B15

“How do you, uh, wanna start this?” Bronwyn set her backpack down on the ground and shook her arms out, hopping from foot to foot.

“Hah! Have you never had a duel to the death before, Human Blodwyn?” Bloodfang crossed his sword over his chest and gave her a deep mocking bow. “It’s my pleasure to be both your first and your last. Now, come fight me!” He roared the last few words and charged at her.

Bronwyn was about twenty yards from the charging Urghat. She saw his cutlass held low at his right side as he ran and took a few seconds to channel her stone skin. Bloodfang spun to the right at the end of the charge, bringing his sword up and slamming it down toward Bronwyn’s left clavicle. She quickly adjusted her guard and blocked the strike with the hard metal backing of her gauntlets. A thunderous echo blasted across the clearing, and Bronwyn, even as braced as she was, was sent tumbling backward from the force of the blow. She caught herself and rolled to her feet, feeling a bit dizzy. Her ears were ringing, and her arms felt slightly numb; in fact, her whole body felt like it just got hit with a sonic blast.

She shook her head, bringing things into focus just in time for her to evade Bloodfang’s sword, ripping down toward her head. She slid to the left as it carved through the air at her side, shaving so close that bits of leather peeled away at the blade’s passage. Almost without thinking, she reached out and grabbed the wrist of his sword arm with both hands. Using his momentum, she twisted it behind his back and ripped it upwards towards the back of his neck, straining until she heard a loud pop from his right shoulder. The urghat dropped his sword and roared out in pain, slamming his head backward into Bronwyn’s face. “Fuck!” She yelled and grabbed her bloodied nose, dropping his wrist and stepping back.

Bloodfang lunged toward the ground, picking up his sword with his left hand as his right arm hung uselessly at his side. He made a sweeping strike at Bronwyn’s midsection, and she leaped backward; the tip of the sword barely touched her stomach. It erupted with thunder, throwing her onto her back and knocking the wind from her lungs. On the ground, gasping for breath, Bronwyn focused on Bloodfang’s legs and activated her Fetters of Stone skill. The earth erupted at Bloodfang’s feet as his lower legs, up to his shins, became encased in stone. He struggled for a moment, grunting in frustration as he tried to rip them free. It was all the time Bronwyn needed: she caught a couple of deep breaths and charged the Urghat, ducking under his off-balance swing and tackling him to the ground. His good arm windmilled, but he couldn’t keep his balance with his feet still encased in stone. He fell backward, unable to twist or get any footing to try to push Bronwyn off. She used her left arm and all her body weight to pin his good arm to the ground and pummeled his face with her gauntlet.

Bronwyn kept swinging until she was sure it was over. When Bloodfang stopped breathing and struggling, she fell to her side and rolled onto her back, still trying to catch her breath fully. Her whole body was one giant bruise from the impacts of that cutlass, her ears were still ringing, and her vision felt a little blurry as she lay there, looking up at the sky. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply until the motes of Energy from Bloodfang funneled into her, relieving much of her pain and clearing her vision. Her ears were still ringing slightly, and she worried for a moment, as she wiggled a finger in her ear, that it would be permanent.

***Congratulations! You’ve achieved level 9 base human. You have 5 attribute points to allocate.***

Grunting, she sat up and kneeled over the body of Bloodfang. His sword had melted into a pool of blood, and the stone around his legs had turned to sand. She started inspecting his other items. His armor was inscribed with very faint runes, and he wore two golden armbands, one of which was inscribed with simple, jagged runes that glowed faintly. He also carried a small dimensional pouch, similar to the one she already owned. She attempted to bond with both armbands; the first one had no effect, meaning it was probably just a simple gold band. The second, with the red inscription, immediately slid up over her gauntlet and fit itself directly on the upper third of her right bicep. As she stared in shock, the text shifted, and it read “Underclaw Blodwyn.”

***Congratulations! You have earned the title “Underclaw” this is a transient title. Relations with the Ur-claw tribe increased. +4 strength +4 Vitality***

“What the fuck…” She muttered, trailing off to silence as the implications hit her. She tried to unbind the armband from herself and found that she couldn’t move it physically or by taking her Energy out of it like she could with her pouch and armor. “Shit.” She didn’t want to dwell on all the possible outcomes this might cause and moved on to her examination of the pouch. Somewhat hesitant now, she bound it to her and found that it only contained some rations, a couple of daggers, and a rolled-up scroll. She pulled the scroll from the pouch.

***Congratulations! Quest Complete: Defeat Underclaw Bloodfang and retrieve Ur-clan missives.

A medium-sized blue chest apparated into existence to her right. She flipped the lid and found two rewards inside: a brightly glowing golden orb and a slice of what looked like a blood orange. She felt the desire to eat the fruit immediately and shoved it into her mouth without thinking. The taste was incredible. It was like an orange chocolate lava cake, and it warmed her whole body as she ate it. She felt a surge of Energy flooding into the muscles of her arms. She was almost sad when the fruit was gone and slightly frowned as she reached her hand forward to touch the golden orb. As she wrapped her palm around it, Energy coursed through her arm and her remaining aches and pains left her.

***Congratulations! You’ve achieved level 10 base human. You have 10 attribute points to allocate. Your first Class selection is available to you.***

Bronwyn thought about it for a moment and decided to allocate her points before looking at her class choices. She had a feeling that her stats might influence what kind of class she was offered. Having decided that, Bronwyn put six points into strength and four into agility. She looked at her updated status sheet:

Status

Name: Bronwyn Tallow, aka “Blodwyn”

Race: Human - Base 2

Class: —

Level: 10

Core: Amber Class - Base 2 - Tri-Node, Earth Energy Attunement

Energy Affinity: 5.6, Earth - 6.6

Energy: 35/210

Strength: 48

Vitality: 15

Dexterity: 9

Agility: 29

Intelligence: 9

Will: 11

Points Available: 0

Titles & Feats: First Colonist, Underclaw

Skills: System Language Integration - Not Upgradeable, Unarmed Mastery - Basic, Stone Warding - Basic, Tracking - Basic, Fetters of Stone - Basic

She noticed that her strength was slightly higher than she thought it should be and surmised that the fruit she’d been awarded had improved that attribute. Happy with her progress, she decided to take a look at her class options. She noticed that a new prompt was on her status screen labeled “Class selection,” and selected it:

***Level 10 Class selection. Class selection is permanent. Human Energy cultivators will next be offered a Class refinement selection at level 20. To view your options and make your selection, use the arrows to page through this interface.***

***Class selection option 1: Brawler - Basic. You use your honed physique to pummel your foes into submission while nimbly avoiding damage. Class attributes: Agility, Strength, and Vitality.***

Bronwyn stopped to consider this class for a moment but decided to look at the rest of her options first. She touched the arrow to advance the screen several times, reading through each option:

***Class selection option 2: Fighter - Basic. You use physical prowess to best your foes with remarkable feats of combat skill. Master weapons and your body to become a force that can change the tide of a battle. Class attributes: Strength, Agility, and Vitality.***

***Class selection option 3: Berserker - Improved. Fury and overwhelming force guide you on the battlefield. With little concern for your safety, you put the domination of your foes first. Class attributes: Strength, Vitality, Agility, Will.***

***Class selection option 4: Stone Warden - Improved. Prerequisite - Affinity to Earth Energy. You work to master your manipulation of Earth magic to become a moving fortress on which your enemies will break. Class attributes: Vitality, Strength, Will.***

***Class selection option 5: Stone Pugilist - Improved. Prerequisite - Affinity to Earth Energy. You work to master your manipulation of Earth magic to enhance your physical presence and combat prowess. Class attributes: Strength, Agility, Will, Vitality, Dexterity.***

She dismissed the idea of Fighter and Brawler out of hand - no way would she be choosing a “basic” class. That decided, she looked long and hard at the three “improved” options. She liked how fierce and brutal the berserker sounded, but she felt like her temper had already gotten her in enough trouble. She didn’t know exactly how things would work in this world, but berserkers in pretty much every game she’d ever played tended to lose control of themselves while raging or whatever.

That brought her choices down to Stone Warden and Stone Pugilist. She’d like to say it was a hard decision, and if she ever talked about this with anyone, she might play it up to have been, but the fact that Stone Warden didn’t focus on agility at all pushed her in the direction of Stone Pugilist. Stone Warden sounded like a tank, and she didn’t tend to play tanks. Taking a few deep breaths and thoroughly clearing her mind, she thought about her decision. Finding no second thoughts lingering, she double-checked that she was on the right screen and hit the “accept” button, and was rewarded with a new screen:

***Congratulations! You’ve gained your first Class: Stone Pugilist. Class skill gained: Stone Strike. Class skill gained: Stone Warding - Improved***

Bronwyn whooped loudly, pumping a fist in the air. She called up her skills page and read the descriptions of her new abilities:

***Stone Warding - Improved: Your ability to bend stone and earth to defend yourself against attacks has increased. You can now stop larger and more deadly blows. Amber Class Core Enhancement: Your armoring spells have twice the duration and cost half the energy. Energy cost: 10 per second.***

***Stone Fists - Basic: Your fists are becoming natural weapons. You are able to enhance your unarmed strikes with added weight and power. Energy cost: 10 per minute.***

Bronwyn was thrilled with her new abilities. It seemed like she picked the perfect class to keep advancing on her current path. Filled with the euphoria of victory and achievement, she bent to the task of unbuckling the heavy, scaled armor that the Urghat had been wearing, stuffing it into her storage pouch. Before heading to town, she contemplated burying or burning the body of the Urghat. She’d never fought an actual duel before and didn’t know if some show of respect was in order. Finally deciding that his people would want to recover the corpse, she folded his arms over his chest, spread his cloak over him. Bronwyn knelt, picked up her backpack, and then turned back toward the settlement. She’d only made it a few steps before she felt a familiar nuzzle on the back of her neck and a comfortable weight on her shoulder.