I didn’t pay too much attention to the messages earlier, due to obvious reasons, but now I see a new element here, skill points. Without wasting any time, I request an explanation from the A.I. chip, but, surprisingly, it got nothing on this topic. After a bit of thought I order it to re-download and scan the manual. Confirming my prediction this time there was some info on skill points.

Skills can be leveled up or bought using skill points. The price is not set and may vary from individual to individual. A skill point is earned after every 10 stat points the user got. Skill points can also be rewarded from the path system.

Well, this much was pretty predictable. The varying cost is interesting, but in System typical fashion, there’s no details given on the matter. I wonder how can I use these points, but I soon find out that I have 2 new commands available. The strange part is that not only for leveling, but even for buying, I must use the skill’s name, therefore I must know it beforehand.

From what I’ve seen, these skill points and the stat points are the only thing I can use to get out of my current predicament. A few minutes have passed, but the wolves show no signs of leaving. All of them surrounded the tree and are lying down, waiting for me to climb down. Even worse, their number increased to more than 20 now.

I can try and jump to another tree, but even the closest one is too far away to reach its truck and I don’t think that the branches at this height are sturdy enough to withstand the impact of such a jump. Not to mention the fact that the wolves will probably hear me and follow, ending up in the same situation just in different tree.

My only option is to drive them away, but I don’t know how I can perform such a feat. The way that I look at it, my only option out is magic. Yea, magic. I can try and throw braches at them, but that won’t do much and there’s nothing else to throw. Also outlasting them is out of the question. I have no food or water up here and with the intelligence displayed by their leader, I don’t doubt that I’ll see wolves taking turn to guard duty.

So, I’ve reached the conclusion that I need to rely on buying a skill from the System and the only one that comes to mind is magic. Now it only comes down to what type of magic to request. I should choose one from my affinities as it reduces the risks, even if it’s by just a bit. I’m very tempted to choose lightning, but I’ll be screwed if the wolves also have high lightning resistance.

I’m not sure what magic relates to my mental affinity so I should wait on that one for now. I also have no idea about shadow magic, so I’ll skip that one as well. This leaves me with fire, space and time. Time and space seem very tempting, but my affinity is quite low and they probably cost much more than the rest. So let’s try with fire, hopefully I’ll be able to use it to scare the wolves away.

You have learned [Basic Fire Magic Lv1] for 4skill points.

Your ‘Otherworlder 1’ path has reached the 25% milestone! TLN base stat increased by 10 permanently.

Wow, I’ve expected a confirmation message, but it just took my skill points and gave me the skill. I would like to experiment more and learn what happens if you don’t have enough points or if there’s a way to learn how much a skill costs, but my skill points seem too precious for now.

And there’s the Otherworlder path, I don’t know what I’ve done to earn progression for it, but it seems that it increased to 32.2% when I bought the new skill. And that personalized reward is no joke, that or otherworlder travelers seem to lack magical capabilities as whole.

When I focus to see what I’ve learned, I’m surprised to find that I know how to create fire out of thin air. It’s very strange as I don’t understand the process or anything, all I know is that chanting some strange words and controlling my mana in some way would create a ball of fire. I don’t even want to think how absurd this is, it’s like I am casting a fireball in a video game.

I really want to try it out, but I stop myself and assign all my status points into TLN first. I get 14 added points in TLN, 8 for 1 stat point each and 6 more for 2 points each, and my total increases to 33. I’m not sure what magic control is useful for, but it sounds like it will decrease the chances of the spell backfiring or missing the target so I have no hesitation in spending all my points.

I descend a bit, trying my best to ignore the pain going through my body, until I find a spot from where I gave a clear line to one of the wolves. I position myself and extend my hand pointing towards the wolf and start whispering the chant. I watch with wonder as fire appears in front of my palm and keeps growing as I continue chanting.

When I finish the chant, a ball of fire, the size of a basketball, is launched towards the wolf. Thankfully, it doesn’t notice the fireball until it’s too late. The wolf jumps on its feet, but is immediately thrown back on the ground by the fireball that crashed into it. Seeing that it’s still not dead, I start chanting a second fireball in its direction.

The other wolves all stand up, alerted by fact that their friend is suddenly burning on the ground. They look around until they spot me shooting a second fireball heading towards their downed companion. None of them knows how to react, looking at their leader for guidance. The giant wolf watches at its lying subordinate as it dies to the second fireball, then starts glaring at me.

I respond to its glare by pointing my hand towards it and starting chanting again. When the fireball is launched, the leader easily dodges it, but the explosion hits another wolf behind it and is set on fire. The leader seems conflicted on what to do until it looks back at me and sees the fourth fireball incoming. It makes its decision and starts running away, followed by his entire pack.

You have killed a Lightning Wolf! You have earned 2.7 stat points!

I’m afraid to stop chanting right now, as I don’t know if interrupting the spell midway can have side-effects so I just launch it after them, even if I know it won’t hit anything. I let a sigh of relief when they leave my senses’ range. The leader probably understood that pursuing revenge here would leave them with more casualties than its worth. I’m once again astonished by the level of intelligence and wisdom displayed by the wolf, but I’m glad that it worked in my favor for once.

As I start thinking about my next move, I realize that I have slight headache. I didn’t have it before, so it was caused by me using magic. My assumption, based on the gamelike state of this world, is that I’ve used some of my mana and until it replenishes this headache will continue. I’m also still injured, so maybe I should rest until I heal and replenish my mana.

No, I better move fast here. I still need to find food and water and I don’t want to be here when another animal comes after the fresh smell of blood. Still when I think about it, I don’t want to lose the materials that can be extracted from the dead wolves. Sure, the meat is the last choice if I don’t find anything else, but their claws, fangs and hide can surely be useful at some point.

I get down and head towards the first dead dire wolf. As I don’t have a knife, I rip one of its bigger fangs and use it to start skinning. Sure, it’s not the best tool, but being careful I manage to avoid being speckled by its blood. All things considered, my dismantling isn’t great, far from it, but I manage to do it quickly so in about half an hour I should finish all 7 wolves.

Your skill [Dismantle] has leveled up!

Your skill [Dismantle] has leveled up!

Your ‘Beast Dismantler’ path has reached the 50% milestone! STR and DEX base stats increased by 2 permanently.

Thanks to this, I’ve got better insight into how the skill system works. When my technique started to improve, my skill leveled up, more than doubling my progress. My speculation is that when the System detects an increase in proficiency, it brings the skill to a standardized level. I’m also under double the effect of the ‘Otherworlder’ title, so I’m not sure I’m not sure it’s like this for everyone.

Another thing I’ve observed is that when my skill leveled up, I instantly gained 20% progress toward the path’s completion. I’m starting to realize how overpowered is the combination of bonus skill speed with bonus path progression speed. I am completing paths at 4 times the normal speed, if not even more.

After I finished dismantling the wolves, I’ve climbed back into the tree and dug a small hole into it. I’ve then stashed the materials there, while leaving the meat outside. I’ve hidden my stash with some leaves then marked a few trees around it using a wolf fang I’ve taken with me. I don’t think I’ll return in less than a few weeks, but the hide shouldn’t deteriorate that fast.

To be sincere, the only benefit I’ve gotten out of dismantling them is path progression. Sure, at least the hides, if nothing else, can sell, but I haven’t met any other human so far. I also thought that I can use the meat for an emergency, but I dropped that idea. Not only is wolf meat completely disgusting, it is also very unhealthy as if contains countless parasites.

For now I leave this place in search for a source of drinkable water. I navigate through the forest while trying to make as little sound as possible and keeping my ears up for any sound of flowing water or any signs of possible prey. Well my A.I. chip is still way better at analyzing the small fluctuations picked up by my senses, so it was the one to inform me that I'm approaching a water source.

15 minutes and 6kilometes after I’ve left the spot when I’ve fought the wolves, I’ve arrived at a small stream. And well, it also came with a pleasant surprise as a deer was already drinking water there. I carefully sneak up on it and throw the wolf fang towards its neck from 10 meters away. A moment later, I also sprint towards it.

As it sensed the incoming projectile, it avoided instant death, but the wolf fang got stuck in one its front legs. Being injured, its speed was considerably lower and it didn’t take me more 30seconds to catch up with it and end its life. Well, it would have taken me much less if roots wouldn’t suddenly sprout out of the ground trying to make me trip.

You have killed a Juvenile Great Mountain Deer! You have earned 0.8 stat points!

I think that the roots were moved by nature magic casted by the deer, but it’s just a speculation. Now that I think about it, neither it nor the wolf were chanting, but they were able to use magic. Well, I believe it’s magic as I can’t explain it otherwise. I really need to delve deeper into this in the future, casting without a chant seems too strong to pass by.

After dismantling the deer, I make a campfire by gathering some dry wood and igniting them with a fireball. Well, the fireball might have been a little bit overkill, but no ‘traditional’ method that I know was able to ignite this wood. When the fire was strong enough I’ve started roasting myself some venison.

By the time I finished eating and drinking until I was full, the sky already began to darken. I jump up the nearest tree, find a relatively comfortable spot and lay down to take a short nap.

Spoiler: Status

Identity

Stats

Active Paths

Name

Avitus Volten

STR

229

[251.9]

VIT

147

[161.7]

Human

1.4%

Race

Human

AGI

285

[313.5]

PER

367

[403.7]

Otherworlder 1

45.1%

Sex

Male

DEX

315

[346.5]

INT

348

[382.8]

Apprentice Martial Artist

66.9%

Age

47

CON

189

[207.9]

WIS

95

[104.5]

Beast Dismantler

58%

Title

Outsider

END

100

[110]

TLN

16

[33]

Affinities

Resistances

Titles Earned

Perks

Lightning

96%

Lightning

90%

Otherworlder

Lightningborn

A.I. Chip

Mental

82%

Pain

72%

Outsider

Shadow

53%

Mental

55%

Fire

38%

Poison

52%

Spatial

8%

Spatial

25%

Temporal

2%

Skills

Common

Rare

Personal

Basic Self-Regeneration Lv8

Fake Status Lv1

Quantum A.I. Processor Lv27

Basic Martial Arts Lv4

Basic Long-range Appraisal Lv1

Dismantle Lv3

Lightning Conversion Lv2

Meditation Lv1

Cognitive Overpower Lv3

Basic Fire Magic Lv1

You have 3.8 unspent stat points, 1 unspent skill point and 2 unspent path points.