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Chapter 16: A Promise
🕑 Added 2022-12-02 23:00:04 +0000 UTC“Shit!” Drake howled, as the Ape hit him like a runaway train. Tumbling to the ground, Drake managed to get up quickly, scanning the surroundings for the Ape. His eyes found the Ape but it was different than before.
The Vampiric Ape was slightly bigger in size than normal, and its ferocity was clearly more wild, foam forming around its mouth as it glared at Drake.
Drake took no time to point his staff in his left hand and aim at the beast. Quickly chanting his Mana Bolt spell, but the Ape surprisingly dodged the bolt with deft accuracy. Charging again at Drake.
Drake shuttered at the increased speed the Ape was showing, but chanted Bolts at the charging beast nonetheless.
The Ape continued to dodge the bolts as it closed in on him, forcing Drake to go into a melee.
“Joke’s on you! I’m also a warrior now!” Drake shouted as the Ape collided with him once again. Drake putting his sword and staff in front of him to brace for the impact. Surprisingly he didn't budge from the impact, and was holding the Ape back.
What’s going on? I should only be level 1? Drake asked inwardly. He shouldn’t have the strength to stop a Vampiric Ape with level 1 stats.
The Ape wasn’t about to wait for him to figure it out though, as it pulled and clawed at the weapons in front of it to get to Drake.
Drake refocused and pushed back with all the force he could muster. And with astonishment Drake had. Even slashing the Ape across the chest with his sword with the rebuke.
The Ape howled in pain, grabbing at its now bleeding chest. Allowing Drake the moment he needed to chant a point blank Mana Bolt right into the Ape’s chest, blowing a hole through it.
“What in the world is going on? That Ape was obviously stronger than normal ones, but I still killed it in essentially one Bolt. And what was up with my bloody strength there?” Drake asked aloud.
Drake looked at the kill notification for the Vampiric Ape.
[You have defeated Vampiric Ape [F Rank] Level 11] [1,100 Experience and 550 Tutorial Points awarded]
“F Rank? Did the monsters get an upgrade already? And it’s level 11! What tomfoolery is going on here, Mr Nook?” Drake said, bringing up the next notifications.
[Congratulations, you have increased to Mage x Warrior Level 2] [28 Free Points have been awarded]
[Congratulations, you have increased to Mage x Warrior level 3] [28 Free Points have been awarded]
28 Free Points per level?! What in the world was going on. This didn’t add up, Drake thought. He quickly opened his stats.
[Drake Wallen]
Tutorial Alias [Shot]
[Base Class: Mage x Warrior] [Unique] Level 3
[Vitality] 154
[Strength] 104
[Dexterity] 94
[Intelligence] 250
[Wisdom] 157
[Endurance] 87
[Free Points] 98
[Skills] Basic Mana Bolt [Level NA] Basic Heavy Strike [Level NA]
[Titles] First Blood, Two versus One, One vs Many, Monkey Slayer, Living on the Edge, Close Call, Dead Man Walking, Dual Class, Punching Up, Improbability.
Drake dropped again to his knees then gave a guttural roar to the heavens and laughed loudly, so much so that he made his voice hoarse. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
Did the system hate him or love him? What kind of toxic relationship was he getting into. Drake thought as he pursued his stats. The stats from his 12 levels as a Mage had remained, and on top of that his Free Points as well.
Drake could barely process what he was looking at, tightening the grips of his hands around his weapons until he heard a small crackling, and then a sudden snap of wood.
“Oh fuck! No no no…” He hurriedly said looking down at the snapped remains of his wooden staff.
“No no! Don’t worry little buddy I’ll fix you right up, good as new!” He rambled, trying to put the pieces back together like a puzzle. Finally getting it to a semblance of its former majesty he raised it into the air and inspected it.
[Novice Wooden Staff] [Broken]
- Broken Wooden Staff, Nice job.
- Damage: 0 because it doesn't work.
- Attack Speed: None, you could try throwing it at stuff though.
- Casting Speed: None, just use your hands dummy.
- A broken wooden staff that is still made out of wood, just now in broken itty bitty pieces.
“You know. I don’t like being called out in this manner. I just went through a horrendous experience.” Drake joked at the description, his mood slightly lightening.
Drake thought it truly was the end for him, or at least that he would have to struggle even harder to get back to normal, but it turned out to not be as bad as he thought.
He looked back over some of the stats and found that he was gaining twice as many Free Points which he believed was due to having technically two classes. Which meant that he was also gaining the Warrior base stat bonus with each level as well. Which would explain how his Strength had jumped to a whopping 104.
His other stats were no slouches either. He had broken past 200 in Intelligence and was halfway to 300 and his previously abysmal Endurance and Dexterity were now almost breaking through the 100 stat threshold. Which he could only attribute to his three new Titles.
[Dual Class]
[You have gone back to the start. But it is not all lost, the trail is long and hard but rewarding. +20 to all Stats. Increased requirement for experience gain. Twice as much Experience is required per Level.]
[Punching Up]
[You have defeated a being a full Rank above your own. This is no small feat and normally impossible. +30 to all Stats.]
[Improbability]
[You have defeated a foe 10 Levels above your own. Although the odds were stacked against you, you prevailed. +5 to all Stats]
Drake gaped at the bonuses, these titles alone accounted for 55 points to all of his stats. But the Dual Class Title had a pretty horrifying implication with its demerit. If he was required to gain twice as much experience that would mean double the amount of mobs and danger he would have to face, to get the same return as anyone else. But he thought it was actually quite fair considering he had double the stat bonuses thanks to it.
The amount of work he would have to do though would go up exponentially. Would there even be enough monsters here for him to kill to level up after a while?
Drake now felt much more optimistic about everything. He was still bitter that he was forced to level again, but he had inadvertently gained a huge boon in terms of future value. It might be slow going but he would be getting the stats of two levels for every one he obtained, and because of his stats remaining he was able to kill a monster 10 levels above him. It was a welcomed recompense.
Drake, finally done going over his new stats, and grieving for his lost comrade, whom he would find vengeance for in the coming battles. Those damn dirty Apes, how dare they do that to Frank. Walked over to the stone that had dropped from the Vampiric Ape.
[Skill Stone:Strength] [Uncommon]
[Unlocks a random skill from the Strength tree.]
[Requirement: Open Skill Slot. Have a Warrior Based Main Class-tree unlocked]
This was something new. Drake thought curiously. He hadn’t seen a Skill Stone like this from any of the previous Apes. Was it because it had evolved to F Rank? He would have to pay attention to his future drops.
He looked at the fading sun over the horizon, then back at the newly acquired blade in his hand. He surprisingly wasn’t even a bit tired like he normally would be around now. Was it his Endurance? It had made an incredible jump along with his Dexterity. And he still had Free Points to spend now that he thought of it. But the Free Points would have to wait until he got used to his new physical stats, he wanted to make sure he was distributing the large sum in a practical way to match his new goals. And if he was being honest after what he had just done to that Ape even before he gained his Titles for killing it; he didn’t feel in a rush to use them just yet.
Drake wanted to go test out his new stats and new warrior skill immediately but looking again at the waning sun, he would have to stop for now and find a place to rest and hole up for the night. He really hoped he would gain some source of lighting soon, he felt like he was wasting so much time not hunting at night, especially now that he wasn’t even tired.
He turned to the mound of dirt now marked by ‘Frank the Broken Staff’ and said, “Looks like I’m going again. Don’t miss me too much. I’ll be back soon enough this time though, but I’m going to come back when the Tutorial’s over. Next time when I’ve turned into someone stronger and unrecognizable. When I can say goodbye to my weak and indecisive self for good.” He smiled and began to turn. “No takesies backsies this time.” Drake muttered with a wave of his hand, as he walked back into the treeline.
