Preparing to head out

"It's the right way to use them, right?"

[You received the first-stage skill 'Shadow Hide' from a skill scroll]

[You received the first-stage skill 'Raven Call' from a skill scroll]

"I understand Shadow Hide, but I have never heard of 'Raven Call'. What's that? And it seems like a very peculiar skill to get.. Wait! Is it because of my affinities?"

[Anthony Merin]

[Lvl. 2]

[10/20 EXP]

[Age: 21]

[Race: Human]

[Class: None]

[HP: 7/15]

[MP: 12]

[Soul Power: 750]

[Stamina: 52]

[Strength: 9]

[Defense (race-based): 2]

[Agility: 11]

[Dexterity: 14]

[Intelligence: 12]

[Instincts: 1]

[Talents]

[Combat Talents:

[Spear Talent (Low)]

[Sword Talent (Low)]

[Bow Talent (Low)]

[Utility Talents:

[Cooking Talent (Low)]

[Affinities:

[Rare Shadow (High)]

[Special Rare Raven (High)]

[Skills:

[Shadow Hide (First-Stage)]

[Hide in any Shadow near you by fusinc yourself with the Shadows.]

[Mana Cost: 1 Mana per 6 Seconds]

[Raven Call (First-Stage)]

[Call Ravens of equal Level to yours to help you]

[Mana Cost: 1 Mana the Raven per Second]

"What is the special rare? And what is the Raven Affinity?"

[The ranks of Affinities for elements are:

[Common]

[Uncommon]

[Rare]

[Epic]

[Legendary]

[There are also Animal affinities, but they are limited. The ranks for the animal affinities are the same, just with the 'special' prefix]

"And why did I get the Raven affinity?"

[That's Classified Information]

"Oook?"

"But for now, let's test the skills and after I will search for Damien!"

"Sha.."

'Shadow Hide!'

After my shouting was the reason for one of the worst experiences in my life, I decided it was better to not attract monsters with my measly 8 HP. Of course it was better to not attract monsters at all, but if I was prepared I probably would have easily killed the cockroach and the spider.

After activating the skill I felt a bit dizzy and when I recollected myself, I was in the shadow of the couch.

"Wow.."

But then I remembered the Mana Cost and although it wasn't long, I already lost two units of Mana.

"I should't waste it."

I quickly deactivated skill and.. Wait!

"Spirit, do I have Passive Mana Regeneration?"

[Your passive Mana Regeneration is 6 Mana per Minute]

"Why 6?"

[At Level 1 you had 5 and with every Level you get one addtional Mana Regeneration]

"I see... So at Level 5 I will be able to Hide in the Shadows undefinitely?"

[If you hide in the Shadows for too long, the skill wouldn't be able to gather the particles of your body and recreate it]

"Ohh.... I should try to avoid using it for too long.."

While we 'talked', my Mana regenerated back to full and my HP to ten.

"In five minutes I will head out, for now I can try the Raven Call skill."

"Raven Call*1!", I whispered. Suddenly a Raven materialized from the Shadows.

"Caw Caw"

"Cuute! And that cutie is supposed to fight against monszers with me?"

(Author´s Note: I linked a picture of the raven in the author´s thoughts (not mine))

I used 'Appraise' on him:

[Summoned Raven (Baby)]

[Level 2]

[Race: Shadow Raven]

[HP: 25]

[MP: 15]

[Strength: 12]

[Defense (race-based): 1]

[Agility: 17]

[Dexterity: 15]

[Intelligence: 3]

[Skills:

[Shadow Spike (First-Stage)]

[Causes 10 Damage to the Enemy, 20 if the Target is standing on Shadows]

[Mana Cost: 5]

[Shadow Claw (First-Stage)]

[Reinforces the Claws with Shadows, Claws cause 1.5 times the damage]

[Mana Cost: 3 per 5 seconds]

"..."

"What are that stats?! And why does a baby raven have them at level 2?! You can´t tell me that little thing can win against me in a pure strength contest! Come on little raven!"

*crash*

[-2]

"Oook, I believe it now.."

Suddenly I felt very dizzy and passed out.

-2 Minutes later-

"Hmmm? What happened?", I asked while holding my head.

[You exhausted all of your Mana]

"Ohh, I can only use the skill for 12 seconds.. *sigh* The Mana consumption is really something else.."

"Ok, my Mana is full and my HP at ten, I can get ready to head out!"

-5 Minutes later-

After searching the entire dorm room for anything useful, I found a couple of things to eat in the fridge, of which 2 were the common Bread, bringing my stock up to 3 and one cheese sandwich with the note "Come to the main hall. Damien" and a bottle of water. I packed all that into my backpack.

[Cheese Sandwich (Common)]

[Increases all stats by 1 for five minutes]

"So he really was out before me... I wonder what Talents and skills he got? Or does he only have one skill? But I can ask him about that! I really hope he cleared at least a few of the monsters on the way... Because to get to the main hall from the third floor, and the dorm isn´t too clean either... If all insects and whatever turned into monsters it´s going to be a hassle to get down..."

And with that I headed out.