The Library (2)

Once I finally got that card, Eshia asked me if there was a certain book I'd like to see. I told her maybe later and went off to find a corner in the library farthest from the entrance.

I found a seat that offered enough privacy and opened my inventory. The first thing I did was open the last gift box.

Briiing! [The Player has received 120 skill points.]

"Hey, system, what are skill points?"

Briiing! [Skill points are points used to gain more skills in the skill tree or upgrade skills they already have. Every time a skill is upgraded, the cost of skill points goes up by one.]

"Cool! How do I get more?"

[By completing quests. You gain 5 skill points for each quest completed.]

"That's a pretty sweet deal."

[Indeed.]

I opened my inventory and took out the Assassin Class Book.

Briiing! [Would the Player like to choose the role 'Assassin' as his class?]

I pressed yes. The painful jolt in my mind wasn't as harsh as before. After going through it three or four times, I could deal with it better.

Briiing! [The class 'Assassin' comes with 5 passive skills and 2 active skills the Player can choose from the skill tree without using skill points. Which skills would the Player like to receive?]

What? This never happened before. Every time I got a class, the skills just came with it. Why was it different now?

Briiing [Those Class books had skills written in them so the Player could automatically learn them.]

"That makes sense. Alright, how do I find the skill tree?"

A tab popped up above the skills tab, labeled SKILL TREE. I opened it and found a list of my classes. I selected Assassin and a web made up of symbols appeared on my screen.

Briiing! [Please choose 5 passive skills and 2 active skills.]

"Alright, let's start with passive. Hmm...Balance looks nice. Stealth and Quickstep, too. Dagger Proficiency seems useful. And for my last one, I'll take...Light Armor."

[The Player has learned 5 passive Assassin skills: Balance, Stealth, Quickstep, Dagger Proficiency, and Light Armor.]

»Balance (Passive): Level 1

•A passive skill that lets its user keep their balance on uneven/slippery surfaces and narrow ledges,

•Level Restrictions: Ledges must be 8 inches wide or larger; Running on uneven/slippery terrain will guarantee a 99% chance of tripping

»Stealth (Passive): Level 1

•A passive skill used to sneak about unnoticed

•Level Restrictions: Stealth does not work on Players with detection skills five levels higher or more than current skill level; Moving will guarantee a 75% chance of being discovered

»Quickstep (Passive): Level 1

•A passive skill used to increase speed by 1

•Level Restrictions: Movement speed is lessened by 10 when running through water thirty inches or higher; Movement speed is lessened by 5 when running on unstable/slippery terrain

»Dagger Proficiency (Passive): Level 1

•A passive skill used to increase proficiency with daggers; max level increases by 5 when Player Level rises

•Proficiency: 1/5

•Level Restrictions: 50% chance of missing when using a dagger

»Light Armor (Passive): Level 1

•A passive skill that allows the user to block 1 more damage while wearing light armor and improves movement speed by 1

•Level Restrictions: Extra defense is negated when the attack power of an opponent is higher than the defense of the Player

"Okay, not too bad. Now, for the active skills...I'm thinking Mantis Thrust and Jagged Strike. Those sound cool."

[The Player has learned 2 active Assassin skills: Mantis Thrust and Jagged Strike.]

»Mantis Thrust (Active): Level 1

•An active skill used to inflict a crippling effect on an enemy

•Damage: 10

•Crippling Chance: 10%

•Effect Duration: 1 second

•Cost: 3 MP

»Jagged Strike (Active): Level 1

•An active skill used to inflict a bleeding effect on an enemy

•Damage: 10

•Bleeding Chance: 10%

•Effect Duration: 1 second

•Cost: 3 MP

"All these skills are so low...Hey, system, would it be alright to use my skill points to level them up?"

[The system does not see any problems with the Player doing this.]

120 skill points might've been a lot, but I had so many skill that upgrading them all would be impossible. I decided to level up all of my Assassin skills to 5 and leave it at that.

»Balance (Passive): Level 5

•A passive skill that lets its user keep their balance on uneven/slippery surfaces and narrow ledges,

•Level Restrictions: Ledges must be 7.5 inches wide or larger; Running on uneven/slippery terrain will guarantee a 94% chance of tripping

»Stealth (Passive): Level 5

•A passive skill used to sneak about unnoticed

•Level Restrictions: Stealth does not work on Players with detection skills five levels higher or more than current skill level; Moving will guarantee a 70% chance of being discovered

»Quickstep (Passive): Level 5

•A passive skill used to increase speed by 5

•Level Restrictions: Movement speed is lessened by 10 when running through water thirty inches or higher; Movement speed is lessened by 5 when running on unstable/slippery terrain

»Dagger Proficiency (Passive): Level 5

•A passive skill used to increase proficiency with daggers; max level increases by 5 when Player Level rises

•Proficiency: 5/5

•Level Restrictions: 45% chance of missing when using a dagger

»Light Armor (Passive): Level 5

•A passive skill that allows the user to block 5 more damage while wearing light armor and improves movement speed while wearing light armor by 5

•Level Restrictions: Extra defense is negated when the attack power of an opponent is higher than the defense of the Player

»Mantis Thrust (Active): Level 5

•An active skill used to inflict a crippling effect on an enemy

•Damage: 10

•Crippling Chance: 15%

•Effect Duration: 1.5 second

•Cost: 3 MP

»Jagged Strike (Active): Level 5

•An active skill used to inflict a bleeding effect on an enemy

•Damage: 10

•Bleeding Chance: 15%

•Effect Duration: 1.5 second

•Cost: 3 MP

I resisted the urge to level them up even further. It cost me 28 skill points to get them all to level 5; spending any more was just stupid when I had tons more skills.

To distract myself, I opened my inventory to look at all the stuff the previous guy had. I'd been wondering what kind of weapons and armor this world had. Were machine guns still a thing? Was it legal for an ordinary citizen to even own one?

"Er, system, where'd all the weapons go?"

Briiing! [This system comes with two inventories: one for weapons and armor while the other one is for everything else.]

That's convenient.

So I opened the weapons inventory. A grid popped up in front of me with GUNSLINGER WEAPONS labeled at the top. There were 30 slots but only 1 was filled, holding a blunderbuss. I took it out and looked at its stats.

Name: Blasting Sparks

Grade: Uncommon

Durability: 25/25

Weapon Damage: 14

Attributes:

•Bullets have a 10% chance of applying Shock effect, stuns for 10 seconds and deals 2 damage every second

•Bullets have a 25% chance of applying Blast effect, covering an area of 10 feet and dealing 10 damage to each enemy in the radius

Gem Attributes: None

'Nice,' I thought, putting it back in the inventory. The grid slid past my view, settling in a corner of my screen. It was replaced by another, this time labeled RANGER WEAPONS. There were two weapons: a longbow and a crossbow.

Name: Iron Fury

Grade: Uncommon

Durability: 30/30

Weapon Damage: 20

Attributes:

•Arrows have a 20% chance of having the Iron Shot, dealing +10 damage

•Equipping gives you +1 Luck for a better chance at critical hit

Gem Attributes: None

Name: Stinging Bolt

Grade: Uncommon

Durability: 30/30

Weapon Damage: 20

Attributes:

•Bolts have a 20% chance of having the Stinging effect, lasting for 10 seconds and deals 2 damage

•Bolts have a 5% chance of piercing Rare grade armor, 3% chance of Unique armor, and 0% chance of piercing Elite, Epic, and Legendary armor

Gem Attributes: None

I put those back and moved on to the next grid, labeled MAGE WEAPONS. There were only four sticks. I swiped it to the side, replacing it with the Assassin weapons grid. There were dozens of daggers in the slots. I pursed my lips and swiped the grid aside. I could look at them later.

Then came the armor. But before I could take a look, a voice spoke up behind me.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Powyn Theeves."