Chapter 3

When Randidly awoke, it was to some very weird notifications.As he opened his eyes, he noticed that the lights above flickered on, as if they had immediately shut off when he fell asleep. Shaking his head, he inspected the notifications.

Overnight, he had apparently reached Level 3 in farming. Sitting up, Randidly was stunned to find several sprouts coming up out of the spot that he had thrown the seeds from the berries. Excited, he got up and went over to inspect them. Although they didn’t seem like much, if they grew…

But then Randidly shook his head. Although it might be safe in here, he didn’t plan on remaining here forever. In fact, even just staying in the room and grinding would become a chore after a while. Still, farming would be incredibly useful for decreasing the danger in the short term, allowing him to gather sufficient strength before venturing out.

“I wonder how Ace and Sydney are doing…” Randidly muttered, his eyes going unfocused. But then he snapped back to the moment, opening his Path screen with an excited expression, putting the final two points into the Newbie Path.

Congratulations! You have earned 1 stat point(s).

Congratulations! You have earned 2 stat point(s).

Congratulations! You have completed the Newbie Path! +1 to all stats, +1 stat point per level, +4 Health per level, +2 Mana and +2 stamina per level. You have learned the active skills Mana Bolt Lvl 1 and Heavy Blow Lvl 1!

Continue using paths to explore this world! Remember, there will always be a path open to you.

Randidly laughed out loud. It seemed like completing a path certainly earned a lot of rewards. Not only was the final point he inserted worth 2 stat points instead of 1, but completing the path also had a big reward!

Then Randidly frowned. Although a lot of it was tied to level gains. And his level….was still N/A.

Did he miss something…?

Randidly did a once through on his menus, but there was nothing that he missed. Grimacing, Randidly considered the option that he had hypothesized about, but didn’t want to give voice to. If this is like a game, then there is likely a newbie area. But since he was underground when the system initialized, he just spawned right into a dungeon…? And in the newbie area…

Randidly’s eyes went to the spot where there was a series of lines instead of class.

In the newbie area, you earn a class, which allows you to level up...And without a class…

But then Randidly shook his head. No need to worry about that right now. He was improving slowly, and that is enough. He also had 3 stat points he could distribute. And now he had two skills that he needed to figure out how to use.

After eating the other half of yesterday’s harvest of berries, Randidly decided to put 1 point into End, 1 point into Agi, and deciding to take a gamble, another point into Per. Increased perception would hopefully allow him to spot approaching enemies like the frog earlier. If it had wanted to attack him at that time…

Randidly shivered.

After distributing his points, Randidly looked at his status.

Randidly Ghosthound

Class: ---

Level: N/A

Health(/R per hour): 47/47 (23.25)

Mana(/R per hour): 19/19 (8)

Stam(/R per min): 25/25 (11)

Vit: 6

End: 5

Str: 3

Agi: 8

Perception: 4

Reaction: 5

Resistance: 5

Willpower: 5

Inteligence: 4

Wisdom: 2

Control: 2

Focus: 3

Paths: Newbie 7/7, P.Def, M.Supp, Risk Taker

Skills: Running: Lvl 4, Physical Fitness Lvl 2, Sneak Lvl 2, Farming Lvl 3, Mana Bolt Lvl 1, Heavy Blow Lvl 1

Putting several points into End had improved both his health and his Stamina, which was important. Survivability and his ability to escape were critical. But for now…

Randidly turned his attention to his two newly learned skills. Feeling slightly foolish, Randidly said “Mana Bolt”

Immediately a screen popped up in front of him.

Mana Bolt: Focusing your energy, you fire a bolt of pure mana at your enemies. Costs 10 mana. Damage based on Intelligence and level of skill.

Pleased, he then said “Heavy Blow”.

Heavy Blow: Concentrate your force into one powerful attack. Costs 5 stamina. Damage based on Str and level of skill.

He tried saying the rest of his skills, but nothing happened. Apparently it only worked with active skills. Experimentally, Randidly raised his hand and pointed, focusing on his finger.

Nothing happened.

Feeling silly, Randidly concentrated again and said “Mana Bolt.”

Something inside of Randidly moved, something that he hadn’t had before yesterday, and hadn’t noticed because it never had been there before, rising and rushing to his finger. Surprised, Randidly looked down towards below his stomach, where the feeling was coming from.

Blue energy condensed on his finger and shot forward, or rather, downward, because the distracting feeling caused his arm to fall to his side.

So the mana bolt shot downward and struck himself in the foot.

Yelping and hopping, Randidly glared at the hole in his shoe, chiding himself for his idiocy. Then he checked his status. It had done 5 damage to him.

‘So at least it’s just flat intelligence plus skill level, huh…?’

Randidly wanted to try again, but due to the fact his maximum mana was only 19, he would need to wait a bit. And with a mana regeneration of 8, even tripled to 24 in this room, refilling his mana would take awhile.

Making a mental note to figure out what the Wis and Int stats did to his status, Randidly turned his attention to heavy blow. Stamina recharged per minute, so it seemed like this would be much easier to grind.

Feeling like he was in a martial arts movie, Randidly walked up to the small tree in the room, spread his feet, took a deep breath, and punched it.

To get it over with, Randidly had punched rather hard, and the small tree shook slightly. Surprisingly, there was a dull ache in his hand, but no real pain worth mentioning. Perhaps this was his stats of Vit and End paying dividends.

This time, when Randidly punched, he said “Heavy Blow”.

Another new force moved within Randidly, this time originating from his heart. And where the other was cool, this was warm and vibrant, filling his fist with destructive energy. When this punch reached the tree… it once again shook, but noticeably more.

Shaking his head, Randidly admitted he had been expecting a bit more, but it was probably enough to have this. After all, his skill was still level 1, and he only had a Str of 3. As time passed, and his stats and skill level increased.

But then Randidly shook his head, ridding himself of the budding excitement. Life or death, stay focused.