bookpower 3.2 Fighter
3.2 Fighter
2 – Fighter
Andy sat on his sleeping bag, which was inside his tent, which was set up on his adobe foundation—the only part of his new home that had been built. Like many of the people living on Mesquite Mesa, he’d been happy to prioritize other projects rather than working on his own home. It wasn’t that people didn’t want their homes finished; it was more that they all agreed that the wall and other infrastructure were more pressing. If they needed shelter from a storm or something else, they could always retreat to the underground.
The foundation was more than a lot of homes had, and it meant Andy could start building the frame if he wanted. There were just so many other things he needed and wanted to do that he’d been content to live out of his tent—for the time being. So many people in the community were better at building, and even had classes that gave them magical abilities to speed things along, that he figured he’d just wait his turn to get a little help.
Over the last couple of weeks, the idea of picking up a builder class—to earn some Improvement Points, if nothing else—had occurred to him, but somehow his days always got filled with other priorities and he never got around to it, let alone working on his current non-combat class. Andy looked at his glyph-filled notebook and sighed. He just wasn’t feeling it.
He’d sat down there with every intention of working on the puzzle of the Fae glyphs, and, failing that, at least practicing his Glyphwright abilities, hoping to earn another level, but, instead, he reached into his back pocket and took out the Codex entry he had about Improvement Points. Thumbing to the section on suggested techniques for earning extra points, he read through the part that had been tickling the back of his mind, distracting him:
One of the easiest ways to gain a useful secondary class is to return to your “unclassed” state and practice with a weapon—any weapon. Keep your mind clear, focused only on your desire to better your skills with the weapon. Before long, the System will offer you the basic “Fighter” class. This is your first step on a fruitful road that will lead to advanced weapon talents and an abundance of extra Improvement Points.
Of course, Andy was still interested in enchanting. He liked the idea of glyphs and the magical language they represented. It was just that he felt a kind of stir-crazy energy, and he longed to get his feet moving; he wanted to get off the plateau for a while. More than that urge, the prospect of reaching a breakthrough with the spear enticed him; wouldn’t focusing on the “advanced weapon talents” help in that regard?
Dwelling on such questions, he’d spent many long hours staring at his status sheet, and, in so doing, he’d learned that he could modify it. He’d figured it out one night while staring at his “Notable Skills or Spells.” He’d been thinking about how cluttered it was getting, and suddenly a new tab appeared on the magical floating report: Hidden from Display. With a thought, he could send any skills or spells he wanted onto that list.
The first thing he’d done was shift his Glyphwright abilities off the primary display; it wasn’t that he didn’t intend to improve them, but while he was in his Brimstone Stalker class, he wanted to focus on abilities he could use and improve. Once he’d done that, he’d noticed the System stopped denoting his “active” bound abilities with an asterisk. With only his Brimstone Stalker abilities displayed, the information became redundant.
Nodding to himself, his mind made up despite his half-hearted internal debate, Andy called up his current status display:
STATUS:
Name: Andrew “Andy” West
Species: Human
Bloodline:Echo of the Vanir
Active Class: Brimstone Stalker
Level: 27
Inactive Classes:
Glyphwright (6)
Unclassed (2)
Experience toward next level: 71%
Mana: 690/690
Perception: 8
Will: 8
Strength: 9
Vitality: 9
Speed: 13
Improvement Points: 5
Notable Skills or Spells:
Butcher’s Insight: 3
Leadership: 3
Tracking: 1
Spears: 4
Short Blades: 1
Critical Mastery: 5
Sneak Attack: 5
Smokescribe: 1
Balefire Lance – Bound: 4
Deepsmoke Shroud – Bound: 5
Flame Sight – Bound: 5
Smoke Cloud – Bound: 4
Cinderstorm Blast – Bound: 4
Smoke Drift – Bound: 1
Firewalk – Bound: 1
Notable Distinctions:
Mark of the Predator
Reaper’s Instinct
Vanguard Striker
Horde Slayer
He hesitated for a moment, knowing the process would be unpleasant, but then he steeled his nerves and focused on the “Unclassed” entry. When the System prompted him to confirm he wanted to change classes, he said, “Yes.” Dark walls closed in on his vision, his head grew numb and tingly, and he fell back onto his pillow, dead to the world.
When light and sound returned to him, Andy felt like he’d just closed his eyes briefly, but looking up, he saw the light outside his open tent-flap had grown dim. Squinting into the twilight, he surmised he’d been out for at least a couple of hours. With a grunt, he pushed himself into a seated position and then took a few minutes to organize his status sheet again, moving his Brimstone Stalker abilities into his Hidden from Display tab.
That done, he took another look at his currently active notable abilities:
Notable Skills or Spells:
Butcher’s Insight: 3
Leadership: 3
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Tracking: 1
Spears: 4
Short Blades: 1
Critical Mastery: 5
Sneak Attack: 5
When all was said and done, he might be without his most powerful abilities in his “unclassed” state, but he was far from helpless. His attributes were beyond anything most normal humans could have hoped for, and his speed was certifiably superhuman. On top of that, he was a skilled spear-fighter, and his ability to find weaknesses in his foes was exceptional. Even so, he didn’t intend to stay unclassed for long.
He tucked his Codex entry into his back pocket and clambered out of his tent, peering into the grove of giant, magical mesquites that occupied the top of the mesa. Lydia and some of the other more full-time crafters had figured out an enchantment to make lanterns far more efficient, so they the community wasn’t trying to be sparing with the light; all along the pathways that meandered between the trees, leading from one building site to another, lanterns hung. They poured their amber pools of illumination down from low-hanging boughs and turned the grove into a truly magical place.
Andy saw people meandering here and there; he heard voices talking and laughing, and he smelled fires and food being cooked. His stomach rumbled. Chuckling at himself, he turned to the left, following one of the pathways toward where Bella had staked her plot. The pathways weren’t straight; they curved and wandered in order to accommodate the wide trunks of the many enormous trees.
More than the trees, there was a stream that ran through the center of the settlement now. They’d dug out the bed and lined it with stones, drawing some of the water away from the spring to a large reservoir pond on the opposite side of the mesa. Despite that diversion, the spring still fed the waterfall that fell over the side of the plateau. It was almost like the hidden source of the water increased its flow to meet the demand. Bea thought that was the case—another example of the powerful magic the System used to grant Boons.
He crossed a little wooden footbridge, rounded one more enormous tree, and then he saw Bella’s plot of land. She didn’t have her foundation yet, but like Andy, she didn’t care; she was glad to be out of the dark underground. At that moment, she was sitting in a folding chair before a small campfire, watching as Jace tried to get her rat to perform tricks.
“...enough of the chips, Jace. They’re not good for her!”
“Fine. If I get some jerky—”
“Let her rest!”
“Hey,” Andy said, waving as he approached.
“Yo! Andy, my man.” Jace smiled, exposing his sharp canines. His eyes were like pools of glimmering blackness in the dim light, but the fire danced in them, reflected almost eerily.
Bella threw him a quick wave. “Hey, Andy. Will you tell Jace to leave Chani alone?”
The big fighter groaned. “I’ll stop; relax!”
Andy summoned his spear from his magical ring—the best thing to come of their run-in with the Lurikeens—and brandished it. “Which one of you wants to help me get the Fighter class?”
“Me!” Bella leaped to her feet, startling Chani, who chittered and scurried around behind her chair.
“Sorry, sweetie!” Bella squatted, cooing to her little companion, and Andy chuckled, moving closer.
“So, changing classes?” Jace asked, folding his arms across his chest.
“Just gonna work on building up some IPs and hopefully improving my spear skills.”
He nodded. “Cool.”
“You’re still leveling Fighter?” Andy asked.
“Yeah. I’ll be thirteen soon, I think. The System has dropped me some hints, but I don’t think I’ve been intentional enough.” He said the word a little mockingly; Andy knew it was a sore spot. Jace had been left out of the vermin dungeon-run due to an injury, and he felt more than a little left behind.
“Hints about other classes?”
“Right. Look, I know what you told me—about focusing on a single weapon, but the System hinted at something else when I started training extra weapons. I think there’s something good coming up, and I’m not really trying to farm IPs, so...” He shrugged, looking to the side as he trailed off, like he was worried about Andy’s judgment.
“Hey, it’s your path, man. I don’t judge; look at all the experimenting I’ve done!”
Jace smiled, nodding. “Yeah, okay, cool. Oh, hey, while you’re here, did you have time to talk to Bea?”
Andy shook his head. “What about?”
“Some of us want to get a party together to check out that other dungeon.”
Andy planted the butt of his spear on the ground and leaned on it. “I was thinking about going up into the foothills to look into that big goblin camp Bree found.”
By then, Bella had made up with Chani, and as she walked over to her tent to collect her shield and sword, she said, “We could make two parties. I mean, I think we should. Too many of us need to get experience.”
As much as he’d rather be involved in many things at once, Andy knew by then how to recognize his limitations. The truth was that Bella was right. If they were going to get ready for the incoming “settlers” from other worlds, he couldn’t possibly oversee everyone’s advancement. “Yeah, I guess that would be smart—some folks stay here to build and defend. Some go to the dungeon, and some come with me?”
Jace nodded. “Sounds like a plan to me.”
Andy straightened and twirled his spear in his hands, dropping into a ready stance and aiming the tip toward Bella. “We’ll have a meeting after this. Come on, Bella! Weapon skills only!”
Bella grinned fiercely, sword held out and high, ready to strike, shield up, as she circled Andy. “I hope you’re ready to need one of Bea’s healing potions!” Her shield was shiny and light, and Andy knew it was magical—a reward from the vermin dungeon they’d cleared.
“Let’s not try to hurt each other too badly, now,” he said, lunging into a feint to test her reflexes. She blocked the attack easily and hacked her sword at his spear as he pulled it back. The thing was, Andy knew he could beat her; she just wasn’t fast enough if he went all out. Still, he saw little sparring matches like that one as an opportunity to perfect his form. In this case, it would hopefully lead to a new class offer from the System, too.
Bella came at him, shield before her torso, as she tried to get him to expose a flank. There was no chance of it happening, though. Andy loved his spear for exactly that reason: he loved the reach it gave him, allowing him to shape the flow of a battle. Some might think that all they had to do to overcome the spear’s length was to knock it aside and rush inside his guard, but Andy was very well-trained on how to react to such maneuvers. He knew to backpedal or choke up on his grip, using the haft or the butt of the spear to knock a foe back or block.
He was quick and good at keeping track of his surroundings, so he never let Bella get close enough to do any damage with her sword. Even so, her shield did a fine job of frustrating Andy, too. It wasn’t very big—maybe twenty inches across—but she used it to great effect. Every time he lunged, there it was, knocking his spear aside so Bella could try another attack.
They went back and forth like that many times over the next couple of minutes, falling into a rhythm that Andy kept alive basically by fighting at half-speed. It was fun, almost like playing catch with a friend, but multiplied by a hundred in complexity. As they both began to breathe harder and build up a sheen of sweat despite the cool night air, Andy did his best to focus on nothing but the spear. After several more minutes, he finally slipped the tip past Bella’s guard and stuck her ever-so-shallowly in the thigh above her left knee.
“Ouch!” Bella growled, backing off. “Did you speed up?”
“I didn’t try to—” Andy’s words cut off as the System splashed a new message before his eyes:
***Congratulations, Andy! You’ve displayed an earnest effort to develop true martial prowess. The Fighter class is available to you. Would you like to adopt it? Yes/No.***