Chapter 110 (2/2)

Perception: 32

Reaction: 35

Resistance: 15

Willpower: 13

Inteligence: 22

Wisdom: 11

Control: 6

Focus: 6

Skills: Blessing of the Distant Southern Mountains Lvl 49, Ferocity Lvl 19, Running Lvl 23, Physical Fitness Lvl 20, Spear of the Broken Ridge Mastery Lvl 6, First Aid Lvl 12, Leap Lvl 29, Animal Skinning Lvl 19, Hunting Lvl 17, Sun Strike Lvl 9, Fighting Proficiency Lvl 20, Hawkeye Lvl 14, Block Lvl 19, Heavy Blow Lvl 32, Herculean Strength Lvl 14, Spear Deflect Lvl 12, Sweep Lvl 20, Mana Bolt Lvl 16, Battlecry Lvl 16, Dodge Lvl 14, Hot Blooded Lvl 8, Child of the Sun Lvl 5

She had focused on increasing her Physical Support stats, which she believed was the best path to power. Although her max speed wasn’t as high as most other people who chose to put points in Agility, her Perception and Reaction still gave her enough of an edge that she could spar with Classers without making a fool of herself.

Still, she had to acknowledge that it was profoundly frustrating that the real reason that she was having such success against the Classers was due to the bonuses of her Soul Skill, and the oppressive power of Sun Strike. Whereas Thrust had been useful for keeping a careless opponent on their toes, Sun Strike had enough raw damage output, especially during the day, to knock an opponent who wasn’t ready on their ass.

Feeling slightly foolish, Alana decided to consult with Daniel or Mrs. Hamilton before she made her decision. Perhaps there was something she wasn’t thinking of. Truthfully, in her heart, she wanted to consult with the Ghosthound, but…

It would be extremely shameful, after he gave her this gift, to run back to him asking how to use it, wouldn’t it?

*****

As the strange circling orbiting circles of birds floated towards him, Randidly narrowed his eyes, curious. He, of course, had seen them practicing this, but he wasn’t too impressed. Did they think it would be more difficult if it was more predictable…? That didn’t make sense. But Mrs. Hamilton’s easy smile, and Lyra’s determined expression made him nervous.

The weight of the vest was starting to get to him as well. After all these exercises, he was tired. His stamina came back, but he burned through it just as quickly, hastened by the exercise.

It was exceedingly strange, too, to spend half the day training like this, and to not receive a single skill level up notification. He supposed that was proof that he was much too reliant on it, but it was hard not to get discouraged, and wonder whether it was worth it.

The bobbing circles of birds approached, snapping him back to attention. Calmly, Randidly activated Spear Phantom’s Footwork and moved quickly forward, into the first circle. But Randidly didn’t stop there, and he rushed further forward, moving around the second and towards the third.

This was-

Suddenly, Randidly scrambled backwards. He had meant to go inside the third one, but it had abruptly shrunk, becoming a rapidly spinning blur of bird. As he twisted, Randidly saw that the two behind him had expanded, and the edges of their circles were approaching.

Randidly activated Haste and pushed his Spear Phantom’s Footwork work to the limit, avoiding the surprisingly difficult birds as they calmly circled. The weaved together, changing size and elevation, sometimes coming at him high, sometimes coming low.

Panting, Randidly found himself in the middle of the three circles, surrounding him. They were successively larger, but even the closest one was some distance away. Still, now that he was here… he didn’t feel great about his chances of escaping.

His eyelid twitched. The outer ring was rapidly shrinking, while the other two maintained a constant velocity and size. Randidly sprang into action, rushing forward. If he could get past the first ring before the third arrived-

But as Randidly made to step through the rotation, the first ring stopped. And then reversed, a bird arriving almost immediately at his chest. Hissing, Randidly activated Mana Strengthening, Haste, and Empower, pushing his Spear Phantom’s Footwork to its limit. He moved like a real Phantom, ripping around the dangerous bird with pure speed, emerging from the encirclement in a second.

Gasping for breath, Randidly went to check his stamina, but stopped himself. No notifications would be easier if he didn’t see anything. So he could only grit his teeth and prepare, as his body informed him he was running on close to empty.

*****

Razor Fleetfoot stretched and yawned, feeling slightly sore in his neck, but otherwise profoundly relaxed. It was a good idea to take a nap, he assured himself, opening his eyes. Now that he had shaken his jitters, he could find someone in charge of this village and finish his mission.

But the more that he thought about it, the more droopy eared he became. After all, if it had been easy to do, why hadn’t he been able to do it already…? And of these strange hairless creatures, most just seemed to ignore him, even though he looked so different from them.

“What sort of strange village is this…?” Razor muttered aloud. He was profoundly shocked when someone responded.

“That’s mighty presumchus talk for a giant bunny rabbit.”

“Presumptuous, Nathan” A little girl with ash smeared on her cheeks said to the little boy next to her. The boy folded his arms, annoyed. The little girl turned back to Razor and smiled. “So Mister Rabbit, what are you?”

“Err- it’s Fleetfoot, Razor Fleetfoot,” Razor said, extending his paw towards the girl. Then he felt profoundly silly, for introducing himself to a little girl, but he was just so pleased that someone finally acknowledged him…

But to his further surprise, the girl grasped his paw and shook it firmly. “I am Kiersty, Priestess of Arbor. Would you like to come see something pretty with us?”

Razor opened his mouth to say no, but then hesitated. After all, what could it hurt? At the very least these children probably were raised by someone who could point them in the right direction. So he nodded, and then followed the two children.