Chapter 125: Skills of a Ranged Specialist

Chapter 125: Skills of a Ranged Specialist

Kerr of Clan Nox

Race: Therion

Primary Class: Nox Archer (29)

Secondary Class: Far Wilds Traveler (25)

Tertiary Class: None

Combined Level Rating: 54

Health: 150/150

Magic: 0/0

Attributes

Strength: 15

Dexterity: 106

Agility: 20

Vitality: 15

Fortitude: 15

Endurance: 20

Arcane: 0

Divine: 0

Eldritch: 0

Focus: 0

Resilience: 13

Will: 0

When Kerr initially relayed her status sheet information to the group, Jadis found herself wondering if there was actually any big difference between a person who had a combat class and one who didn’t. At face value, Kerr’s attributes were not significantly higher than Aila’s even though she had more than twenty levels on the redhead, only ten of which were in her powerful arcanist class. Of course, Kerr’s Dexterity stat was huge; with the bonus forty-five points Jadis had pumped into her, Kerr was sitting at one hundred and six points in the attribute. Even before her boost, the archer still would have had a score of sixty-one, which at least seemed high to Jadis, though she still lacked some context. Overall though, Kerr’s attributes looked far less impressive to her than she expected.

“With that much Dexterity, you should have amazing accuracy with your bow now,” Aila commented as Kerr took a sip of water from her canteen. “And if you have any active skills that are powered by Dexterity...”

“Yeah, it’s a shame I literally can’t use my bow,” Kerr said with a frustrated sigh, holding up her empty quiver. “If we were in a forest, I could at least make some basic makeshift ones, but there’s nothing down here to do that with. Without ammunition, my charged shot skill is absolutely useless.”

“Is the bow and arrow the only thing you can use a ‘charged shot’ on? You have your throwing axes, don’t you?” Jay asked while motioning to Kerr’s hand axes.

“Dexterity helps my accuracy when I throw them,” the therion shook her horned head, “but it doesn’t do anything for the damage. My charged shot is limited, too. Actually, let me just read it out. It’s my first skill anyway.”

Nox Archer’s Charged Shot

Active Skill. Increase the damage of your next bow shot by 1.5 of the Dexterity attribute. Cost – 10 stamina.

If that was her primary class’s first skill, Jadis could well understand Kerr’s frustration with Jadis’ class and skills. There wasn’t much to the skill. It seemed like it would be an effective attack skill to her, since it sounded like it was adding on a static amount of extra damage per attack based on her Dexterity, but still. The skill didn’t come across as particularly exciting, not when compared to her Mirrored Body or Debauched Duplication skills.

“You have a family class?” Eir asked, perking up from where she sat cuddled into Dys’ side. “Your family clan must be old.”

“It is,” Kerr shrugged. “Most of my extended family have Nox Archer as one of their classes. It’s been a thing for a few hundred years. Nothing special, though. Barely any difference between it and other basic archer classes.”

“Are you a part of the main clan then, or a branch?” Eir questioned further, a look of interest on her face. “I assume branch since you’re so far from the Verdant Sea.”

“No,” Kerr shook her head, “I’m in the main clan. My father is the clan head, actually, Nox va Ratosh. I just didn’t want to stick around where all the trails are already walked, you know? Left the Sea years ago to travel, haven’t been back in a long time.”

At Jadis’ multi-mirrored look of surprise, Kerr blew a noise out of her lips and waved dismissively with one hand.

“Don’t give me that look. I’m number eighty-seven out of one-hundred-and-twelve children, last time I checked anyway. The old fucker is ninety and he just sired another litter with his youngest wife three years ago. Me being the chief’s daughter means nothing.”

“You have one hundred and eleven brothers and sisters?” Syd asked incredulously. “How? How the—wait, youngest wife? How many wives does your father have?”

“Fifteen,” Kerr answered casually almost bored, leaning her cheek on her hand. “I get this sometimes from people who don’t know therions, so let me give you the short version, okay? Clan and branch heads usually have a lot of husbands or wives because it shows off how strong and rich and amazing and blah blah blah they are. If a male clan head has a bunch of wives, that means lots of children because we therions give birth to litters, usually two to four brats at a go. You now get one question in response to the short version. Go.”

Jadis sat still as she thought about what Kerr had just explained about her people. She had a lot more than one question she wanted to ask but considering Kerr’s obvious disinterest in talking more about her culture, she decided to just go with the first question that popped into her head.

“What happens if you have a female clan head?” Syd asked.

“Well, since she’s only got the one breeding hole, there are a lot less children. Doesn’t really matter how many sausages you shove up there, can only get but so pregnant,” Kerr answered dryly. When all three of Jadis’ bodies gave her an unimpressed look, the therion rolled her green eyes and added a little more detail. “It depends on the size of the clan, but in the big ones like mine, if there’s a female head and she wants to have a lot of little pups running around, she will usually pick a few surrogates to breed with her husbands. Her own sisters, most times, to maintain the bloodline.”

They had gotten more than a little sidetracked, Jadis realized. Again. There was just so much she didn’t know about Oros or how things commonly worked, so it was easy to go off on tangents if she didn’t stay focused.

“Well, hey, I get it. If even this extremely minor talk of philosophy makes your head hurt, maybe you should go rest for a while, recover some of the little brain power you have,” Syd addressed Kerr with mock seriousness. “Feel free to take a nap.”

“Shut up,” Kerr growled, baring her fangs at Syd. “Don’t make me come over there and bite you. I’ve got more than enough brains for imperial philosophy.”

“You sure?” Dys asked with genuine sounding concern. “I’m pretty sure I fucked most of your brains out a few hours ago.”

“Ah fuck,” Kerr sighed. “You’re right. All my brains poured out of my ears between orgasms number five and six. I guess I don’t have enough left up there to read out my secondary class.”

“No, no,” Dys laughed, “I’m sorry. Go ahead. We’re all listening. Tell us what your secondary class is about. It’s called Far Wilds Traveler, right?”

“Yeah,” Kerr said, one side of her mouth going up in a half-smile, revealing one fang. “It’s a hybrid class. Has some combat utility but it’s more focused on travel and exploration. With the skills I chose, it helps with my stealth and scouting, too.”

Path Less Traveled

Passive Skill. Your movement through untamed wilderness terrains is greatly improved, allowing you to bypass obstacles that would otherwise slow you down. Any attempts to hide or move stealthily in wilderness terrains are similarly improved and others will have a harder time tracking your movements. These benefits are lost when moving through tamed, cultivated, or otherwise civilized environments.

Handaxe Mastery I

Passive Skill. Provides a minor boost to the offensive value of handaxe-type weapons.

Silent Step

Active Skill. Decrease the amount of noise made by you and your equipment while moving. Cost – 2 stamina per second.

Wild Traveler’s Nimbleness

Passive Skill. Increases the Dexterity and Agility attributes by 5 points.

Wild Traveler’s Reflexive Dodge

Active Skill. Temporarily increase reaction speed while retreating from an enemy.

Ambush Tactics I

Passive Skill. Deal minor extra damage with any attack made against a target that does not detect you.

Practiced Polyglot

Passive Skill. Increases the ease with which you learn new languages.

Landmark Navigator

Passive Skill. Decreases the chances of becoming lost so long as you are within visible range of a known landmark.

Strong Stomach

Passive Skill. Provides lesser protection from diseases and parasites that can be spread via ingestion.

Rest Anywhere, Sleep Everywhere

Passive Skill. Your ability to rest and recover is boosted in locations and environments that would otherwise be detrimental to your health and stamina regeneration.

See the Hidden World

Passive Skill. You are more likely to find hidden paths or discover unknown locations when traveling in untamed wilderness terrains. Both objects and creatures that are hidden from you are more likely to be spotted. These benefits are lost in tamed, cultivated, or otherwise civilized environments.

Silent Dash

Passive Skill. Double the speed at which you can travel while still moving silently.

Lesser Dexterity Improvement I

Passive Skill. Increases Dexterity by 5 points.

“Practiced Polyglot?” Aila asked, her eyebrow raised questioningly at Kerr.

“Yeah, what of it?” the archer said defensively. “I like to learn new languages. Helps me invent new and interesting ways to curse people out.”

“Fair enough.”

Looking at the whole picture, Jadis could see that Kerr’s class combo had made her into a highly specialized scout archer who could deal a lot of ranged physical damage as well as move stealthily through most terrains. While her effectiveness was reduced due to her lack of ammunition, she still had a great deal of utility for the group since she could still act as a scout and guide. While it wasn’t relevant to their current situation, Jadis could see Kerr using her skills to great effect in combination with Aila and herself when hunting demons. If they managed to find their way out of the caverns, she was seriously considering broaching the subject of making their temporary partnership a more permanent one with her. Not only did she seem very strong under the right circumstances, but Jadis liked Kerr. She was fun to be around, if a little rough around the edges.

On a more immediate note, Jadis wasn’t sure Kerr should have put her boost into Dexterity considering how she couldn’t make much use of it at the moment. Maybe strength would have been a better choice, so she could do better in melee? Or maybe Vitality, for survivability. Then again, with her over one hundred points in Dexterity, Jadis was sure Kerr could put one of her axes in the eyeball of a fly from a hundred feet away. Considering she was a ranged attack specialist, forcing her to get up close and personal when she wasn’t trained for it probably wasn’t the best idea. At the very least, Jadis resolved she needed to get Kerr more things she could throw at any monsters or demons they encountered on their way out of the caverns.

“All right, that’s me,” Kerr abruptly slapped her knees. “Who’s going next?”