This time they didn’t travel as far from the bandit camp, and while Luke still made sure they covered their tracks it was much less hectic and Linus was able to help with both [Plant Lore] and [Basic Earth Manipulation]. He has forgotten what a convenient skill it was and was glad to have a free slot to use on it.

When Luke finally decided they were a safe distance away and they settled into the spot that would be their camp Linus got started on sculpting them a cozy, hidden base. It was slow going working with a basic level skill at only level 1 but he gradually coaxed the earth away from the small clearing they were in towards the trees, forming a berm of earth that was just taller than them with a narrow opening on the side facing away from the bandit camp. Into one portion of the wall he sculpted a fireplace with a built-in grill and a chimney that spread across a wide area with tons of tiny exit pores to diffuse the smoke. It took much longer than the berm to compact the earth for the chimney until it was closer to stone.

After that was completed he walked around the outside of the berm, alternating [Enrich] and [Growth] to camouflage it with the local flora. By the time he called it good enough Luke had dressed the deer and Archie had started a fire in the stove and begun cooking the rough venison steaks. Once Linus joined them Luke departed to scout the area and forage for some greens to round out their meal.

It ended up being a decent meal, for being ambushed then stranded in the woods. Though drinking out of a dead man's flask took some getting used to. Linus studiously ignored the fact that there was a 25% chance it used to belong to the man that had died on top of him. Properly fed they settled down to sleep for the night, this time assigning Linus as the first shift with Luke taking second and Archie third.

With the fire banked and his companions sleeping Linus soon got bored of staring at the gap in the berm. For a moment he contemplated sealing it fully shut and just reopening it in the morning but was afraid of waking the others up or not having a quick way to escape if they needed it. With nothing better to do he started to explore [Blood State]. It was definitely a weird skill adaptation, if he focused he could slowly turn part of his body into blood. Carefully the tip of his pinky turned bright red then into a formed blood digit as it transformed down to his palm.

While it didn't hurt at all it did itch something fierce and took significant focus to use. Trying to bend the finger elicited a sharp pain before it returned to being flesh, blood, bone and skin. Further attempts ended the same way until Linus tried directing the blood to bend instead of his finger. Once again it took more focus than he expected and felt like a phantom limb, but bent while remaining in the [Blood State] instead of painfully reverting back to normal.

After gaining some insight he carefully played with it more and more, switching what finger he used, doing multiple fingers at once, doing fingers on separate hands. It was all very slow and laborious but he was gaining insight and competency in the skill, and while it would still be a long while before he felt comfortable deploying it in combat he could see an endless amount of utility for it. In what seemed like moments but was actually hours later Luke interrupted his skill grinding and sent him to bed.

Linus was woken up with Archie’s hand over his mouth as he was signaled to be silent. He slowly nodded before the hand was removed. Confused, he stayed laying down, looking between Archie and Luke. Eventually Luke quietly whispered.

“It sounds like they’ve kept going. This is the fourth patrol I detected this morning and the closest one has come to our camp. It’s likely they realized we or someone else ambushed the hunters and are now looking for us?”

“What should we do?” Linus asked as he sat up and started processing the situation.

“I think we should stick to the plan but be extra cautious and only ambush people that are far away from this base. We are heavily outnumbered, lacking in gear and neither of you are used to fighting or killing.” Linus and Archie nodded in agreement then waited silently until Luke indicated they were in the clear. “Grab all your equipment, I can’t guarantee we’ll come back to this place.”

All three of them quickly packed up and were ready to go, Linus didn’t even whine once about the lack of breakfast or how filthy they all were. Then they were on their way again. Once more Luke led the way, first away from the bandit camp to ambush the patrol that had almost found them. They caught up to the group after just over an hour and once more Luke led them around the patrol to an ideal spot, deploying a similar approach as last time.

The difference was night and day now that the Ranger was armed with a bow, even if it wasn’t his and of questionable quality according to him. This time Luke fired off an arrow while they were still a decent distance away, immediately dropping his target and causing the remaining four to charge him and Archie. Another arrow was released and another bandit dropped before they came within range of Archie’s throwing knives. A knife and arrow found a third bandit at the same time Linus released a [Sneak Attack] on a fourth. The fifth turned and traded two swings with Linus before another arrow finished him off.

“Damn, so that’s the difference between a Tier 4 and 2 is? No wonder my father was always harping on me and my brothers to grind our skills.”

“I’m still Tier 3 and I barely used any of my skills. If I had reached Tier 4 we could walk into the camp and call it a day already. Now let’s check their gear before moving on.”

A brief search turned up nothing useful before Linus once more used [Basic Earth Manipulation] to bury the corpses and they departed back into the woods hunting for more patrols. Throughout the day they found and ambushed another three patrols, with similar results to the first one except for the last patrol of seven that managed to reach Archie and Luke before they could be taken down at range. It was the only time all day that Linus had to use [Heal] on anyone other than himself. After that Luke called it for the day.

“Great work today men, we did a serious dent in their numbers. You both are shaping up to be decent adventurers and I think tomorrow we’ll try to whittle away at the camp itself.”

“Oh Luke, you flatter us.” Replied Linus. “But seriously, way to carry the group with that bow work. And Archie, truly stupendous with those knives.”

“Thank you sir.” Archie responded as he reached out and hit their clothes with a [Cleanse] and [Mend]. Luke led them back through the darkening woods until he found a spot he deemed good enough. Linus once more prepared his alterations to better conceal them before settling in for the night. Again taking first shift Linus played with [Blood State] a bit more before being relieved. Before calling it a night he went through the notifications that had been sitting in his status.

Sneak Attack has increased (4/10). Blades has increased (5/5). New Classes Available Basic Earth Manipulation has increased (2/5). Basic Earth Manipulation has increased (3/5). Enrich has increased (10/20). Blood State has increased (2/10). Blood State has increased (3/10). Minor Regeneration has increased (5/20). Invigorate has increased (10/20). Sneak Attack has increased (5/10). Minor Regeneration has increased (6/20). Sneak Attack has increased (6/10). Basic Earth Manipulation has increased (4/5). Sneaking has increased (10/10). New Classes Available Heal has increased (5/20). Basic Earth Manipulation has increased (5/5). New Classes Available Blood State has increased (4/10).

It was amazing how much progress he had made in the past two days. Of course [Basic Earth Manipulation] was easy to level since he previously had it and was well aware of all its ins and outs but the rest were all driven by constant use and stress from actual combat. Ignoring the new classes available from maxing out [Blades] and [Basic Earth Manipulation] he pulled up the ones from [Sneaking] that were available for his [Amateur Rogue] class.

New Classes Available: Conman, Thief, Rogue, Arcane Rogue

He was tempted to look at them but knew he should talk to Archie and Luke before surprising them with any more changes. With a deep sigh he closed out the notification without checking any of the classes and finally fell asleep.