. Unless things went terribly wrong, it was going to be the best day of his life. I won¡¯t be like Rowan, he thought. Maybe if he said it enough it would calm him enough to sleep. 1.2 Awakening Day Unsurprisingly, Valerian had trouble sleeping that night. His mind kept spinning through his class possibilities. He knew it was unlikely, but part of him still hoped for a martial class. He genuinely enjoyed swordsmanship and was decent at it. Nowhere near his father, of course, but comparing himself to a high level [Sword Saint] was not exactly fair. He rarely had the chance to spar with his father and remembered every time. Valerian was always struck with how precise the man was, even when facing a child, and hoped to one day develop to that level of raw skill. Stop thinking about it, Valerian chided himself. He needed to sleep. He¡¯d die of embarrassment if he passed out or made a mistake on his Awakening Day of all days. His family and the entire manor staff would be there. A thought which, of course, made him even more stressed, and sleep felt even farther away. Valerian woke to 1st bell. He started, sitting up suddenly in bed, his mind trying to catch up. He had a brief irrational thought that he¡¯d overslept. The servants would have woken him up, though. He usually woke up earlier, but the servants had likely let him sleep in to get as much rest as possible. He got out of bed and tapped the small bell near his door to summon his attendants. They entered a few moments later, bowed in greeting, and got to work preparing him for the day. The process felt like it would never end to Valerian; he had to take a bath, dress in his ceremonial outfit, and even apply some light makeup from the family [Artisan]. Valerian never enjoyed getting ready for big events like this even when he wasn¡¯t personally involved. Still, he had to admit the ceremonial outfit was impressive. His trousers were carefully fitted, a dark blue with a red stripe on the outside seam. He wore a polished sword belt with a traditional calvary saber. The upper doublet was ornate with large, golden buttons and matched the trousers with a slight gold trim at the seams. It was tightly fitted and made his shoulders appear broad. He looked it over carefully along with his servants to make sure there were no stray threads or wrinkles. He didn¡¯t expect any, his attendants were very skilled, but he couldn¡¯t risk anything today. He needed to be perfect. Also, his siblings would never let him live it down, he thought wryly. The rest of the preparation went by in a blur. His hair was styled, teeth polished, clothing carefully inspected. The waiting was the worst part, especially as the summer heat was not very comfortable in combination with the thick northern-style outfit. Valerian had to fight the urge to release his collar. He reviewed his System notifications, the little he could see pre-awakening.
Class Unlock Available. Unlock? Y/N
It had shown up around two years ago. While classes were unlocked at 16, the System notification came for most people a few years earlier. Many commoners, especially in more rural areas, would have their Awakening Day soon after the notification. Nobles, however, always waited until their 16th birthday. You still gained experience on your locked class, and training without the influence of skills or enhanced stats made for a smoother leveling process once the class was unlocked. Valerian had grown up with the various horror stories of nobles who unlocked before Awakening Day and had never once thought seriously about breaking his seal early. It was a major taboo in noble society. He also thought about his talent. Everyone had a talent. Talents, like classes, had a rarity, and class rarity was always within one step of talent rarity. Unlike classes, which couldn¡¯t be identified until after being unlocked, talents could be checked with an appraisal stone from birth. While the general population rarely bothered using the expensive [Appraise] skill just to check an infant¡¯s talent, nobles generally appraised their children¡¯s talents on their first birthday. While he couldn¡¯t see it yet on his status screen, Valerian knew his talent by heart.
Talent: (Rare) You have a 100% bonus to combat XP. 25% of your combat XP is applied to civilian XP instead. You gain 50% civilian XP from other sources.
All classes had two tracks, a combat track and civilian track. They had their own level and used different System logic to level up. His talent practically guaranteed that he would grow strong as a combat track classer. The experience bonus was already higher than most people would get, even after losing some of it to his civilian track, and the civilian experience penalty only mattered if he wanted to focus on his civilian track. Which he didn¡¯t. Even if his talent didn¡¯t make him stronger directly, the faster leveling almost guaranteed a promising military career¡ªmuch earlier than most. The civilian boost wasn¡¯t wasted, either, as most people tended to struggle with the sorts of activities that would level up their off-track. Valerian didn¡¯t have to worry as he could focus on combat and still gain stat boosts and utility skills from his civilian track without splitting his attention. ¡°It¡¯s time, young master,¡± one of his servants said softly, taking Valerian out of his thoughts. He quickly regained his focus and stood. It was time. Finally, he thought. * * * * * The manor¡¯s great hall always surprised Valerian when prepared for a ceremony. The large room he¡¯d played in so often as a child looked very different when packed with people and decorations. The walls were adorned with house flags. The gray sword banner of House Steelwurth¡ªhis own house. The scales and eyes of House Wrotham, his mother¡¯s lineage. And above all, the dragon standing atop the world: the crest of the Arcadian Empire. Normally it was set up for eating when guests visited, not for ceremonies. The long tables were absent and instead it was set up with rows of benches where the Steelwurth family would sit in front of with guests. Most of those in attendance were servants of the house, but Valerian recognized members of the Greenmarch and Ironvale families. His house had two baronies in their land and generally good relationships with both, although he only interacted with them rarely. Noble children rarely interacted with nobles outside their family before the academies to avoid incidents between those families. The only other noble children Valerian had really interacted with outside his own family were the Ravencrest children from the neighboring viscountcy. He was a bit surprised to see Linden Ravencrest, the Ravencrest heir. Valerian¡¯s Awakening was a big deal to him, but it shouldn¡¯t have mattered much to them. Both families were on good terms with each other and Valerian figured Lord Ravencrest wanted to show solidarity. I¡¯m getting distracted, Valerian thought. He had a habit of analyzing everything whenever he was nervous. ¡°Observe, consider, decide, act,¡± Valerian thought, almost hearing Thomas¡¯ voice saying it. Usually followed by, ¡°don¡¯t forget to act, young master!¡± It was time to focus on the ceremony. He had practiced this many times and thought about it even more. As he entered, his attendants following behind him, the gathered audience stood quietly. Valerian¡¯s parents and Sir Jacob, their house administrator and Master of Ceremonies, were still seated in front of the small table that held the Appraisal Orb. This wasn¡¯t the first time Valerian had seen it, of course, as all his older siblings had gone through the same process. Valerian had heard that archnoble families and royalty would hire or use actual [Appraiser]s for this, but as a mednoble family, they used the skill item for this. [Appraiser] was a rare class that was used exclusively for their potent civilian utility by upper nobility and the stronger delving and merchant guilds. Cities tended to provide Appraisal Orbs for communal use by commoners. Rural commoners often just went without, using the standard [Identify] skill and having the awakened report any details the weaker skill couldn¡¯t show. Focus, he chided himself. Valerian was confident none of his inner turmoil and distraction showed on the outside. House Steelwurth prided themselves on maintaining their bearing and Valerian had prepared his whole life for this. As he arrived in front of his parents, they stood and he dropped to one knee in a practiced bow, his right arm across his chest while his left forearm lightly pressed on the saber¡¯s hilt to push the bottom of the sheath back and away from the floor. ¡°Today we gather to celebrate the awakening of Master Valerian, [Veiled] of House Steelwurth,¡± Jacob began, reading from a scroll next to and a bit behind his parents. His voice could be easily heard throughout the hall but was not too loud. I¡¯ll have skills that can do things like that soon, Valerian thought. ¡°In the name of His Majesty, King Edric Arcadia III, and under the authority of the System that empowers all His subjects, Master Valerian is hereby authorized to unlock his class and show the world his fate and role within our great Empire. Lord Aldric, [Sword Saint] of House Steelwurth, is His Majesty¡¯s chosen hand for this honor.¡± A servant had picked up the orb when the short proclamation began and was standing behind Jacob. At this, he moved quietly to Aldric¡¯s side, kneeling and holding up the orb in both hands. His father took the proffered orb. The servant bowed and stepped back in silence. ¡°Arise, my son,¡± Aldric said. Valerian stood, his back straight, eyes forward, posture perfect. ¡°You may now awaken and fulfill your duty as a Lord of House Steelwurth. Step forward into your destiny.¡± This was the moment. Valerian first bowed to his father, then his mother, and stepped forward. For a moment he panicked, worried his voice would fail him as he spoke for the first time in the ceremony. But his voice came out loud, clear, and far more steady than he felt. ¡°I will serve House Steelwurth to the best of my ability in accordance with the wisdom of the System and our ancestors. I give my life in service to His Majesty the King. May I die so the Empire lives eternally,¡± he said. ¡°The Empire lives eternally!¡± A chorus of voices came as the crowd intoned their response. This was it. Valerian had to force himself not to pull up the unlock notification until he was touching the orb. He reached for it with his right hand, placing his palm on the black sphere. It felt cold. His hand felt clammy on the surface. He would finally know what he had been wanting to know his whole life. It was time. He looked ahead as his father activated the orb. A glowing representation of his status showed throughout the hall. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
Name: Valerian Steelwurth Class: [Veiled] Level: [Veiled]
Talent: [See Details] Vitality: Excellent Anima: 100%
Body: [Veiled] Agility: [Veiled] Stamina: [Veiled]
Mind: [Veiled] Perception: [Veiled] Willpower: [Veiled]
Unique: [Veiled] Class (1/1): [Veiled] General (1/1): [Veiled]
With a thought, Valerian activated ¡°yes¡± on his unlock notification. Even though it was his first time activating a System notification, it came as naturally as everyone had said it would.
Class Unlocked
The appraisal flickered. Then it changed.
Name: Valerian Steelwurth Class: [Appraiser] Level: 1/1 (2)
Talent: [See Details] Vitality: Excellent Anima: 100%
Body: 10 Agility: 11 Stamina: 9
Mind: 12 Perception: 12 Willpower: 11
Unique: [Exploit Weakness], [Appraise] Class (1/1): None General (1/1): None
What? Valerian stared in silence, horrified. He saw his father stiffen. His mother, always so composed, covered her mouth. In the ceremony. This is impossible. There¡¯s a mistake. I can¡¯t be an [Appraiser]! It was over. His life was over. [Appraiser] wasn¡¯t a combat-focused class. It wasn¡¯t even a hybrid like Elowen¡¯s. He¡¯d never heard of a combat [Appraiser]! It was a support class. At best he might get involved in spy work, but that didn¡¯t give combat experience. More likely, he¡¯d end up cataloging some archnoble¡¯s dusty relic collection for the rest of his life. He broke out in a cold sweat as he realized an even bigger problem. [Appraiser]s went civvy. Everyone knew that. His talent meant he¡¯d be eternally behind in levels. Even worse, he was a Steelwurth. They were a combat family. Could he marry into a civilian family? Who would take him? The closest civilian family to them was the Ravencrests, but their only daughter was already engaged. The only sound he could hear was his own heartbeat. He knew everyone was staring at him. This was a disaster. Only years of discipline prevented him from running out of the room. I have to get out of here, he thought, I can¡¯t stay here! Valerian didn¡¯t know what to do. * * * * * Valerian didn¡¯t run. A lifetime of strict training let him go through the rest of the ceremony without having to consciously think about it. He couldn¡¯t recall later how the rest of the ceremony went. The faces around him registered distantly, like paintings observed through fog. Cassius sneering. Linden Ravencrest¡¯s calculating eyes. His father¡¯s concern. His mother¡¯s quiet presence. None of it penetrated the numbness enveloping him. He felt like a puppet on strings being dragged along the stage. Perfect. Lifeless. Doomed. Useless. He probably talked to people afterwards. He vaguely recalled being congratulated. He knew it was fake. They were laughing at him. Just as they laughed at Rowan when he awakened his common class. No one said it out loud. But they all knew. Now it was him. Unlike Rowan, he couldn¡¯t run off to the army and still bring honor to House Steelwurth. What could he do? Would he embarrass his family just by being here? What good was a Steelwurth that couldn¡¯t fight? Couldn¡¯t make the weapons and armor that kept them alive? That could be replaced with the very orb that proclaimed his uselessness? The rest of the day went by as if Valerian was in a trance. His parents talked to him, congratulating him, telling him they were proud of him. The perfect noble facade. He didn¡¯t even try his new skills. He didn¡¯t care about his stats. Maybe if he didn¡¯t acknowledge them, it wouldn¡¯t be real. Maybe it was a mistake. You gave me a combat talent! Valerian shouted at the System. Why would you give me a civilian class!? The System didn¡¯t answer, of course. It was absolute. Unchanging. All-powerful. Fair. Valerian tried not to laugh out loud at the thought. How was any of this fair? ¡°Hey, Val!¡± His sister¡¯s voice broke into his fugue state. He didn¡¯t say anything. ¡°Don¡¯t ignore me! You may have a class now, but you¡¯ll need to train for a lot longer if you think you can catch up, little brother,¡± she said. ¡°What¡¯s the point?¡± he said. ¡°Oh, don¡¯t be so dramatic!¡± she said, facing him. We¡¯re in the hallway to Mother¡¯s study, Valerian thought, when did I get here? ¡°Look, I get that you¡¯re upset,¡± she continued, not letting him past. ¡°It isn¡¯t what you wanted. Do you think I wanted [Bard]? What about Rowan, do you think he wanted [Warrior]?¡± Valerian flinched. He couldn¡¯t look Elowen in the eyes. ¡°You¡¯re both doing fine. You both have a future. I don¡¯t,¡± he replied. ¡°Yes, you do! I¡¯ve met an [Appraiser] at the Royal Academy. The class is incredibly useful. He can find out all sorts of things just by looking at them. He¡¯s employed directly by the royal family. Do you think the royal family hires useless classes? Really?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t get it!¡± Valerian said, raising his voice. ¡°I know [Appraiser] is useful. For other people. Not a Steelwurth. Not someone with a talent that has penalty to civilian experience!¡± Elowen was silent for a moment. She opened her mouth, then closed it. A complex expression appeared on her face. Some part of him knew that she was trying to cheer him up. She was trying to support him. He appreciated it. And hated it. ¡°Ella, I don¡¯t need your pity,¡± he said. ¡°I just want to be alone.¡± He pushed past her, knowing full well she could have stopped him if she wanted. She had power. Power he¡¯d never have. Valerian continued to one of the side stairs and out of the manor. He didn¡¯t want to see anyone right now. He went to the woods to think. He sat down on his favorite log, put his head in his hands, and closed his eyes. He wanted to cry. His eyes felt like they should be crying. But he was a Steelwurth, even if he didn¡¯t feel like one right now. And Steelwurth men didn¡¯t cry. ¡°I thought I¡¯d find you here,¡± said a voice behind him. Valerian turned, seeing Cassius walk over to the log. ¡°It seems my little brother has finally unlocked his true potential.¡± It hurt. Valerian knew that Cassius was just being his normal petty self, but it still hurt. ¡°Have you come to gloat? Fuck you,¡± he replied. ¡°So crude,¡± Cassius said. ¡°Have you tried out your newfound combat skills yet? Learned how to, what, analyze me to death?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t need skills to be a better fighter than you, Cassius.¡± ¡°You only beat me when we spar without skills, little brother. You¡¯d never take me in a real fight, and we both know it.¡± They glared at each other. ¡°And now¡­you never will.¡± Cassius laughed. Valerian hated him right now. He also hated that Cassius was probably right. Valerian didn¡¯t respond. ¡°No matter,¡± Cassius said. ¡°Rowan has run off the military, Ella is a girl, and I¡¯m sure I can find a use for you once Father declares me his heir. That¡¯s certain, now. Maybe we can find a good merchant baron¡¯s daughter to hitch you up with so you can use your vast appraisal skills to bring some money into the family? [Appraiser]s are expensive, so having one on staff might not be bad. You can tell me how great all the artifacts I find from delving are. I wouldn¡¯t mind that. See? You aren¡¯t useless. At least not entirely.¡± Valerian seethed. He wanted to jump forward and punch Cassius in his smug face. Knock him to the ground and just pummel him until he apologized. Until he was crying. Until he was wrong. He didn¡¯t, though. Cassius was right; in a fight with skills, Valerian would lose. Was that really his future? Becoming a support class at the manor while Cassius brought back artifacts and riches from delves? Always being at home while Rowan was off earning military honors? Or getting married to some civilian house to do the same thing for strangers? That isn¡¯t my path, he thought, it can¡¯t be my path. Valerian was a fighter. He enjoyed fighting. He couldn¡¯t imagine a life where he¡¯d be satisfied staring at artifacts or telling someone the skills of their political rivals. How could the System have done this? He even had a combat talent dedicated to boosting his combat ability. Why give him a class for people who played it safe in the civilian world and a talent that reflected his true nature? No. He wouldn¡¯t accept it. He couldn¡¯t let Cassius be right. Rowan was able to run away to the military but even that avenue was closed to him. He needed a different path. ¡°No,¡± he said out loud. Cassius looked at him. Valerian noticed Cassius shift his feet. He thinks I¡¯m going to try and attack him. ¡°What do you mean, no?¡± Cassius said. ¡°Your fate is already set. The System has spoken. You will never surpass me. I won.¡± ¡°No,¡± Valerian said again. ¡°I won¡¯t accept it.¡± The beginning of a plan formed in his mind. He thought through his options, the risks, the opportunities. I can do this. ¡°I¡¯m going to face my path,¡± he continued. ¡°You can¡¯t stop me. I¡¯ll find my own way.¡± ¡°What are you saying?¡± Cassius said, concern flickering across his face for a moment. Valerian took a breath. ¡°I¡¯ll leave. I won¡¯t shame the family by staying or keeping the name.¡± ¡°What!?¡± Cassius exclaimed. ¡°You can¡¯t do that. Father would kill you.¡± ¡°No, he won¡¯t. Rowan left.¡± ¡°That¡¯s different! Rowan left for honor. This is just cowardice. I knew you were useless, but I didn¡¯t take you for a coward.¡± ¡°Like you care,¡± Valerian said. Cassius¡¯ eyes widened a bit. ¡°I¡¯m not a coward. I¡¯m taking a new path. I¡¯m going to pursue the combat track.¡± ¡°A combat [Appraiser]? Are you serious? Does it even have a combat track?¡± ¡°It does. I don¡¯t care if nobody goes that path. I¡¯ll find it on my own. The System is fair.¡± ¡°The System may be fair,¡± shouted Cassius, ¡°but life isn¡¯t! What, you think you¡¯re the first person with a civilian class to try and pursue their combat track? That nobody has thought of that before? Get over yourself!¡± Valerian laughed. ¡°You are telling me to get over myself? The only reason you are anything is because the System handed you your future on a silver platter. If Rowan had a noble class, he would be heir, not you. And everyone knows it.¡± ¡°Fine. Get out. Nobody will miss you. We don¡¯t need an [Appraiser]. You wouldn¡¯t be contemplating your cowardice if we did. You¡¯ll die in some rift or the streets, killed because you are too weak and didn¡¯t know what was good for you. I¡¯m going to enjoy watching the little prodigy, the one who is oh-so-smart, run away and die in the stupidest way imaginable. At least we won¡¯t have to waste gold on your funeral. But I don¡¯t think you have the guts.¡± Valerian steeled himself. There was no going back from this. If he went forward, his parents would never forgive him. But there was no future for him here. He hoped one day they¡¯d understand. ¡°System, drop the name Steelwurth from my profile,¡± he said out loud. Cassius¡¯ mouth opened in shock.
Drop family name Steelwurth from profile? Y/N
¡°Yes,¡± he said, and it was gone. Just Valerian. No title. No name. Only his parents could restore it. And his father would never do it. ¡°What¡­what have you done?¡± said Cassius. Valerian wouldn¡¯t stay here and embarrass his family. He¡¯d go his own way and become a delver, clearing rifts for the safety of everyone. His class and talent meant he couldn¡¯t make a difference as a noble, but there were other paths to greatness. Other paths where he could still contribute. Without the Steelwurth name, he¡¯d be another failed noble, and plenty of them found redemption in rifts. Or death. But he would succeed. ¡°Goodbye, my lord,¡± Valerian said, bowing. And then he walked away. 1.3 Lost in the Woods Valerian walked north. He needed to get away. It was already late afternoon, and he¡¯d need to find shelter before nightfall. He¡¯d given up his peerage but he still had his training. The Steelwurths didn¡¯t pamper their children; he knew how to survive in the wild, at least for a little while. At least until he could get enough distance. This is for the best. He was tempted to go back and get some of the stuff from his room, but he couldn¡¯t take anything more from his family. He didn¡¯t deserve it. It had nothing to do with wanting to avoid his parents. Cassius was wrong; he wasn¡¯t afraid. Would a frightened man have acted so boldly? No, of course not. He wasn¡¯t needed, and would only make things worse by staying. He wasn¡¯t worried about getting lost, not even as it became harder to see through the trees as he walked. His feet were getting sore, unfortunately, but as he was still wearing his ceremonial outfit there wasn¡¯t much he could do. Getting new clothing would be a priority. It took him about an hour to reach a small stream. He cleaned himself up, drank some water, and took off the ornamental shoes. This next part would be uncomfortable but had to be done. He didn¡¯t know when Cassius would tell his parents what had happened. But it wouldn¡¯t take long for them to send knights after him. Part of him wondered if they would bother, but he knew they would. After all, they couldn¡¯t punish him if they didn¡¯t find him, right? He¡¯d need to ensure he was far enough away that they couldn¡¯t catch him. He crossed the stream, drying his feet and putting his shoes back on, then traveled northwest upstream for a bit until he found what he was looking for. A section of the stream went up a steeper hill and a small section of rapids surrounded by large boulders. He veered away from the stream, then leapt onto one of the boulders, making sure not to leave any prints in the forest floor. He hopped from boulder to boulder before reaching the smooth rocks where the stream pooled at the bottom of the hill before continuing on. He took off his shoes again, then braced himself and jumped into the water. It was cold. It was barely waist deep but he immediately started shivering despite the warm summer air. He glared at the mountains behind him for a moment before trudging through the stream bed. It was difficult to walk. His bare feet struggled to find purchase on the slick, algae-covered rocks, and he almost fell in completely several times. He kept kicking unseen rocks with his toes, the water distorting his perspective, and let out a stream of curses every time. Eventually the stream became shallower and wider again and walking was easier. He had to pass downstream far enough from his crossing point to hide his tracks and scent. This was the riskiest part; if his family had sent knights out immediately, they could be approaching at any time. They¡¯d have to move slower than he did as the dogs would struggle to follow; they already knew him and were trained to ignore family scents. The dogs would still follow but it would be slow going, so they¡¯d probably just send knights directly. But Valerian knew some of the knights were good trackers, if not exceptional, so his head start was limited. He got lucky. Or Cassius hadn¡¯t told them fast enough. Or maybe they didn¡¯t bother, Valerian thought darkly. Either way he made it about thirty minutes past his first crossing and didn¡¯t hear any pursuit. That should be far enough actually in the water; he would travel to the south of the stream for a bit before crossing much farther down and heading north. It wouldn¡¯t stop a determined tracker, but every hour of delay meant it was more likely they¡¯d lose the trail. He planned as he walked. Things would be tough, but he could do it. [Appraiser] had a combat track. The System wouldn¡¯t actually have a combat track that was useless. It went against everything he knew about how the System functioned. The System is fair. He¡¯d heard it over and over. He tried to believe it now. Wait, where is my [Identify] skill? Valerian stopped walking for a moment, startled by the thought. He was considering looking more closely at his unique skills and hadn¡¯t noticed that the core skill was missing. As far as he knew, everyone gained [Identify] in a free slot after awakening. You couldn¡¯t even view your own profile without it. But he didn¡¯t seem to have it. Why? After a few seconds of panic, the obvious answer came to him: you have [Appraise], idiot! If any class didn¡¯t need [Identify], it would the one with the most powerful identification skill known. Feeling foolish, he continued on, activating [Appraise] on himself. The skill took hold immediately, feeling as natural as if he¡¯d always known how to use it.
Name: Valerian Class: [Appraiser] Level: 1/1 (2)
Talent: [See Details] Vitality: Good Anima: 100%
Body: 10 Agility: 11 Stamina: 9
Mind: 12 Perception: 12 Willpower: 11
Unique: [Exploit Weakness], [Appraise] Class (1/1): None General (1/1): None
There weren¡¯t any real surprises. He was level 2; level 1 in both tracks. Combat level on the left, civilian level on the right. He tried examining his talent and it was what he expected.
Talent: (Rare) You have a 100% bonus to combat XP. 25% of your combat XP is applied to civilian XP instead. You gain 50% civilian XP from other sources.
He sighed at his talent. The System didn¡¯t always have the easiest way of wording things and used percentages a lot. Essentially, he gained double combat experience at all times, but only 1.5x went to his combat track. The other 0.5x was applied as civilian experience, which meant he could level up his civilian track through combat. He¡¯d been so excited about this as a kid; no need to do boring civilian tasks, he¡¯d level up his off-track by fighting! The downside was the biggest issue. He only gained half the normal civilian experience from doing civilian activities. It was pure upside¡ªif you followed a combat track. But for anyone focused on civilian advancement, it was crippling. And as far as Valerian knew, nobody with [Appraiser] was combat focused. Depressed, he moved on. His base stats were solid but not particularly unusual. Most people had around 10 in their stats by the time they turned 16. Sometimes commoners would try and train themselves to increase stats, but they didn¡¯t work that way. Someone who never exercised or trained and had high stats and skill ranks would be weaker than someone with lower values who put in the work. The System didn¡¯t make you great. It made you better. Next, he examined his unique skills. Both tracks started with a unique skill at level 1 and gained a new unique skill every 10 levels. Each track could only go up to level 100. Theoretically, someone could attain level 200 if they maxed out both tracks, but in practice no one did. The XP requirements for higher levels rose exponentially and you¡¯d need either centuries of time or nation-ending challenges to even get close to doing it. He started with [Appraise]. It was pretty straightforward:
[Appraise]: View profile details of items or creatures. Additional targets based on Mind. Range and detail increased by Perception.
Somewhat vague, but he had a sense for how it worked. As long as his skill potency was high enough, he could get the full details of just about anything as if it was using self identification. The more powerful the target, the vaguer the results¡ªunless his skill potency rose to match. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. He found it interesting that it scaled for both range and number of targets. While range wasn¡¯t unusual, and the basic [Identify] skill did this as well, increased target number was a big deal. Depending on the scaling factor, he could potentially gain a lot of information all at once. While he was still frustrated with his class, Valerian was still happy to have a skill. ¡°Know your enemy, know yourself, and you will never lose a fight,¡± Thomas used to say. Even if it was a civilian unique, always knowing what an opponent was capable of, at least on their profile and equipment, was certainly useful. It was also useful for making money¡­something he did not have and would certainly need. He didn¡¯t need to be a prodigy to recognize why people would value this skill so much. And it was one just about everyone knew, which was pretty unusual for a rare unique skill. His other skill, [Exploit Weakness], was one he¡¯d never heard of. It wasn¡¯t even in his family¡¯s Class Manual. With a thought, he examined it.
[Exploit Weakness]: Passively identifies vulnerabilities on nearby enemies based on current defense value. Damaging attacks against vulnerabilities deal additional damage. Damage is increased against targets with lower defense. Damage is increased based on the number of previously triggered vulnerabilities over a short time. Shareable. Damage increased by Mind. Defense threshold decreased by Perception.
He had to read it several times and feel the skill in his mind to get a better grasp of what it did. Unlike [Analyze], he couldn¡¯t test it without an opponent, but essentially it would let him passively identify areas with low defense on enemies. That alone was fairly useful but could also be replicated with good training and combat sense. The damage bonus was interesting, though. Usually, if a skill increased damage by a multiplicative factor, it said it was ¡°increased¡± or ¡°increased by.¡± The word ¡°additional¡± meant it was a bonus separate from the attack that triggered it. That could be good or bad depending on the power of the attack and the potency of the skill. Another detail was the stacking damage bonus. A ¡°short¡± time was usually anywhere from 30 seconds to a minute. In a combat situation, that was practically an eternity. Assuming he could reliably trigger the vulnerabilities, the additional damage bonus might stack up to high levels. It would have to be enough. His plans depended on it. Maybe every [Appraiser] in history went civilian track. Maybe the rest of the combat track was so bad he¡¯d be laughed at by everyone or die. It didn¡¯t matter. He¡¯d be the first if he had to be. He may not be a Steelwurth anymore. His vision blurred. Just for a moment. But he would find his own path. And his former family didn¡¯t raise him to give up. * * * * * Valerian had a miserable night. No matter how many times you did survival training, sleeping outside without shelter or even a cloak to cover yourself was never enjoyable. He was hungry and his feet were miserable. Dress shoes were not made for walking long distances in the forest. He needed food. While the human body could go days without food if necessary, it wasn¡¯t a fun experience, and it would make him vulnerable if he needed to fight or flee. Thankfully he still had his ceremonial saber so he wasn¡¯t completely defenseless. I should have at least waited to leave until I received some skill shards, Valerian thought bitterly. He had four empty skill slots that could have been filled. He spent the next few hours foraging. He found a single berry bush and some mushrooms for his trouble, but it was enough to take the edge off. He was not concerned about poisonous food as this wasn¡¯t his first time living off the land in these woods. ¡°An army without food is an army on the brink of defeat,¡± his father was fond of saying before sending them out with some flint and some string. ¡°If your soldiers can live off the land, they will always be ready to fight.¡± He¡¯d hated ¡°field weeks¡± as a child, but was thankful for them now. That training may very well save his life until he found civilization. Preferably outside of his family¡¯s land. As the sun reached its zenith, Valerian noticed a dirt road through the trees. He must have reached one of the township roads leading into the Frostpeak barony. He debated whether to follow the road or not. Ultimately, he decided against it. His clothing was too conspicuous; even dirty, he was clearly wearing clothing appropriate for a noble. He needed to find alternate attire before he could try to blend in. It would have been nice to have his tracks blended with those of everyone else on the road but it wasn¡¯t worth the risk. Still, roads led somewhere, so he stayed off to the side. He was confident he could notice someone traveling the road and get out of sight if he needed. Valerian frowned. I¡¯ve always noticed details. Is that why I awakened as an [Appraiser]? He wasn¡¯t sure. Nobody knew if classes reflected the nature of the person or caused them to become the sort of person that reflected their class. But it was the first time since the ceremony that he saw a connection between himself and his class. Ultimately, it didn¡¯t matter. He needed to keep moving. After a few more hours of travel, he began foraging again before it got too dark. His small breakfast wasn¡¯t nearly enough to sustain him and he would rather not be hungry and miserable tonight. He had been making worse time than he hoped since he had to stop and rest his feet every few miles. I¡¯ll never wear dress shoes again. Foraging was more successful this time. He found a large bush full of black berries. It would¡¯ve been perfect¡­if a large boar hadn¡¯t gotten there first. He used [Appraise] on the animal to see if he should move on.
Name: Boar Category: Animal Level: 7
Body: 25 Agility: 14 Stamina: 21
Mind: 4 Perception: 11 Willpower: 12
Combat Skills: [Charge], [Tough Skin], [Gore] Civilian Skills: [Scent], [Forage] Vitality: High Anima: Low
The boar had five levels on him and significantly better stats, but Valerian had a weapon and years of training. He should have a realistic chance. Valerian carefully moved upwind and behind the boar. It seemed heavily focused on the bush. He wouldn¡¯t have a better opportunity. As he focused on the boar, he felt his [Exploit Weakness] skill activate. As it moved and adjusted, he saw areas of the boar that felt brighter, like they were calling to the saber in his hand. The back of the head near the neck, underneath the boar¡¯s stubby legs in the joints, and the boar¡¯s stomach all faded in and out of his awareness. Valerian couldn¡¯t help but smile. For all the pain his class had brought him, it was still awesome to have a class. He had dreamed of this so long. Valerian refused to let his class hold him back. As he felt the most vulnerabilities sharpen, Valerian charged. The boar noticed soon after and spun to face him, squealing out in range. Valerian had hoped for this; if he spooked the boar too much it would have just run away and he never would have caught it. But it had a prize and was going to fight to defend it. After a moment of hesitation, the boar charged. Valerian kept coming, focused on the boar¡¯s feet and shoulders. There! The boar dipped slightly, muscles bunching¡ª[Charge] incoming. Valerian dived to the side as the boar accelerated forward with a sudden burst of speed. He rolled to his feet and rushed towards the boar¡¯s back. The back leg came into focus and Valerian stabbed forward with the saber, slicing into the boar¡¯s leg and piercing its side. Valerian felt [Exploit Weakness] activate, and the small puncture wound and cut spurted out blood and widened slightly. The boar screamed in anger, turning to him, trying to reach him with its tusks. The wounded leg was slowing it down, however, and Valerian was able to keep his distance, steadily losing ground as the boar tried to rush him. Valerian fell into a trance. Step. Step. Jump. Step. Feint. Every time the boar got too close, he¡¯d use the saber to threaten its head and drive it to try and attack from a different angle. He was getting tired, but unlike the boar, he wasn¡¯t bleeding. Finally, the boar made a mistake. It overextended in an attempt to hit Valerian¡¯s knee. Valerian felt the vulnerability almost as a flash as both his instincts and the skill aligned. He flicked the saber forward into the boar¡¯s left eye, blinding it. Then, almost at the same instant, the skill activated, and the boar stiffened and collapsed. Valerian stepped back cautiously. Even a fatally wounded animal could be dangerous at the last moment. But the boar didn¡¯t move. It was dead. A few moments later, Valerian felt the notifications.
You have slain a level 7 boar! You have leveled up! Combat 1 -> 3 You have leveled up! Civilian 1 -> 2 [Exploit Weakness] increased rank from 1 -> 2 You have unlocked [Slash]! You have unlocked [Footwork]! You have unlocked [Hide]!
Valerian had to fight to keep from falling to the ground. Now that the fight was over, exhaustion washed over him in a wave, and he tried to calm his breathing. His stomach growled, clenching painfully. He¡¯d won. He¡¯d won. No one was here to help. If he¡¯d messed up enough, he could have died. He could feel his whole body trying to shake. Even if it was an animal, even if he¡¯d ambushed it, he had still defeated something over twice his level. More importantly, his class worked. He was worried there was some flaw with [Exploit Weakness] that made it worse than other level 1 combat uniques. But it was fully in line with what he¡¯d seen with his siblings utilize when they awakened. If anything, he felt it was even stronger. That last hit shouldn¡¯t have been a killing blow. The boar was already trying to pull its head back and it wasn¡¯t nearly a deep enough strike to cut through the eye socket. He hadn¡¯t even felt bone. But [Exploit Weakness] clearly caused additional damage at the point of the weakness, and an eye was low enough defense to cause damage directly to the brain. It turned a glancing blow into a killing strike. That was more than useful¡ªit was powerful. Sure, he had to actually hit those vulnerabilities. If he¡¯d just slashed wildly, he doubted the skill would have helped at all. It was more like [Sneak Attack], which required a distracted or unaware target, than the sorts of damage boosts a martial or magic class received. So he¡¯d have to work harder to take advantage of it. That wasn¡¯t a problem. His class worked. It wasn¡¯t broken. It was still going to be hard, no doubt about that, but a concern he didn¡¯t fully realize he had lifted. A part of him thought may the System had actually made a broken combat class, despite everything he knew. He couldn¡¯t move forward with broken. But he could move forward with hard. 1.4 Rift in the Woods Gaining 3 levels at once was great. The combination of the boar¡¯s higher level, his lack of safety, and his talent had given him a large boost overall. Levels wouldn¡¯t come that easy again. He checked his profile:
Name: Valerian Class: [Appraiser] Level: 3/2 (5)
Talent: [See Details] Vitality: Good Anima: 100%
Body: 11 Agility: 12 Stamina: 10
Mind: 19 Perception: 21 Willpower: 12
Unique: [Exploit Weakness], [Appraise] Class (1/1): [Available] General (1/1): [Available]
Valerian hadn¡¯t actually known the [Appraiser] stat progression. He couldn¡¯t remember it in the Class Manual. Each track gave +1 to every stat on odd levels, and a class-specific bonus on even ones. Based on his new stats, the [Appraiser] had a +3 Mind, +4 Perception progression. That makes sense, he thought. Valerian considered this. For an [Appraiser] on the civilian side, this progression was great. Mind granted bonus skill slots when high enough and all sorts of useful skills scaled using Perception. His core [Appraise] skill scaled directly with both, letting him appraise more at once, at longer ranges, and with more detail. Many other skills useful for an [Appraiser] would scale the same way. It wasn¡¯t horrible for combat. More skills were always nice and most magical skills scaled using Mind. It was the primary stat for most mages. It also increased the amount of anima he could hold in his spirit. With no Willpower or Stamina scaling, however, his innate anima regeneration would be unusually low. This was a common challenge with rare classes as they tended to be highly specialized. While he would have preferred to use swords for combat, his progression would make that difficult. If he was being honest, though, his preference for swords was more due to familiarity than desire. While skill items could give some level of practice with magical skills before awakening, they had long cooldowns and were expensive. He had still used them once a week but didn¡¯t have the same daily practice as he did with swords. He would never be like his Father in combat style. He sighed. Perception was a weird one. It wasn¡¯t common as a primary stat. Most of the classes that preferred it were stealth or ambush-based, like [Scout] or [Shadowblade]. And they tended to go all-in on precision stats with a secondary in Agility. That wouldn¡¯t work for him. It was still a very useful stat. It would help him be more accurate, especially with magical skills, and detect enemy attacks as well as sense how they were going to move. For his combat style it would be vital and the early identification of threats would keep him alive. It also often increased the range of magical skills which gave him more flexibility. In summary, his class gave him the potentially for highly damaging and precise magical skills that could hit at long ranges, but no bonus physical stats and abysmal anima regeneration for continual skill use. He was starting to understand a bit why [Appraiser] was not considered a viable combat class. With no physical stats, melee combat was extremely risky. High perception means it isn¡¯t instant death, but he would be entirely reliant on predicting and avoiding attacks. A single hit could end him if he were unlucky. And with minimal anima regeneration, his sustain would be terrible. Sure, he could use expensive and powerful skills, but only a few times before essentially being useless. Even worse, his [Exploit Weakness] was additive damage, so the impact of his trigger hit barely mattered. Wait. Valerian smiled. The System is fair. He was starting to get an idea of how his class was supposed to function on the combat side. He didn¡¯t need big hits or flashy spells. The +3 Mind meant he¡¯d have a ton of anima, and all he needed to do was enough damage to break through an enemy¡¯s defense to trigger [Exploit Weakness]. And his massive Perception meant his attacks would usually land as long as he was careful. With low cost, precise magical skills, of which there were plenty, he could continually trigger vulnerabilities. And they had a stacking damage effect! It would be a difficult way to fight. He could sort of get why most [Appraiser]s would choose to go for the easy civilian route, which was always in demand, rather than focus on a fighting style that would heavily punish mistakes and require a ton of training. He had a path. It might not be the one he had planned on. But he was right. He could do this on his own. Steelwurth men didn¡¯t cry. Valerian would never forget where he came from. The tightness in his chest was from success. I¡¯m not a failure. Valerian had a problem. On one hand, he had a very delicious-looking boar dead on the ground in front of him. On the other hand, he had no flint. And if anyone were looking for him in the general area, a cooking fire would definitely draw attention. He sighed as his stomach growled angrily at him. He also had a headache. There wasn¡¯t anything he could really do. He¡¯d thought of this before he fought, of course. But there was a difference between a theoretical delicious boar and the sitting there, taunting him. He left the boar alone. Ideally he could have buried it or hidden it as a boar killed by a saber would be a giant ¡°Valerian was here!¡± sign for any knights looking for him, especially off the road like this. But he didn¡¯t have the tools or the energy. In [Bard] tales and books, the heroes would swing blades and run around for hours slaying monsters, taunting their enemies and giving rousing speeches to their allies. But they had skills boosting their energy, whereas Valerian didn¡¯t exactly have high endurance stats in the first place. Even his saber felt heavy at his side. He didn¡¯t fight the boar for its meat. He fought it for the bush, which he stumbled over to and began picking berries. Thomas scolded him in the back of his mind for not immediately cleaning his blade but Valerian ignored him. Eat first, clean boar goop later.
You have unlocked [Slash]! If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. You have unlocked [Footwork]! You have unlocked [Hide]!
He looked at the notification as he ate. The other reason he fought the boar was for levels. The first 10 levels went notoriously quickly; just about anything related to your tracks gave you XP and the total XP needed per level was low. Every 10 levels saw a big boost in the amount of XP needed for future levels. Outside the nobility or the most experienced members of guilds, most people would rarely hit level 60 in their lives due to the XP needed to level and the fewer opportunities to be challenged. The stat boosts were useful but pretty minor. It might seem like having 20 in a stat was twice as good as 10, but that wasn¡¯t how stats work. It was more like a 10% bonus, maybe less. Stats helped, but without skills the effects were hard to notice without a massive numerical difference. That wasn¡¯t why Valerian wanted to level. Every level unlocked a common skill based on what you did when getting that level. Normally, Valerian would have gotten skill shards from his family after unlocking his class. He would have worked with his tutors and parents to come up with the optimal starting build and found skills in their library that worked for him. Not like they would have had any combat skills for an [Appraiser] anyway, he thought. For commoners who usually didn¡¯t have access to skill shards from rifts, however, leveling was the best way to get new skills. At least until he could join a delver¡¯s guild, leveling was going to be the best way to get his initial skills. Rift delving was his best chance of following his path. Delving guilds, while patronized by the nobility and supported by them, were primarily operated and lead by commoners at the lower levels. Rifts appeared often enough that the nobility didn¡¯t have he resources to consistently clear them out, and if left alone, a rift break could become a major hazard. Following Rowan¡¯s path wasn¡¯t really an option. The military was too organized and primarily led by the nobility. If he joined the military as an [Appraiser] they¡¯d stick him in a warehouse immediately and he¡¯d have no leverage to argue otherwise. Guilds allowed more freedom¡ªand he wouldn¡¯t be the first disgraced noble to turn to delving. In fact, such stories were fairly common, especially for bastards or noble children that embarrassed their family in some way. Like me, Valerian thought. Unlike the military, delver guilds couldn¡¯t simply order him to focus on civilian track. They¡¯d probably encourage it but he was confident he could work around it. Valerian finished the last of the berries that looked acceptable to eat. He was still hungry. Taking one last look at the boar, he cleaned his saber as best he could and continued on. As he walked, he slotted his new skills. [Footwork] went into his class combat slot. While [Slash] would deal more damage in a class slot, having [Exploit Weakness] meant his base damage was less important. Right now he needed to avoid injury, and [Footwork] was a passive skill that would improve his ability to both get in range with his saber and move out of the way of attacks. It would have terrible scaling with his low Body and Agility but it was better than relying on the base stats alone. [Slash] went into the general combat slot. It was a simple attack skill and would also have poor scaling. It could let him punch through defenses he couldn¡¯t otherwise, though, so it was still useful. He¡¯d drop it the second he could get an appropriate magic skill. [Hide] was interesting. While it had major penalties while moving, it was still a stealth skill. He assumed his maneuvering and ambush of the boar contributed to it. Valerian had wondered how his talent would interact with civilian skill offerings. He guessed he¡¯d be offered skills that were related to what he was doing in combat. Good to know. It went in his class civilian slot. There was no reason to leave that empty. He could replace skills he knew in slots by putting the slot on cooldown for a day. So he could always swap if he got something better. He found the road again and kept it vaguely to his left as he traveled. Having [Hide] made him feel a lot safer close to the road. He practiced the skill and even gained a rank, increasing it to rank 2. When he found a spot to sleep for the night, he was hungry, exhausted, and his feet felt like they were made of blisters and pain. His heel was raw and bleeding, the left sock worn through completely. It was the best day he¡¯d had since his awakening. And for the first time since he left, he slept deeply. * * * * * The next day, Valerian decided to examine his skills more closely. He already had a sense for how they worked, but a proper System breakdown never hurt.
[Hide]: Gain a sense for your current visibility and identify factors that affect it. Visibility is decreased when active. Effect decreased while moving. Visibility sense increased by Perception. Visibility and visibility movement penalty decreased by Agility. [Slash]: Gain additional damage to your next slashing attack within a short duration. Low anima cost. Low cooldown. Damage increased by Body. Anima cost decreased by Stamina. Cooldown decreased by Agility. [Footwork]: Passively gain a small boost to step acceleration and distance. Gain a minor boost to balance. Step enhancement increased by Body. Balance increased by Agility.
Valerian¡¯s stats for both his combat skills were low, of course. He would need some more levels and stats before the System was likely to add a basic magic skill. All skills had a base value, however, so even at rank 1 they had some effect. But you needed to rank them up and have high stats to take full advantage of a skill¡¯s potential. The next day, Valerian noticed a weight on the other side of the hill. It felt like a small whirlpool of anima at the edge of his senses. Could that be¡­? He activated [Hide] and moved very carefully over the hill, making sure not to crest the top and make himself obvious to anyone observing it. As he rounded the area, the feeling got stronger and stronger, and then he saw it: a rift was sitting between this hill and another nearby, nestled between some trees. Valerian had never seen a rift in person before. He had studied them, of course. Everyone had heard of the Eisenburg tragedy. Some duke had apparently allowed a rift to grow to tier 15 without closing it inside the city, farming it for artifacts and levels in secret. They miscalculated and the rift broke, instantly destroying the city and surrounding areas, and it took the entire Imperial army along with armies from Sajetar and the Republic to clear the ruin. Every noble child was told the story as a warning. Based on his reading, this rift didn¡¯t have nearly enough anima presence to be a high tier rift. He was guessing it was a new tier 1, maybe 2. Still, it was exciting to finally see one; when he became a delver, he¡¯d be actually going inside them. Outside of the obvious anima effects, the rift looked like a distortion in space, like the rippling turbulence you¡¯d see at the top of a fire or along the road on a hot day. It was a vague oval about twice his height and hovering about a foot off the ground. Nothing at all grew within a few feet of the rift. It was somewhat subtle to see with his eyes but was so dominant in the local anima it was impossible to miss. He didn¡¯t know if this was a known rift or a new one. He tried [Appraise] to see if he could learn anything more.
Rift Tier 1
Capacity 100%
Risk Deadly
[Appraise] gave him more information than he expected. Knowing the tier was useful. A tier 1 rift was generally delved by teams in the level 10-20 range. Each tier represented a range of about 10 levels. Seeing the risk was neat but not really all that helpful. He was alone and level 6; a more accurate risk analysis would be ¡°suicidal.¡± The capacity information was unexpected but welcome. Every delver that entered a risk used up some of the rift¡¯s capacity based on their level. Anyone who would push the rift over capacity couldn¡¯t enter. Someone with a level over a tier higher than the rift would be generally unable to enter at all. So if he were level 30, he could walk right through this rift and nothing would happen. But if he did it right now at level 6 he¡¯d be pulled in. He could leave without issue, and part of him was tempted to take a peek inside, but it was just too dangerous. There was no guarantee a monster wouldn¡¯t notice him and be able to attack before he could get back outside. But capacity was measured in percent, not a solid number. That meant he was measuring the current capacity of the rift. Since it was at 100%, he knew it was empty. Knowing if a rift was empty or how many more people could enter was really useful information. No wonder delvers guilds would hire [Appraiser]s. As far as he knew, [Identify] only showed the tier. As neat as it was, though, there was no point in staying. He doubted he¡¯d find a guild to be able to report the rift to them and didn¡¯t have any mapping supplies or skills to lead them back here. There was no chance of entering the rift; solo delving was risky even for experienced delvers and he had never even seen one before. Nope. It was time to move on. He looked back at the rift longingly. He may not be able to fulfill his obligations to his family. But he¡¯d still make a difference. 1.5 The Village Valerian woke up feeling wonderful¡ªand miserable. He had slept up against a tree and somehow hurt his neck, making it twinge with pain when he tried to flex it. His abused feet protested as he got up to start the day. Still, it was the best sleep he¡¯d had in days, and his mind felt sharp despite everything. The road he was following went somewhere and he was looking forward to finding where. Hopefully a small village and not a fort, he thought wryly. He started the day with foraging. He found a small number of mushrooms and some edible nuts but not much else. Valerian had always been lean but he could tell he was losing weight. At least this forest had plenty of small creeks he could find moving water in. After a few more hours of walking, the air changed slightly. Valerian paused, trying to identify the difference. There was a different quality to the smell. He moved forward cautiously, using [Hide] to lower his visibility as much as possible. The skill gave him a sense of how easy he was to see along with helping him position his body better. It didn¡¯t take long to discover the source of the difference; he had reached the outskirts of a village. Several farms dotted the outskirts. The wind had carried the scent of cut grain and manure far enough for him to notice. He didn¡¯t recognize the village, which wasn¡¯t surprising. He didn¡¯t think he¡¯d ever been this far north even as part of family outings. The longest he¡¯d traveled up to this point was to the Ravencrest viscountcy for various family functions, but their lands were to the west and a bit south, not north. He was most likely still within the Greenmarch barony, although he could possibly have entered into the Frostpeaks¡¯ land without realizing it. Either way, no one should know him here. He wasn¡¯t looking forward to the next part. He¡¯d made plans. A hundred different ways to avoid this. But every other option was too risky. He was going to have to steal clothing and supplies. There just wasn¡¯t any way around it. And it pained him. He didn¡¯t have any money. The ceremonial outfit he was wearing didn¡¯t have functional pockets and he didn¡¯t carry a coin purse during ceremonies or even on his manor in general. So outright buying what he needed wasn¡¯t an option. He had his saber, his outfit, and his skills as an [Appraiser]. As much as he hated to admit it, the last one was the most value, but only for the civilian side. A level 5 teen with low rank skills wasn¡¯t going to impress anyone over the age of 18. Villagers would have less need of appraisal skills than guilds or nobles, though, so even that wasn¡¯t high value. His outfit was expensive but would be difficult to sell. Nobody in the village would want it for itself. They might repurpose the cloth or melt down the gold cuffs and buttons but it was unlikely any of them would have the funds or desire to use it for themselves. It was also his biggest liability right now; it clearly marked him as a noble, even a failed one, and the commoners wouldn¡¯t know the difference. Those that did, and noticed his missing surname, might even use that to take advantage of him. Interacting with people while wearing it was a massive risk. The saber could probably be sold. It was high quality and useful. The Steelwurths didn¡¯t believe in ceremonial swords that weren¡¯t legitimate weapons. As the boar had learned yesterday, it was a high quality tool, and any villager who had skills for it would find it valuable. But those same qualities made it valuable to him. Valerian didn¡¯t have any magical skills he could use to replace the saber and wasn¡¯t high enough level that he¡¯d want to risk relying entirely on skills that cost anima. Mages could use staves or wands to reduce the cost of simple skills to zero, but he neither had the artifacts nor the skills for that. And even if he decided to sell it anyway, he¡¯d only get a tiny fraction of the coin it was worth. In short, Valerian had nothing of value to offer the village, and even if he did, he had to have common clothes to avoid attracting the wrong kind of attention or lead any pursuers right to him. But he would need both coin and an outfit for any of the next steps in his plan to work. That meant stealing an outfit was his only real option. The saber was harder to explain, but he could disguise it with dirt and grime if he had to. If he had a sword and common clothes that would give him so many ways to move forward that he didn¡¯t have right now. Valerian didn¡¯t know how long he stood hidden atop the hill overlooking the village. He was locked in place, thinking and thinking. How could he avoid becoming a thief of all things? He was already disgraced, sure, but had he really fallen that low? Everything in him rebelled at the idea. I¡¯ll pay them back, he thought. No matter what, no matter how long it takes, I will pay back the one I take from a hundred-fold, he vowed to himself. He felt sick. But it made him feel better. Slightly. I have no choice. He thought. ¡°You always have a choice,¡± a slightly mocking voice replied. It was Father and it wasn¡¯t. I had a choice, but you and the System took it from me, he countered. It felt hollow. He felt hollow. Valerian waited. And watched. * * * * * A farm was his best bet. They¡¯d have some dirty clothes from the day¡¯s work, the fewest people around to see him, and the easiest escape routes. He had been watching this one all day and had a good sense of their patterns, number of fam¡ªpeople, and where they congregated. He wouldn¡¯t fail. Night fell, and Valerian crept along the treeline, hugging the roadside shadows as long as he could. The road had a sharp decline on the side where they had flattened out the terrain, giving him a bit of cover and shadow in the dim moonlight. His stomach clenched, and his thighs and back burned from crawling low and slow. He¡¯d left his saber in the forest; it would get in his way, and there was no possibility he would use it against the farmers. He would rather die than become a murderer. The farmers finished supper when he was about halfway there. A few minutes later, the open windows began to darken as people went to bed. Valerian moved slowly, crawling along the ground, to minimize the chance someone might see him while preparing for bed. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. Valerian grimaced as his stomach growled. It felt so loud he was sure they could hear it all the way from the house. He froze face down in the dirt, the pebbles pressing painfully into his dirty palms. There was no reaction from the house. After his heart rate slowed, Valerian continued, making his way steadily closer. He was sure it would be morning before he arrived. But it stayed dark. He slid under the wooden fence around the main courtyard, careful to stay in shadow wherever he could. He¡¯d spotted the clotheslines earlier, near a vegetable garden behind the house. His biggest worry was the dog he¡¯d seen in the afternoon. But it had a small doghouse near the barn, presumably to help guard the livestock and chickens, and the barn was on the opposite side of the plot. When he reached the garden, he was sorely tempted to take some of the vegetables. He could still smell some of the dinner from inside the house and it was all he could do to stop from drooling. But he could survive without their food, and he refused to steal any more from these people than he absolutely had to. Finding the clothes and taking them was easy. Valerian pulled down one of the boys¡¯ clothes and tucked them under his arm. He moved away from the garden as quietly and quickly as he could, then waited. If they noticed or were going to pursue, he needed to know. But there was no response. Retracing his steps out of the farm felt like an eternity. His instincts screamed at him to run once he cleared the gate, but he forced himself to move methodically. One careful step after another. He couldn''t risk discovery now. Only when the farm shrank to a dim outline in the distance did he stand upright. Even then, he resisted the urge to sprint. Running would only draw attention, and his legs trembled with exhaustion already. It took him a bit, but he finally got far enough away that he felt it was unlikely he would be seen or found in the morning. He needed sleep. Just in case, he stashed his stolen clothing under a bush and found a place to sleep nearby. If they did find him, he didn¡¯t want to be wearing or in possession of the clothes, and he could come up with an excuse for being out there. He¡¯d done it. Once deeper into the woods, he retraced his steps and picked up his saber. He was exhausted and his hands kept shaking. His feet were miserable; there were no shoes outside and his dress shoes barely looked recognizable as such, so he should be fine until he could afford better ones. He smiled. He had planned things out, he had executed his plan, and it had worked. He felt giddy with his victory. He could move forward, now. He had everything he needed to get started. As he fell asleep, he ignored the pressure of guilt in the back of his mind and instead focused on his success. He would move forward, no matter the cost. He had come too far. * * * * * Valerian woke to bright light and a body full of pain. His stomach growled and his mouth felt like he had eaten sawdust. He squinted, his head pounding, and slowly stood up. It was going to be a long day. He trudged over to where he¡¯d hidden the clothes. He kept an eye on his surroundings to ensure he hadn¡¯t been pursued, but saw nothing. He changed quickly, burying the ceremonial outfit after slipping into the farmer¡¯s tunic and trousers. They were uncomfortable and didn¡¯t fit right, but Valerian made it work. It was better than what he had on before. Valerian¡¯s first priority was water. He didn¡¯t want to get too close to the small river running near the village to the north where he could be seen. Ideally, no one at the village would ever know he was there. While it would have been nice to use his new clothes to get some work and buy some supplies, he couldn¡¯t risk staying here. The farmers would likely report the theft at some point and the stranger with farmer¡¯s clothes and a fancy sword would be an obvious suspect. When he reached the river, he stripped and cleaned himself off. The cold water sent goosebumps down his arms, but he scrubbed anyway. He was tired of being dirty, even if he would only be clean for a short while. Once clean, he grabbed his clothes and swam across the river on his back. The water here was slow and Valerian was a good swimmer. He held his new clothes and the saber above his head to keep them dry, swimming on his back. The current took him a ways down the bank on the other side but he didn¡¯t encounter any problems. Swimming in unknown waters was risky but it would make him harder to track. He foraged as he went. He was tired of nuts and mushrooms. The first thing he did once he had some money would be to buy some hot food. Well, maybe after buying new shoes. Maybe. The next few days were uneventful. Valerian walked, finding food as he went, periodically sitting to rest and air out his aching feet. He slept fitfully. Maybe he¡¯d buy a room with an actual bed once he had some money? Money had never been a huge deal to Valerian. While his family wasn¡¯t rich, they were nobles, and did not want for comforts. He¡¯d thought his family was pretty tough; they trained hard, were required to do field exercises to simulate being a soldier, and were not pampered. But those things had the knowledge that he¡¯d be back in his comfortable bed after a hot meal and warm bath once it was over. Now he didn¡¯t have that. If he failed to find food, water, or a town in enough time, he¡¯d die out here. And even when he did find a town, he had no money, so he¡¯d have to beg or offer his services as an [Appraiser]. Valerian had never really thought much about what it might be like to have to live without a guarantee of safety and food in the future. He¡¯d been naive. It was a depressing realization. Valerian had always prided himself on his wit and rationality. He was smart. He knew it. But as he wandered through a forest for days on end with bleeding feet, a splitting headache, cramped stomach, and not a single copper to his name, he started to think he might not be as smart as he thought.
You have leveled up! Civilian 2 -> 3 You have unlocked [Forage]!
The notifications took Valerian by surprise. I leveled up? Why? He assumed he¡¯d only gain civilian XP by working in town or as a delver. He hadn¡¯t contributed anything to society. Not really. He was just trying to survive. Either way, it was a welcome surprise and the first good thing that had happened to him in what felt like forever. He was tempted to slot [Forage] into his class slot. Skills in class slots gained twice the scaling from each rank compared to ones in a general slot. If he unslotted [Hide], however, the slot would be locked out for a full day before he could replace it with the new skill. It just didn¡¯t seem worth it. At least he had all his slots filled. And both his civilian skills scaled with Perception, his highest stat, so they should even be quite good, despite lacking high Agility and Stamina. It wasn¡¯t a build he could be proud of, but it was a start. [Forage] paid off. More food, less effort. And he was finally staying full for once. He even managed to train both it and [Hide] up to rank 3. Thankfully, his civilian leveling penalty only applied to the track itself; skills would rank up normally. Valerian was getting sick of the woods. And his feet. He felt like he thought about his feet a lot. But it was hard to ignore them when you had uncomfortable shoes and spent most of your day walking. What he wouldn¡¯t give for some action! Unfortunately, action found him instead. He went over one of the rolling hills a bit too carelessly and found himself staring straight at a young man with a partial beard, some ill-fitting leather armor, and a small bow strapped along his back. Valerian took in his appearance immediately and his heart sank. The man wasn¡¯t a hunter. And instead of a hunting blade, he wore a scimitar. While it was possible that it was related to his class, the poor fit of his armor and general appearance made it likely he was a bandit or outlaw of some sort. He¡¯d been trained what to look for as nobles would frequently be called upon to enforce the law. If Valerian was lucky, this would be a low level scout for a bandit band. Well, if he was really lucky it would be a hunter with unusual gear. Even with a level disadvantage, Valerian was confident he could take on most commoners that lacked military training under level 20. Skill potency mattered, of course, but your actual technique and practice with fighting was just as important, if not more so. If he was unlucky, the man was over level 20 or part of a larger group nearby. And he was probably dead. 1.6 The Bandit The maybe-bandit seemed surprised to see him. Cursing himself for not doing it immediately, Valerian used [Appraisal].
Name: Jeremy Class: [Archer] Level: 12/7 (19)
Talent: [See Details] Vitality: Good Anima: Low (100%)
Body: 27 Agility: 38 Stamina: 27
Mind: 16 Perception: 28 Willpower: 17
Unique: [Heavy Shot], [Diving Dodge], [Eagle Eye] Class (1/1): [Enhanced Archery], [Distant Shot] General (1/2): [Hide], [Forage], [Track]
He quickly examined the [Archer]¡¯s talent.
Talent: (Common) You gain +5 skill potency for Agility.
This would be difficult. Valerian would need to get close, and fast, or he¡¯d be a pincushion before he could use a single one of his skills. Maybe he should surrender? It was a risk, but so was fighting someone 13 levels higher. Valerian started to bring up his hands to diffuse the situation. ¡°Look, there¡¯s no¡ª¡± he began. ¡°Damn it!¡± Jeremy said, grabbing his bow and starting to pull it over his shoulder. Valerian didn¡¯t hesitate and charged the man, holding his saber ready to draw. Adrenaline pumped and he could hear his own heartbeat. How is he so far away? He had to go down his side of the berm and up the other to reach the [Archer]. He wasn¡¯t sure if he could get there before the man nocked an arrow and put it through his chest. As Valerian was halfway up the berm, the man got his bow out and drew an arrow. He had fumbled getting it over his head and had taken a long time to get prepared. He was probably used to being the one attacking first, not drawing while someone charged at you. Still, the distance was too far, and Valerian wasn¡¯t going to make it. Everything came into focus. Nothing existed except his target, the bow, and the arrow being brought to bear directly at him. Valerian watched the arrow tip. He saw the shaky movements as the man tried to draw the arrow back smoothly and failed. He saw the man¡¯s muscles strain under the tunic. He saw the man¡¯s eyes narrow in concentration. He felt the slight building of anima in the man¡¯s spirit as he prepared a skill. And he knew when the shot was coming. Valerian dived, throwing himself to the ground and to the left. He heard the whizz of the arrow shooting through the air. ¡°Shit!¡± The [Archer] exclaimed. Valerian pushed himself to his feet, almost stumbling as he started to rush forward. Training and [Footwork] kept him upright and moving quickly. The [Archer] made a mistake. He¡¯d panicked, making his aim worse. Valerian smiled as the man tried to create distance and draw another arrow. He had been counting on that reaction; the man had significantly higher physical stats and Valerian would have struggled in a direct melee fight. If the [Archer] had drawn his scimitar, with his level advantage, Valerian would have been in serious trouble. ¡°When stress is high, people tend to follow their training,¡± Thomas had said when Valerian had complained about difficult exercises. ¡°Train hard, as if your life depends on it, and when your life actually does, it will not fail you.¡± The [Archer]¡¯s skills painted a clear picture; he was probably a hunter at some point that became a bandit scout for whatever reason. His skills were all focused purely on archery and living in the wild. When pressured, Valerian had been sure that he would try to rely on his bow. Valerian caught up quickly, [Footwork] making each step go a bit farther. The [Archer], distracted by trying to run while drawing a new arrow, wasn¡¯t able to stay ahead, even with his higher Body. Valerian drew his sword as he came close, activating [Slash] and swinging at the man¡¯s hand. The [Archer] reacted quickly, pulling back his fingers, but Valerian¡¯s saber touched them just enough to draw blood. And bare fingers have low defense. The shallow cut suddenly burst, cracking the front of the blow and cutting through the man¡¯s fingers. Even his palm started bleeding from the bonus damage caused by [Exploit Weakness]. The man screamed and cursed, trying to fling the bow at Valerian with his ruined hand. Valerian parried with practiced ease, flicking his sword and tossing the bow to the side. He feinted to the man¡¯s chest, and the [Archer] dived to the side, coming up in a roll. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. Valerian had expected this. [Archer] was a common class and he knew exactly what [Diving Dodge] did. He¡¯d even sparred with one of the [Archer] knights to get a sense of the level 10 unique skill. He used [Footwork] to catch up almost instantly. Unlike the knight, the bandit telegraphed his skill by leaning into the activation. Valerian was moving before the man touched the ground. The [Archer] had clearly decided to run. After reaching his feet, the man sprinted directly away from Valerian, not looking back. Maybe he had realized Valerian had lower Body or assumed as much from the level difference. Even without [Appraise], the man would know Valerian¡¯s class and level using [Identify]. A more skilled opponent probably would have realized that Valerian had a movement skill of some sort but he wasn¡¯t sure if the [Archer] could tell. It may have worked if Valerian hadn¡¯t been moving after him before the skill activation, even with [Footwork]. The skill was still at a low rank and the [Archer] had 15 extra Body compared to Valerian. Assuming he was in good shape, that should have been enough to escape. These thoughts went through Valerian¡¯s mind in a flash as his saber pierced the back of the man¡¯s right knee. The [Archer] collapsed, grabbing his knee. It seemed the vulnerability had shattered the kneecap as well as causing the piercing injury. ¡°Fuck!¡± the [Archer] yelled. ¡°I¡¯ll fucking kill you!¡± Valerian moved around in front of him, his stance ready, his feet light. As he did, the man finally pulled out his scimitar, pointing it at Valerian. He still had his dominant hand. Still a threat. Valerian stepped forward, stabbing with the saber. The [Archer] tried to deflect, but he was seated and didn¡¯t have the balance or the technique. Valerian slid the blade around the man¡¯s scimitar, maneuvering it to the side, then stepped out and slashed forward, opening the man¡¯s throat. [Exploit Weakness] activated again and took the bandit¡¯s head off. The body stiffened, then fell like a puppet with its strings cut. ¡°No,¡± said Valerian coldly. ¡°You won¡¯t.¡± * * * * * Valerian had won. He¡¯d beaten someone 13 levels higher in a real fight. He was elated and his body didn¡¯t want to stop shaking. He quickly cleaned his blade and returned it to the sheath. He briefly debated looting the body. For some reason, looking at it made the bile rise in the back of his throat and his heart race. The man was a bandit. He¡¯d attacked Valerian immediately. He deserved to die. But Valerian still felt sick at the idea of spending more time around the corpse. This must be the ¡°first kill¡± shakes Thomas talked about, he thought. It will pass. He did grab the man¡¯s waterskin. He checked the boots¡ªtoo small. More uncomfortable than his own. Somehow, that both disappointed and relieved him. After he way away from the body, Valerian checked his notifications.
You have slain a level 19 human! You have leveled up! Combat 3 -> 8 You have leveled up! Civilian 3 -> 4 [Exploit Weakness] increased rank from 2 -> 5 [Slash] increased rank from 1 -> 4 [Footwork] increased rank from 1 -> 3 You have unlocked [Dodge]! You have unlocked [Stab]! You have unlocked [Energy Bolt]! You have gained 2 general skill slots! You have unlocked [Parry]! You have unlocked [Energy Shield]! You have unlocked [Sprint]!
He stared at the notifications for a while. It was one thing to know you had essentially a double experience bonus from your talent. It was another to gain six whole levels from a single fight. Logically, he knew that his leveling rate would slow dramatically once he was over level 10. Every 10 levels represented an exponential jump in required XP for the next levels. And most people wouldn¡¯t risk a fight against someone over 10 levels higher than themselves. In fact, if the [Archer] hadn¡¯t already been a criminal, attacking Valerian at all would have been a capital offense on its own. It was dishonorable to attack someone 10 or more levels below you, both socially and legally, and the penalty for doing so outside of self defense was generally execution. Society would fall to absolute chaos if every higher level person could simply push those at a lower level around through threat of force. Frankly, his kill would have been justified even if the man wasn¡¯t a bandit. He was in the right. He decided to look through his skills first. He had two new general skill slots from going over 25 Mind. One of the benefits of his high Mind scaling was that he would always have roughly the same level of skills or more compared to his opponents. He¡¯d still need to rank up all those skills but it gave him more options. Most of the effects were obvious. [Dodge] would help him avoid attacks and [Parry] would help him block attacks with his sword. Of the two, [Dodge] was more useful to him in the long run. After a few minutes of thought, he slotted [Dodge] into his new combat general slot. He only had one new civilian skill, [Sprint], so it went into his other new slot. More speed was never a bad thing and would have really helped him in that last fight. [Stab] was redundant with [Slash]. There wasn¡¯t any point in swapping them out since [Stab] was still at rank 1. He would be dropping [Slash] soon anyway. It was his last two skills, [Energy Bolt] and [Energy Shield], that excited him the most. [Energy Bolt] was always unlocked after 25 Mind and [Energy Shield] after 30. They were basic magic skills and most mages would quickly move on to better ones if they used them at all. But if they didn¡¯t unlock at fairly low levels, commoner mages may be stuck without useful skills for their class if the class didn¡¯t grant a magic skill. And unlike a sword, it wasn¡¯t like you could a magic skill without the skill. He went ahead and swapped [Energy Bolt] in place of [Footwork] and [Energy Shield] in for [Slash]. While he really like [Footwork], it just didn¡¯t fit well with his stats. With both [Energy Shield] and [Dodge] he¡¯d have both active and passive defenses in his general combat slots and [Energy Bolt] was better than [Slash] for him in every way. The skill was ranged, moved quickly, and had a low cooldown and anima cost. Its low damage meant most mages replaced it quickly. But that wasn¡¯t a big deal for Valerian; [Exploit Weakness] didn¡¯t specify the type of attack. He just had to deal damage to a vulnerable area. So as long as he could break through an enemy¡¯s lowest defense, [Energy Bolt] would do it¡¯s own damage combined with the additional damage from [Exploit Weakness]. He¡¯d have to wait a day for the skills to be available due to the slot cooldowns, and in that time he¡¯d be vulnerable. But he could still fight with his sword and now had higher stats overall. More importantly, [Sprint] had gone into an empty slot, which means he had it available already to run away if needed. He looked at his profile and smiled.
Name: Valerian Class: [Appraiser] Level: 8/4 (12)
Talent: [See Details] Vitality: Average Anima: 27%
Body: 14 Agility: 15 Stamina: 13
Mind: 34 Perception: 40 Willpower: 15
Unique: [Exploit Weakness], [Appraise] Class (1/1): *[Energy Bolt 1]*, [Hide 3] General (2/2): [Dodge 1], [Energy Shield] 1, [Forage 3], [Sprint 1]