Leo leaned on his knees as he felt his ribs try and settle back into place. It was a good thing Ellie had finished it off. If he’d followed through with his plan to squash the bastarding thing that reflected his attack then he doubted his ribs would have held.

“Great job Ells. You really saved me there,” Leo praised his little companion in a breathy staccato voice.

Melting from the praise, she curled her body around his leg before relaxing and just flopping at his feet. Leo fully agreed with the sentiment and plopped back down too. Leo took a look at Ellie’s notifications. Which he supposed was his too.

Ellie has reached level 24

Stat points distributed

+3 Free Points

 

Ellie’s gains from race:
+5 Free Points

 

Sadly she didn’t hit 25. Leo was wondering if he would get a skill for her reaching that milestone or if it would be her that got the skill. So far she’d learned skills at 5 and 15. Evolving to E grade hadn’t given her anything new, so he hoped she would continue to gain some. The system didn’t really explain when one would learn skills—or anything much at all.

With nothing pressing to do and no enemies near, Leo activated the prompt for his new skill.

Excitement started to well up inside him. It felt like it had been ages since he’d last gotten a brand new skill to choose. His Elemental Stance was technically new, but he classed it more like an upgrade since it took away his Mana Strikes.

Leo looked at the first of four skills, and with it came that usual feeling of mediocrity that followed excitement.

Skybound Leap (Common)

You have learned to channel your strength and balance into a single, explosive motion. Enables controlled leaps that surpass normal human limits, allowing temporary resistance to gravity and minor reduction to fall impact.

Scales with Strength and Agility.

Cooldown: 30 Seconds

It was certainly something. Just… kinda average.

Leo pictured himself leaping super high into the sky and one day upgrading it into something that would let him reach the clouds with a single leap, but surely this was just something he could do with more stats. Or something his Wind Essence could do eventually.

With that, he moved on to the next, hoping for something a bit more interesting.

Comet Rush (Common)

Harness your momentum into a single, focused burst. Dash forward in a straight line, ignoring minor terrain and obstructions. Your next unarmed strike within moments of the rush gains increased impact and a brief stagger effect based on distance traveled.

Scales with Strength and Endurance
Cooldown: 30 seconds

This skill would effectively let Leo shout “I’m the Juggernaut, bitch!” while he ran through small walls, which was in itself kind of fun, but also just kind of not his thing.

Although, he couldn’t deny the effectiveness and potential this skill had. If he got another option to infuse a skill with an element, then he could see this getting something related to fire that turned him into a literal comet. Or perhaps with his luck it would turn him into a boulder that just kinda sat there and made the skill scale with purely Toughness. He shuddered. Sickening.

Next up.

Flicker Jabs (Uncommon)

Deliver a flurry of up to five rapid fire jabs. Each hit deals reduced damage but with increased attack speed. May your rain of blows overwhelm your foe.

Scales with Agility

Cooldown: 10 Seconds

Now this is better. Leo nodded to himself.

His method of stacking his Iron Repetition was to do something like this, attack with rapid fire blows before a big hit. It seemed the system had agreed, and offered him a skill for it.

With this he’d be able to get it going much quicker. This skill could also be upgraded with the elemental infusion that might show up at level 35. It could gain lightning, ice, or some other element to cause some cool effect, and Leo was all for it.

With one last skill to look at, Leo had almost made his choice. Almost being the operative word here.

Spiral Break (Uncommon)

Drive your fist in a tight, rotational arc, twisting force into a focused drill of pressure that pierces guards and tough exteriors.

Penetrates most reflective defenses.

Scales with Strength and Agility

Cooldown: 18 Seconds

This skill was basically mocking him for his last performance. Or rewarding him.

Probably mocking.

However, he couldn’t deny that it was incredibly useful. Especially if there were more of those armoured Antlings kicking around in this new part of the city. His new natural arch enemy.

The potential upgrades for this skill were also very enticing, even having ideas of his own to upgrade it himself. Wind to enhance the spiral, ice to add sharpness, even fire for a fiery spin punch.

Overall, Leo had been neglecting his class skills and been relying a lot on his Essence skills. There were far more of them right now, and managing the upgrades for them just tended to be pumping more mana into them or using mana a bit more effectively, resulting in an upgrade. Something he figured wouldn’t be a lasting option going forward.

Yet when he’d tried to use elemental mana on his class skills, it was like they struggled to mix.

Take his Echoing Talon, for example. Leo had practiced it in his spare time when he’d gotten the skill and had ideas of trying to combine it with fire, lightning, etc. However, each time he’d tried it, the skill tended to fizzle and not work.

It was clear that the class skills could be combined, the elemental infusion at level 25 had told him so. Unless it had to be guided by the system due to his inadequacy or some kind of limitation. He must have been missing something.

Decision paralysis had fully set in at this point and Leo started weighing them based on what would work well with what element and how likely they were to get a good upgrade. When that ultimately failed, he considered flipping a coin.

He had no coins.

By this point he’d healed up enough to move. The building before him and the excitable little dragon were calling for his attention so he needed to make a choice.

You have gained the skill: Spiral Break (Uncommon)

What swayed him in the end was the armoured Antling that reflected him and the overwhelming feeling of not wanting to deal with that bullshit again.

This would also be a great addition to his set, and there was no stopping him from picking up Flicker Jabs next skill selection if needed, the previous options still being available when the new ones appeared.

Of course, there would likely be something to decide against but he’d cross that bridge in another ten levels.

It was now time to explore this interesting building that looked to be some kind of workshop.

If Leo knew one thing, it was that workshops, and places of the like, could hold goods or treasures. Did he know this from actual experience? No. But if one was to play a game with such buildings then they would often find things of value—provided you could get in.

The outside of the building was fairly decorated, the stone around the entrance darker than the surrounding walls as if years of smoke and heat had stained it. Narrow windows lined the sides of the workshop, their shutters half-open and rimmed with warped metal brackets that had clearly seen more than a few roaring furnaces. Or been attacked by someone like Ruby.

A few sigils were engraved above the door, etched deep into stone in elegant looping shapes that reminded Leo vaguely of curling flames or flowing glass, He squinted up at them, trying to make sense of the symbols.

Oh. Nevermind.

The runes began shifting until they could be read. Somehow turning to perfect English. It wasn’t quite the same as the obelisk in Iskarion’s wasteland; those had always been readable.

Harvin’s Glassworks

“Glass, huh?” Leo mused as he read aloud. “Not exactly an armory or crafting goldmine but could still have something.”

Ellie looked less than pleased and Leo guessed that it was from his own lack of enthusiasm. In fact, it seemed all her excitement of going into this building had completely vanished. She stomped over towards the dead antlings and started feasting. That built up her spirits but Leo would need to watch her diet.

Insects are a high-protein meal so it should be fine. Still gross though.

Stepping inside, Leo could see that there were old signs of a scuffle. Broken glass littered the floors, shelves made from nice looking wood were broken into pieces. Dust was being kicked up wherever he walked. It didn’t seem like there were many items of value at first glance, but looting a place to find its valuables was part of the fun.

He did inspect some of the pretty glass sculptures on the remaining shelves but it appeared they weren’t all that useful.

Sculpture of a Fox (Uncommon)

A well crafted work of art that displays the beauty of the fox, made by a talented Glassworker.

No magical effects.

While the usefulness was completely apparent, its beauty was something to behold. Leo had seen animals made from glass in the past from very talented people up in a northern part of the country.

The small place he’d been to as a kid had shown him the level of skill one could achieve if they dedicated themselves to it. Since then he’d been trying to find his own skill or talent but had come up empty, resulting in lacking grades and an enthusiasm for gaming.

He stored the piece and all the others that were salvageable enough to be kept. Who knows, perhaps one day he would line them up on a shelf in his home. A fond memory of his first looting spree.

Entering the backrooms, Leo found the crafters workspace, an old furnace in the corner that was barely held together. Lined up along the walls were small bottles that looked similar to those used for the basic potions. A quick identify confirmed his assumption.

Basic Glass Bottle (Common)

A glass bottle used for crafting or alchemy.

It is enchanted to be more durable than regular glass.

Needless to say he stored all of the bottles. It ended up being a lot by the time he’d gathered them all. 104 bottles.

They would hopefully do the crafters well. He could see if anyone had an interest in alchemy or potion making. So far there wasn’t anyone, but that could change.

After another few minutes of searching, he’d found a drawer that was jammed shut. He’d completely missed it on his first pass, guessing that it was just a bit of wood that was sticking out due to damage.

Gently wrenching it open, Leo found what he’d call the jackpot of the workshop.

Glassmaker’s Lens (Rare)

A Lens crafted by a talented glassworker. This lens is enchanted to grant the wearer heightened focus, perfect vision and mana sight.

Requirements: Level 25+ in any profession

Glassblower’s Gauntlet (Rare)

A leather glove with inset mana-threading, when used for highly detailed crafting it will enhance the wearer's precision and dexterity.

Requirements: Level 25+ in any profession

Sweet, sweet loot.

None of it could be used by him sadly, even if he had a use for it.

When he tried to use the lens, the system told him he hadn’t met the requirements. This could mean that it required Ellie to be level 25 but Leo had a feeling that it still wouldn’t work. Definitely worth trying just to see if it worked when she did level, but Leo would likely just give these away to someone who could use them better.

Lena would probably enjoy these.

~

A thread was carefully woven through countless others into the canvas that was her work. Since discovering her profession, she had seldom done anything else. The gloves she had made for Leo were her best item so far. Most items she’d crafted had been of common rarity but they were all useful and better than the starting gear.

Her most recent item had the highest level requirement yet.

Well crafted pants of the novice threadwright (Common)

An item crafted by a budding talent. These pants, while basic, give the wearer increased mobility thanks to the skill of the crafter. They also grant minor protection from cutting and stabbing attacks.

Enchantments:

Tough thread

+3 Agility, +1 Toughness

Requirements: Level 18+ in any Class or Profession

A new item has been crafted

Increased experience has been gained

Your Threadwright profession has reached Level 20

Stat points distributed

+1 Free Point

Profession upgrade threshold reached

You have gained the necessary requisites to evolve your race

Mandatory requisite: Level 20 in either class or profession

Would you like to evolve your race now?

Lena looked upon the system prompt and stopped working. She’d been told by Amy when she’d returned from the Tower about what to expect when reaching Level 20, so this wasn’t a scary surprise. There was still a bit of apprehension though.

Accepting the prompt, she fell into her soul-space and chose her race option from the only one available, as was the same for most humans.

The path of a human race was a fairly linear one, but it could also be malleable. Some humans found a way to modify their race with items, bloodlines, skills, or environment. Even some God’s blessings would end up granting the person a way to become more in line with their patron. Half dwarves, half elfs, even some half snakes.

The choices were endless. One just needed the opportunity.

Finishing her evolution, Lena opened her eyes to her other option. One she was far more interested in than looking prettier. Although she did enjoy that part a little.

Threadwright Profession evolution unlocked.

Upgrade your profession?

Yes/No

Excitement was dancing through her veins. Every day since she’d gained her profession had been so much fun. There was no killing, no being hurt, and even though she was not acting intentionally to help someone they were still being helped. Each stat that her friends or other members of her camp gained from her items would help at least a little.

Wasting no more time, she accepted.

There were three options to choose from, so she brought them all up before deciding.

Talented Threadweaver

You have proven yourself a talented Threadwright and thus the natural progression is to the Threadweaver. With this profession you will be able to further your skills and hone your talented potential.

Stat gains per level:

+4 Wisdom, +3 Intelligence, +3 Agility, +2 Free Points

Generous Threadmaiden

Your acts of donating your crafts to others instead of selling or bartering with no remorse has granted you this profession. With this profession, each craft will have increased effects when made with the restriction of being unable to be sold or traded.

Stat gains per level:

+5 Wisdom, +4 Vitality, +4 Intelligence, +1 Free Point

Prodigious Soulweaver

You have not just created impressive items or shown talent. You have utilised the power of the soul to bind items to specific individuals, a method that can only be done by the most gifted of threadweavers. This profession is not granted to many as most are not worthy of the path.

Stat gains per level:

+6 Wisdom, +4 Intelligence, +3 Agility, +2 Vitality, +2 Free Points

“Oh, wow,” Lena said in awe.

All of these spoke of how talented she was and it made her giddy with joy. Who didn’t like being praised? And to be praised by a seemingly omnipotent thing like the system was a wonderful feeling that rewarded all her hard work. The question was; which to choose?

They all had their benefits, with the Soulweaver being the most. She did like the idea behind the Generous Threadmaiden, but she also didn’t want to always give things out for free.

Right now it wasn’t like getting SC from these people would do her much good. There was nothing to say the Store Credits were useful outside of the tutorial. Not to mention her ultimate goal was to re-open her own tailoring store.

With that in mind, she made what most would call the obvious choice.

You have gained the profession: Prodigious Soulweaver

Skill unlocked

Soul Loom (Epic)

Manifest an ethereal loom to weave the threads of fate into your crafts. Each item created in the loom will have increased effects when wielded by one whose soul resonates with the chosen thread.

Hitting her peak of excitement she wanted to experiment with her new skill immediately, but before she could, another boon, or perhaps omen, greeted her vision once more.

You have been acknowledged by the Fate-bound Seamstress