Roughly three weeks went by since the time I got that deal going with the soldier's camp to start pumping out fruits and stuff for them. I made a wider variety for them, including plants that could be used as seasonings amongst other useful produce that vastly improved the food quality of the few people that got to eat them.
David worked hard to make sure that we never got taken advantage of in the deals that went through and really all I had to do in the end was just worry about how fast and how well I could produce the needed stuff. Every now and then a new fruit or vegetable would be acquired and they would show it to me.
Fortunately, I didn’t need to eat them to produce the item, I just needed to see it. I wasn’t sure if eating it did make a difference or not personally, but according to the chef, the resulting product was usually close enough that it didn’t matter.
I wasn’t sure if they weren’t perfect matches because I just wasn’t good enough or because the original had been made by someone with much higher skills or class levels compared to me.
At the end of the day, I guess it really didn’t matter that much.
Each night I fought against a new opponent. And time after time again I would win. Either by landslides as my abilities were a perfect matchup against my opponent, or I’d win by the skin of my teeth with barely any mana or stamina left.
Each kill put me ever closer to my goal though, and I could feel a level of apprehension building in my chest as it happened. Without fail after the fight, I would put hours into refining my skills. Every level I gained in them was another small advantage. I wanted to get as many skills as I could to max level before classing up, but I didn’t plan to put it off for too long if I could help it on that front. If I got to the max level and felt it would take too long to max all of my miscellaneous skills I would just go ahead with the class-up.
‘Ping’ [Battlemage - Lightning] Has leveled 10 > 31
‘Ping’ [Bladedancer - Lightning] Has leveled 9 > 30
‘Ping’ [Nature’s Adept] Has leveled 7 > 25
A hefty amount of class levels had been acquired, progress was pretty steady. I was starting to feel the exp difference happening in the singular purple class that I had though. It would take a bit of effort to make sure it was on the same page. Although half of it was simply that I was just using my lightning classes way more often.
Their skills were extremely versatile and powerful. And each level only brought that up higher. There was a bit of exp given to [Nature’s Adept] each time I used lightning skills thanks to [Elements of Nature] but it wasn’t a lot. A trickle really. It was better than nothing though.
‘Ping’ [Identify] Has leveled 11 > 15²
‘Ping’ [Rest] Has leveled 7 > 2²
I realized with [Identify] I had been overlooking a good chunk of exp for the skill. I hadn’t identified every single person or object in the cellblock yet so I went ahead and did that and got a boatload of exp. The only problem I came across was that I was very limited in the number of things I could identify. Every time I went out into the main cavern whenever I was brought to fight I would [Identify] everything there as well. But it was slow going.
I wasn’t sure I’d be able to get this one to max before I decided to ascend.
What I had noticed was that once I got the skill to tier two it started providing newer benefits. For example, when I identified someone now I got their race in addition to their level. Which I’m sure could be easily fooled with the right skills, but it was still handy to have.
[Rest] on the other hand was easier if just more tedious. I just needed to expend mana and then recover it with the skill. Expending stamina helped as well since the skill helped recover both. So there wasn’t much to think of on that front. Expend mana and stamina and then rest to recover it.
Simple.
‘Ping’ [Mana Sense] Has leveled 8 > 20
‘Ping’ [Electric Sense] Has leveled 8 > 25
[Electric Sense] was starting to outpace its counterpart. I assumed that had more to do with the fact that it was electricity-based than anything else. Although both skills were increasing steadily, it would be some time before they maxed out. Everything in the second tier was much, much, slower to level.
Not much I could do on that front but press forward.
‘Ping’ [Sword Apprentice] Has leveled 11 > 40
‘Ping’ [Martial Technique] Has leveled 3 > 4²
‘Ping’ [Dagger Apprentice] Has leveled 1 > 1²
[Martial Technique] had seen the single largest level growth. Originally the skill had been [Fist Technique] but as I leveled it, I also started to focus on using feet and elbows. The skill had evolved into this, which was much better than what it had been given the wider breadth of utility it had. Initially, I hadn’t been interested in leveling it, but thoughts of how I had fought Fist had convinced me to go ahead and do so. Even if I could make any weapon at any point there was no reason to not level it. It could come in handy.
In terms of pure exp gain, however, [Dagger Apprentice] was extremely comparable.
Lurks had let me use the dagger I had acquired whenever I fought so when I went back to my room each night I practiced with a dagger in my offhand to make sure that I was proficient with the style.
Initially, it was difficult to mix both the fighting style I was aiming for and the casting of spells to complement my blades. But once they started to fit together it proved to be extremely powerful.
If only for the ability to use two different blade skills at once. [Second Strike] really loved having more than one weapon to work with.
[Sword Apprentice] was more than likely going to be my first skill to hit level cap. I didn’t really have a problem with that, it was simply one of my most used skills at this point.
‘Ping’ [Wood Manipulation] Has leveled 4 > 20
‘Ping’ [Electric Manipulation] Has leveled 6 > 1²
Both of my manipulation skills were increasing steadily as well. These were my next most used skills after [Sword Apprentice]. Getting them up in levels I slowly started to be able to form even more intricate shapes and constructs with both of them. For electricity it responded more readily to my desires, forming shapes that it didn’t want to without a fuss. For wood that meant more aesthetically and mechanically satisfying arm, weapon, and armor designs. It was nice seeing good progress.
‘Ping’ [Accelerated Thoughts] Has leveled 12 > 25
‘Ping’ [Parallel Thoughts] Has leveled 8 > 20
[Accelerated Thoughts] was leveling pretty nicely. Although both it and [Parallel Minds] were also relatively slow-going skills. Each level was a massive benefit though. Something I had noticed with [Accelerated Thoughts] was that I could control the speed at which my mind operated at.
Sort of like a car with a gas pedal. I could press down harder on the pedal and speed up the car until I hit my max speed or I could just let it idle and slowly move forward. Something I hadn’t really taken notice of with the skill was that it was already in the second tier. My perception and thought speeds were already being enhanced by my stats.
[Accelerated Thoughts] enhanced that by another 60%. That was noticeable. By a lot. Although I’m sure a lot of other people had this skill as well, it hadn’t been all that hard to acquire considering.
[Parallel Minds] on the other hand was a ridiculous skill. I wasn’t even entirely sure how this one had been acquired since I had been under Lurks’ control when I had gotten it. But each level just highlighted how powerful it was.
Each additional mind allowed a different separate task to be handled until I genuinely just started to run out of tasks to assign. It made a lot of things a lot easier, hell I would’ve loved having this skill when I was doing calculus or physics back in high school. I could do advanced calculations in my mind by bonding the minds together to handle the task.
There was a downside to the skill, however. It improved my critical thinking skills and my analytical abilities, but it didn’t allow me to understand something that was impossible for me to understand. For example, while I could learn how to speak a new language relatively quickly I wouldn’t know how to dress a deer. I just didn’t know the technique from it, if I had someone to teach me I could pick it up quickly but I couldn’t do the impossible with this skill.
Which was fine with me. I wasn’t expecting to work miracles just yet. Besides if I needed food I had skills for that already. I was well on my way to being self-sufficient as it was.
Maybe I should pick up cooking so I could start making my own food. Save money.
Food for thought. Heh.
‘Ping’ [Fruit Production] Has leveled 15 > 22²
‘Ping’ [Plant Production] Has leveled 7 > 17²
‘Ping’ [Vegetable Production] Has leveled 3 > 5²
My production skills each saw major improvements as well. And with each level, and much more noticeably, with each tier, my products got better. They looked better, tasted better, and lasted longer before spoiling. It started to get easier and cheaper to make as well, similar to my manipulation skills.
As it got easier, faster, and cheaper to make I could start picking up the speed at which I made them. With each additional mind my speed at making things picked up as well allowing me to make more, which allowed us to sell more, which earned us more. I produced stuff for Jolene as well and didn’t charge her anything for it. In turn, she usually gave me the best of what she made.
And she was damn good at cooking as well. It was a fun little arrangement we had together.
‘Ping’ [Fatigue Resistance] Has leveled 21 > 17²
[Fatigue Resistance] was the last skill on my radar that I was interested in. I still couldn’t help but wish the skill reduced the effects of being exhausted, but all it did was make them less noticeable. I was able to push the effects to the back of my mind, but the negatives were still there. I was just able to push myself harder.
But that came with a breaking point, if I wasn’t careful I could pass that and do devastating damage to my body and mind. So I made an effort to be careful. Thankfully I had a bunch of other me’s in my head to help me keep track of stuff.
Although that might be a bit of a misnomer. They were all me, and by me, I mean actually me. Not me’s that were separate like a hivemind, but more like it was all me except I could actually multitask.
And I mean real multitasking, not the ‘I’m good enough at doing one task that I don’t have to think about it anymore so I can think about something else.’ Real, actual, multitasking. I could focus on multiple things and dedicate, essentially, 100% of my focus to them. Or 200% or 300% depending on how much I felt the task at hand required.
Steady progress was being made, and I was happy about it. But skill grinding wasn’t the only thing I was doing. I spent a good portion of time fostering my relationships with Max and Kayla. Well. I say that, but a lot of that was Kayla wanting to talk with me.
She was a boisterous child, always something to talk about, and happy to share it with you. Max worked to reign her in as best he could, but she just didn’t want to be contained. Not that I felt it was a bad thing, it put a warm feeling in my chest.
I also spent time talking with Jolene occasionally. We both didn’t have much to say to each other, but she was the only one I felt comfortable talking to about the things that had happened with Lurks. Given that she had gone through something similar. She didn’t try to tell me how she would’ve handled the problems.
She just listened, and that’s what I needed more than anything. It was therapeutic, even if she didn’t really give me any advice and would just nod her head occasionally to show that she was actually paying attention to the problems I was bringing to her.
I appreciated it. There wasn’t anything either of us could do to fix the problem, the best we could do was try to mitigate the results to not be so devastating.
Although, it didn’t necessarily work in the way you would expect. Talking… didn’t make them any easier to think about. It didn’t miraculously take away my fear of Lurks or the trauma she had inflicted on me.
What it did do was make it easier to push to the back of my mind and ignore it until the next flare-up. That was it. That was all we could do for now. I wasn’t even sure I could get better at this point.
I’ll spare the nitty-gritty details, but I was broken. Mentally at the very least. That was a hard revelation if an easy one to see. I wasn’t even being held together by duct tape at this point. I had just managed to put some of the pieces together resembling some mock approximation of a mind. It allowed me to function and work day to day with no issues. I could laugh and smile and pretend that everything was fine.
But it took exactly zero effort to knock that facade down. I had more than one outburst during those weeks.
I’d rather not talk about what happened during those times. Suffice it to say, the people that triggered them were no longer with us.
And each time Lurks showed up to quell them. The superiority she showed was infuriating. The smug smirk she gave me as if saying, ‘Look the cracks are showing. I don’t even have to touch you any more to hurt you.’
What pissed me off more was that it was true. She had already hurt me enough that she didn’t even have to do anything else to cause more pain in my life. I was falling to pieces on my own while I desperately tried to pull myself back together.
Her words echoed in my mind.
“You haven’t quite gotten there, but you’re teetering on the edge. You’re struggling so desperately to make sense of everything and hold on to your last bit of sanity.”
I took a deep breath. I wouldn’t let her have the last laugh if I could help it. I had noticed that I was starting to hate her. Normally you’d think that’d be a normal thing right? Except I had realized that I was originally starting to exhibit signs of Stockholm Syndrome. I had been falling for her, whether that was appreciation as an idol or because I was attracted to her I wasn’t sure.
But she had been twisting me to like her, and now that she wasn’t infecting my mind and that was starting to die away, I began to hate her.
A deep, roiling, black, all-consuming hatred.
What made it worse was that I was too weak to do anything about it except watch. She was untouchable because she was just stronger than me. The even more infuriating part was that she was stronger in every sense of the word. I didn’t have a single stat that beat hers. Strength, Vigor, Wisdom. All of them were less than hers. I was just completely outclassed.
She also had [Accelerated Thoughts] and [Parallel Minds] as well. And naturally, hers were at a higher level.
I wasn’t going to let this hold me back though. I still tried to brainstorm an idea to escape, even if it might be useless. I would have to come up with the idea and immediately execute it. Unfortunately, that meant not having a fully fleshed-out plan. But that would be fine. A half-baked plan was better than one where an enemy knew it inside and out.
I hadn’t managed to come up with anything yet. But I had no doubt an opportunity would present itself. Not even Lurks could constantly keep her attention on me. It had to be true.
I needed it to be.
***
I got out of bed and stretched. I was feeling worn out from my hard work, but I felt good. It was a good morning and I had no doubt it would pay off somehow. I wasn’t sure yet. But I just had a hunch.
I went out and got some food from the kitchen and sat down with Kayla and Max. We chatted amiably. By the time I was finished with my food, I had a smile on my face. I felt content, even if not everything was right. Some things could be worse, but they weren’t.
Lurks hadn’t taken me in nearly a month at this point.
I was happy, now I just needed an opportunity to escape. I’d be sad to leave behind Jolene, Max, and Kayla. But I had no doubt they would take the same opportunity if it was presented. No, I expected them to do so. I would not want them to stay behind for me. I would be frustrated with them if they did.
I was interrupted in my conversation with Max and Kayla by Gorlin approaching our table.
“David wants ya he does, sent Gorlin to fetch you he did,” Gorlin said, with that odd cadence he had.
“Did he say what for?” I asked.
“Out front, foodstuffs,” Gorlin said, shaking his head.
“Alright,” I said with a smile, “I’ll be right there.”
Maybe I’d get my chance to escape sooner than I thought.
Name: Alexander King
Ability Points: 765
Tier 2 Class - [Battlemage - Lightning] - Level 31
Ability - [Lightning Storm]
Ability - [Paralyzing Blast]
Ability - [As Fast As Lighting - Passive]
Ability - [Lightning Aura]
Ability - [Chain Lightning]
Ability - [Conductor Points]
Tier 2 Class - [Bladedancer - Lightning] - Level 30
Ability - [Forged by the Storm - Passive]
Ability - [Lightning Strikes]
Ability - [Enchanted Redirection]
Ability - [Enchanted Accuracy]
Ability - [Second Strike]
Ability - [Ride the Lightning]
Tier 2 Class - [Nature’s Adept] - Level 25
Ability - [Natures Protection]
Ability - [Healing Blossom]
Ability - [Elements of Nature - Passive]
Ability - [Bind]
Ability - [Nature’s Touch]
Ability - [Barrier]
Ability - [One With Nature]
Enhancements -
Tier 1 [Point Blank] (Level 25)
Tier 1 [Weapon Proficiency] (Level 25)
Tier 1 [Quickness] (Level 25)
Tier 2 - [Close Quarters Casting] (Level 50)
Tier 2 - [Dodge] (Level 50)
Tier 2 - [Feint Proficiency] (Level 50)
General Skills -
Tier 2 [Identify] - Level 15
Tier 2 [Rest] - Level 2
Tier 2 [Mana Sense] - Level 20
Tier 2 [Electric Sense] - Level 25
Tier 2 [Sword Apprentice] - Level 40
Tier 2 [Fist Technique] - Level 4
Tier 2 [Dagger Apprentice] - Level 1
Tier 2 [Wood Manipulation] - Level 20
Tier 2 [Electric Manipulation] - Level 1
Tier 2 [Accelerated Thoughts] - Level 25
Tier 2 [Parallel Minds] - Level 20 (15 additional minds)
Tier 2 [Fruit Production] - Level 22
Tier 2 [Plant Production] - Level 17
Tier 2 [Vegetable Production] - Level 5
Tier 2 [Fatigue Resistance] - Level 17
Tier 1 [Erotic Arts] - Level 2
[Mining] - Level 3
Status -
Vig - [2547] (4202.55)
End - [2331] (3846.15)
Str - [2218]
Dex - [2361] (4141.02) [6211.53] {6211.53}
Agi - [2322] (5611.32) |6285.57| {8416.98/9091.23}
Int - [2697]
Wis - [2806]
Health - 42025/42025
Stamina - 38461/38461
Mana - 28060/28060
(number represents passives provided by classes) |number represents CQC enhancement bonus| {Number represents 1 second spike when dodging/with CQC active} [number for weapon dexterity]
Roughly three weeks went by since the time I got that deal going with the soldier's camp to start pumping out fruits and stuff for them. I made a wider variety for them, including plants that could be used as seasonings amongst other useful produce that vastly improved the food quality of the few people that got to eat them.
David worked hard to make sure that we never got taken advantage of in the deals that went through and really all I had to do in the end was just worry about how fast and how well I could produce the needed stuff. Every now and then a new fruit or vegetable would be acquired and they would show it to me.
Fortunately, I didn’t need to eat them to produce the item, I just needed to see it. I wasn’t sure if eating it did make a difference or not personally, but according to the chef, the resulting product was usually close enough that it didn’t matter.
I wasn’t sure if they weren’t perfect matches because I just wasn’t good enough or because the original had been made by someone with much higher skills or class levels compared to me.
At the end of the day, I guess it really didn’t matter that much.
Each night I fought against a new opponent. And time after time again I would win. Either by landslides as my abilities were a perfect matchup against my opponent, or I’d win by the skin of my teeth with barely any mana or stamina left.
Each kill put me ever closer to my goal though, and I could feel a level of apprehension building in my chest as it happened. Without fail after the fight, I would put hours into refining my skills. Every level I gained in them was another small advantage. I wanted to get as many skills as I could to max level before classing up, but I didn’t plan to put it off for too long if I could help it on that front. If I got to the max level and felt it would take too long to max all of my miscellaneous skills I would just go ahead with the class-up.
‘Ping’ [Battlemage - Lightning] Has leveled 10 > 31
‘Ping’ [Bladedancer - Lightning] Has leveled 9 > 30
‘Ping’ [Nature’s Adept] Has leveled 7 > 25
A hefty amount of class levels had been acquired, progress was pretty steady. I was starting to feel the exp difference happening in the singular purple class that I had though. It would take a bit of effort to make sure it was on the same page. Although half of it was simply that I was just using my lightning classes way more often.
Their skills were extremely versatile and powerful. And each level only brought that up higher. There was a bit of exp given to [Nature’s Adept] each time I used lightning skills thanks to [Elements of Nature] but it wasn’t a lot. A trickle really. It was better than nothing though.
‘Ping’ [Identify] Has leveled 11 > 15²
‘Ping’ [Rest] Has leveled 7 > 2²
I realized with [Identify] I had been overlooking a good chunk of exp for the skill. I hadn’t identified every single person or object in the cellblock yet so I went ahead and did that and got a boatload of exp. The only problem I came across was that I was very limited in the number of things I could identify. Every time I went out into the main cavern whenever I was brought to fight I would [Identify] everything there as well. But it was slow going.
I wasn’t sure I’d be able to get this one to max before I decided to ascend.
What I had noticed was that once I got the skill to tier two it started providing newer benefits. For example, when I identified someone now I got their race in addition to their level. Which I’m sure could be easily fooled with the right skills, but it was still handy to have.
[Rest] on the other hand was easier if just more tedious. I just needed to expend mana and then recover it with the skill. Expending stamina helped as well since the skill helped recover both. So there wasn’t much to think of on that front. Expend mana and stamina and then rest to recover it.
Simple.
‘Ping’ [Mana Sense] Has leveled 8 > 20
‘Ping’ [Electric Sense] Has leveled 8 > 25
[Electric Sense] was starting to outpace its counterpart. I assumed that had more to do with the fact that it was electricity-based than anything else. Although both skills were increasing steadily, it would be some time before they maxed out. Everything in the second tier was much, much, slower to level.
Not much I could do on that front but press forward.
‘Ping’ [Sword Apprentice] Has leveled 11 > 40
‘Ping’ [Martial Technique] Has leveled 3 > 4²
‘Ping’ [Dagger Apprentice] Has leveled 1 > 1²
[Martial Technique] had seen the single largest level growth. Originally the skill had been [Fist Technique] but as I leveled it, I also started to focus on using feet and elbows. The skill had evolved into this, which was much better than what it had been given the wider breadth of utility it had. Initially, I hadn’t been interested in leveling it, but thoughts of how I had fought Fist had convinced me to go ahead and do so. Even if I could make any weapon at any point there was no reason to not level it. It could come in handy.
In terms of pure exp gain, however, [Dagger Apprentice] was extremely comparable.
Lurks had let me use the dagger I had acquired whenever I fought so when I went back to my room each night I practiced with a dagger in my offhand to make sure that I was proficient with the style.
Initially, it was difficult to mix both the fighting style I was aiming for and the casting of spells to complement my blades. But once they started to fit together it proved to be extremely powerful.
If only for the ability to use two different blade skills at once. [Second Strike] really loved having more than one weapon to work with.
[Sword Apprentice] was more than likely going to be my first skill to hit level cap. I didn’t really have a problem with that, it was simply one of my most used skills at this point.
‘Ping’ [Wood Manipulation] Has leveled 4 > 20
‘Ping’ [Electric Manipulation] Has leveled 6 > 1²
Both of my manipulation skills were increasing steadily as well. These were my next most used skills after [Sword Apprentice]. Getting them up in levels I slowly started to be able to form even more intricate shapes and constructs with both of them. For electricity it responded more readily to my desires, forming shapes that it didn’t want to without a fuss. For wood that meant more aesthetically and mechanically satisfying arm, weapon, and armor designs. It was nice seeing good progress.
‘Ping’ [Accelerated Thoughts] Has leveled 12 > 25
‘Ping’ [Parallel Thoughts] Has leveled 8 > 20
[Accelerated Thoughts] was leveling pretty nicely. Although both it and [Parallel Minds] were also relatively slow-going skills. Each level was a massive benefit though. Something I had noticed with [Accelerated Thoughts] was that I could control the speed at which my mind operated at.
Sort of like a car with a gas pedal. I could press down harder on the pedal and speed up the car until I hit my max speed or I could just let it idle and slowly move forward. Something I hadn’t really taken notice of with the skill was that it was already in the second tier. My perception and thought speeds were already being enhanced by my stats.
[Accelerated Thoughts] enhanced that by another 60%. That was noticeable. By a lot. Although I’m sure a lot of other people had this skill as well, it hadn’t been all that hard to acquire considering.
[Parallel Minds] on the other hand was a ridiculous skill. I wasn’t even entirely sure how this one had been acquired since I had been under Lurks’ control when I had gotten it. But each level just highlighted how powerful it was.
Each additional mind allowed a different separate task to be handled until I genuinely just started to run out of tasks to assign. It made a lot of things a lot easier, hell I would’ve loved having this skill when I was doing calculus or physics back in high school. I could do advanced calculations in my mind by bonding the minds together to handle the task.
There was a downside to the skill, however. It improved my critical thinking skills and my analytical abilities, but it didn’t allow me to understand something that was impossible for me to understand. For example, while I could learn how to speak a new language relatively quickly I wouldn’t know how to dress a deer. I just didn’t know the technique from it, if I had someone to teach me I could pick it up quickly but I couldn’t do the impossible with this skill.
Which was fine with me. I wasn’t expecting to work miracles just yet. Besides if I needed food I had skills for that already. I was well on my way to being self-sufficient as it was.
Maybe I should pick up cooking so I could start making my own food. Save money.
Food for thought. Heh.
‘Ping’ [Fruit Production] Has leveled 15 > 22²
‘Ping’ [Plant Production] Has leveled 7 > 17²
‘Ping’ [Vegetable Production] Has leveled 3 > 5²
My production skills each saw major improvements as well. And with each level, and much more noticeably, with each tier, my products got better. They looked better, tasted better, and lasted longer before spoiling. It started to get easier and cheaper to make as well, similar to my manipulation skills.
As it got easier, faster, and cheaper to make I could start picking up the speed at which I made them. With each additional mind my speed at making things picked up as well allowing me to make more, which allowed us to sell more, which earned us more. I produced stuff for Jolene as well and didn’t charge her anything for it. In turn, she usually gave me the best of what she made.
And she was damn good at cooking as well. It was a fun little arrangement we had together.
‘Ping’ [Fatigue Resistance] Has leveled 21 > 17²
[Fatigue Resistance] was the last skill on my radar that I was interested in. I still couldn’t help but wish the skill reduced the effects of being exhausted, but all it did was make them less noticeable. I was able to push the effects to the back of my mind, but the negatives were still there. I was just able to push myself harder.
But that came with a breaking point, if I wasn’t careful I could pass that and do devastating damage to my body and mind. So I made an effort to be careful. Thankfully I had a bunch of other me’s in my head to help me keep track of stuff.
Although that might be a bit of a misnomer. They were all me, and by me, I mean actually me. Not me’s that were separate like a hivemind, but more like it was all me except I could actually multitask.
And I mean real multitasking, not the ‘I’m good enough at doing one task that I don’t have to think about it anymore so I can think about something else.’ Real, actual, multitasking. I could focus on multiple things and dedicate, essentially, 100% of my focus to them. Or 200% or 300% depending on how much I felt the task at hand required.
Steady progress was being made, and I was happy about it. But skill grinding wasn’t the only thing I was doing. I spent a good portion of time fostering my relationships with Max and Kayla. Well. I say that, but a lot of that was Kayla wanting to talk with me.
She was a boisterous child, always something to talk about, and happy to share it with you. Max worked to reign her in as best he could, but she just didn’t want to be contained. Not that I felt it was a bad thing, it put a warm feeling in my chest.
I also spent time talking with Jolene occasionally. We both didn’t have much to say to each other, but she was the only one I felt comfortable talking to about the things that had happened with Lurks. Given that she had gone through something similar. She didn’t try to tell me how she would’ve handled the problems.
She just listened, and that’s what I needed more than anything. It was therapeutic, even if she didn’t really give me any advice and would just nod her head occasionally to show that she was actually paying attention to the problems I was bringing to her.
I appreciated it. There wasn’t anything either of us could do to fix the problem, the best we could do was try to mitigate the results to not be so devastating.
Although, it didn’t necessarily work in the way you would expect. Talking… didn’t make them any easier to think about. It didn’t miraculously take away my fear of Lurks or the trauma she had inflicted on me.
What it did do was make it easier to push to the back of my mind and ignore it until the next flare-up. That was it. That was all we could do for now. I wasn’t even sure I could get better at this point.
I’ll spare the nitty-gritty details, but I was broken. Mentally at the very least. That was a hard revelation if an easy one to see. I wasn’t even being held together by duct tape at this point. I had just managed to put some of the pieces together resembling some mock approximation of a mind. It allowed me to function and work day to day with no issues. I could laugh and smile and pretend that everything was fine.
But it took exactly zero effort to knock that facade down. I had more than one outburst during those weeks.
I’d rather not talk about what happened during those times. Suffice it to say, the people that triggered them were no longer with us.
And each time Lurks showed up to quell them. The superiority she showed was infuriating. The smug smirk she gave me as if saying, ‘Look the cracks are showing. I don’t even have to touch you any more to hurt you.’
What pissed me off more was that it was true. She had already hurt me enough that she didn’t even have to do anything else to cause more pain in my life. I was falling to pieces on my own while I desperately tried to pull myself back together.
Her words echoed in my mind.
“You haven’t quite gotten there, but you’re teetering on the edge. You’re struggling so desperately to make sense of everything and hold on to your last bit of sanity.”
I took a deep breath. I wouldn’t let her have the last laugh if I could help it. I had noticed that I was starting to hate her. Normally you’d think that’d be a normal thing right? Except I had realized that I was originally starting to exhibit signs of Stockholm Syndrome. I had been falling for her, whether that was appreciation as an idol or because I was attracted to her I wasn’t sure.
But she had been twisting me to like her, and now that she wasn’t infecting my mind and that was starting to die away, I began to hate her.
A deep, roiling, black, all-consuming hatred.
What made it worse was that I was too weak to do anything about it except watch. She was untouchable because she was just stronger than me. The even more infuriating part was that she was stronger in every sense of the word. I didn’t have a single stat that beat hers. Strength, Vigor, Wisdom. All of them were less than hers. I was just completely outclassed.
She also had [Accelerated Thoughts] and [Parallel Minds] as well. And naturally, hers were at a higher level.
I wasn’t going to let this hold me back though. I still tried to brainstorm an idea to escape, even if it might be useless. I would have to come up with the idea and immediately execute it. Unfortunately, that meant not having a fully fleshed-out plan. But that would be fine. A half-baked plan was better than one where an enemy knew it inside and out.
I hadn’t managed to come up with anything yet. But I had no doubt an opportunity would present itself. Not even Lurks could constantly keep her attention on me. It had to be true.
I needed it to be.
***
I got out of bed and stretched. I was feeling worn out from my hard work, but I felt good. It was a good morning and I had no doubt it would pay off somehow. I wasn’t sure yet. But I just had a hunch.
I went out and got some food from the kitchen and sat down with Kayla and Max. We chatted amiably. By the time I was finished with my food, I had a smile on my face. I felt content, even if not everything was right. Some things could be worse, but they weren’t.
Lurks hadn’t taken me in nearly a month at this point.
I was happy, now I just needed an opportunity to escape. I’d be sad to leave behind Jolene, Max, and Kayla. But I had no doubt they would take the same opportunity if it was presented. No, I expected them to do so. I would not want them to stay behind for me. I would be frustrated with them if they did.
I was interrupted in my conversation with Max and Kayla by Gorlin approaching our table.
“David wants ya he does, sent Gorlin to fetch you he did,” Gorlin said, with that odd cadence he had.
“Did he say what for?” I asked.
“Out front, foodstuffs,” Gorlin said, shaking his head.
“Alright,” I said with a smile, “I’ll be right there.”
Maybe I’d get my chance to escape sooner than I thought.
Name: Alexander King
Ability Points: 765
Tier 2 Class - [Battlemage - Lightning] - Level 31
Ability - [Lightning Storm]
Ability - [Paralyzing Blast]
Ability - [As Fast As Lighting - Passive]
Ability - [Lightning Aura]
Ability - [Chain Lightning]
Ability - [Conductor Points]
Tier 2 Class - [Bladedancer - Lightning] - Level 30
Ability - [Forged by the Storm - Passive]
Ability - [Lightning Strikes]
Ability - [Enchanted Redirection]
Ability - [Enchanted Accuracy]
Ability - [Second Strike]
Ability - [Ride the Lightning]
Tier 2 Class - [Nature’s Adept] - Level 25
Ability - [Natures Protection]
Ability - [Healing Blossom]
Ability - [Elements of Nature - Passive]
Ability - [Bind]
Ability - [Nature’s Touch]
Ability - [Barrier]
Ability - [One With Nature]
Enhancements -
Tier 1 [Point Blank] (Level 25)
Tier 1 [Weapon Proficiency] (Level 25)
Tier 1 [Quickness] (Level 25)
Tier 2 - [Close Quarters Casting] (Level 50)
Tier 2 - [Dodge] (Level 50)
Tier 2 - [Feint Proficiency] (Level 50)
General Skills -
Tier 2 [Identify] - Level 15
Tier 2 [Rest] - Level 2
Tier 2 [Mana Sense] - Level 20
Tier 2 [Electric Sense] - Level 25
Tier 2 [Sword Apprentice] - Level 40
Tier 2 [Fist Technique] - Level 4
Tier 2 [Dagger Apprentice] - Level 1
Tier 2 [Wood Manipulation] - Level 20
Tier 2 [Electric Manipulation] - Level 1
Tier 2 [Accelerated Thoughts] - Level 25
Tier 2 [Parallel Minds] - Level 20 (15 additional minds)
Tier 2 [Fruit Production] - Level 22
Tier 2 [Plant Production] - Level 17
Tier 2 [Vegetable Production] - Level 5
Tier 2 [Fatigue Resistance] - Level 17
Tier 1 [Erotic Arts] - Level 2
[Mining] - Level 3
Status -
Vig - [2547] (4202.55)
End - [2331] (3846.15)
Str - [2218]
Dex - [2361] (4141.02) [6211.53] {6211.53}
Agi - [2322] (5611.32) |6285.57| {8416.98/9091.23}
Int - [2697]
Wis - [2806]
Health - 42025/42025
Stamina - 38461/38461
Mana - 28060/28060
(number represents passives provided by classes) |number represents CQC enhancement bonus| {Number represents 1 second spike when dodging/with CQC active} [number for weapon dexterity]
