I emerge from my meditation six hours later feeling completely refreshed. I immediately do my exercise routine and then do a long sword combat routine.
⟨⟨-DING-⟩⟩.
- Congratulations, Skill Sword Basics has advanced to level 2!
√ Sword Basics.
√ Level 2
- Strength +2.
- You do 10% extra damage with swords.
Once I finish my workout, I grab the speargun and go to breakfast. I catch a fish on my first attempt, so I decide to give it a little more time and see if I can catch another one. The next few attempts fail, but then I succeed and get a second fish.
⟨⟨-DING-⟩⟩.
- Congratulations, the fishing skill has advanced to level 3!
√ Fishing
√ Level 3
- Agility +3
- You can try your hand at fishing.
Then I grab a handful of mushrooms and go back to my room to prepare breakfast. Since I have two fish and I'm sick of soup, I decide to grill the fish and sauté the mushrooms. I'll eat one fish now and the other later, it tastes better than the soup, but I'd still like to have some seasoning.
⟨⟨-DING-⟩⟩.
- Congratulations, the Cooking skill has advanced to level 4!
√ Cooking.
√ Level 4
- Intelligence. +4
- You can cook pretty decent food.
With a full stomach, I set out to continue mining. I plan to devote most of the day to it. I make good progress, though by the end of the day, already on my third day, I manage to clear almost five feet of tunnel. I go back to my room for dinner and go back to reading. I do it much faster now and feel like I'm actually learning the language instead of translating it all the time.
The next morning my routine is the same and after breakfast I go back to mining. By the middle of the day, when my fourth peak breaks, I'm about halfway through the tunnel.
⟨⟨-DING-⟩⟩.
- Congratulations, the Mining skill has advanced to level 5!
√ Mining
√ Level 5
- Strength +5 Endurance +2
- You can try to mine ore.
I go back and grab another pickaxe and return to mining. A few minutes later, as a section of rock breaks under my strike, I notice something strange. There is a bright spot on the rock; on closer look, it's not a rock I'm looking at.
√ MAGICAL OBJECT.
√ Armatite ore.
- A magical mineral, stronger and lighter than steel.
It is very difficult to work with.
I let myself get distracted and started mining the ore. It only took me an hour to extract the twenty-three kilos of ore that was there, so I thought it was worth the effort. Although I still have no blacksmithing skills, I figured I will eventually get it done when I have the equipment to do it.
I take the ore back to my room and then go back to continue working in the tunnel. I make about thirty more inches of progress before my pickaxe breaks again and I decide to call it a day. At that point I grab the shovel and clean everything up before returning to my room for dinner. As usual, I read while I eat and before going to meditate for the night I finish History of Empire I.
⟨⟨-DING-⟩⟩.
- Congratulations, Skill Linguistics has advanced to level 5!
√ Linguistics
√ Level 5
- A skill for recovery. HP 25/hour MP 25/hour
When I wake up in the morning, I go through my usual routine and start reading History of the Empire II while having breakfast. I'm eager to start exploring, but if it's more dangerous than the moat, I should be better prepared.
Then, once I finish eating, I take Black Razor out and work on carving the spider carapace into armor. It takes me a couple of hours to complete the armor.
⟨⟨-DING-⟩⟩.
- Congratulations, the Ivory Carving skill has advanced to level 6!
√ Ivory carving
√ Level 6
- Agility +6 Intelligence +3
- You can carve bones to make objects.
√ ITEM CREATED.
√ Spider's armor
- Defense +5
Next I start carving a shield, once I have the shape made, I make a hole in the middle and place a dagger hilt in it so the shield has a point.
√ ITEM CREATED.
√ Spider shield
- Defense +2 Damage 10
Once the shield is ready, I stand up, pull out my sword and do a combat practice with the shield.
⟨⟨-DING-⟩⟩.
- Congratulations, you have acquired the Sword and shield combat skill!
√ Sword and shield
√ Level 1
- Defense +1 Strength +1
- A style for both offense and defense.
'Hey, that was unexpected, are there even skills for combat styles?'
Then I go back to carving and work on bracelets and bracers.
√ ITEM CREATED.
√ Spider bracers.
- Defense +1 Resistance +5
√ ITEM CREATED.
√ Spider's bracelets
- Defense +2
These are some really cool extra abilities! When I try them all, I get an extra surprise.
- Set bonus active!
- Spider set 4/4
- Set bonus: Spider's web walking
- You can walk on spider webs without getting stuck as a spider.
Wow, did I create a set? But I wasn't trying, and I'm not complaining! That bonus will come in handy if I run into another spider.
I then set about modifying my fearsome wolf doublet so that it would fit over the breastplate without affecting my movements. Once that was done, I put everything on and did some combat training to make sure nothing would squeeze me, rub me or hinder my movements.
Once everything is settled, I sit down to dinner and continue reading. After I finish eating, I read for a couple of hours and then meditate for my usual six hours.
In the morning I do a light workout and go to breakfast. After breakfast I get dressed, put on my armor and grab all my weapons. Alright, I'm as ready as I can be, it's time to explore the sewers!