Chapter 12 I went to bed a bit early knowing that I would spend a bit of time in the dreamscape as I had just levelled. When I got in it seemed as if the space had a little bit more definition. Where before I couldn't see the transition between the floor and the wall now a faint line was visible. I asked AI-Me about it. “Yes, the space becomes quote-unquote, more, each time you level up. How it changes depends on the person.” “Speaking of level-up. can you go through what has changed?” “Well as you might have noticed you unlocked two path points this time. Again this differs from person to person how many get unlocked at each level, so don't expect the same amount each time. You also unlocked a +1 max skill cap on all your skills as skills are capped at level or max potential whichever is lower. remember that skills still have max potential. If you unlock any new skills most are capped at 5. But as usual, the system likes its exceptions to rules and you sometimes might unlock a skill with a much higher max potential from the start.” “So no boosts to stats or anything like that then?” I asked feeling a bit underwhelmed. “Nope no I win button. You have to grow by picking paths or doing your milestones. As you can see though with some of the milestones you have to be at a higher level to even finish them. Like the skill one.” So I was now debating on where to go for my paths. The zombies might unlock a new unit but I didn't have the slots for one. The commander one would give me a new slot, but I haven't felt the need for more troops yet. I had a milestone for two units, but I decided to wait on that one. So commander and zombies were out for now. The wolves one looked cool and with only a max of two, I could see what happens when I finish a path. The moment I thought that I was like what the hell, and I put both points into the path of the wolf. Path of the wolf (1/2) Dex +2 Str +2 Sta +2 Path of the wolf (2/2) Path of the wolf completed. Unit upgrade unlocked: Wolf mounts +2 CP cost per soldier and wolves have to be provided. Undead can be mounted on ghost wolves instead for +4 CP cost. These will function as one entity so if either dies both will disappear until reformed. During the day they look like skeletal wolves. At night or in darkness they show a ghostly outline of a wolf instead. Ghost wolves are provided for free for any commander. In this case, when dismounted the wolf will fade away and both are counted as separate entities. One free respec of an undead unit. If not used now will go away. I decided that having 10 spearmen would be more useful than 2 wolf cavalry, so rejected the respec. The stat bonuses were very helpful and my stats were now: Stats: Strength: 9 Dexterity: 12 Stamina: 11 Intelligence: 9 Willpower: 11 Charisma: 10 With nothing more that needed to be done, I got out of the dreamscape again and got a few hours of sleep before my shift. The whole horizon to the west still had an orange glow. What I couldn't see during the day because of all the smoke was what looked like a volcano spewing up lava and glowing rocks far into the distance. I'm guessing at least 500 KM or more away. Drakon's teaching sidebar: On old-earth, the horizon at sea level would let you see about 5 KM. Or the highest mountain at a max distance of 350 KM. After the convergence event, the earth got merged with over a dozen other planets (that we know of) and because of the size increase, the horizon distance increased as well. That must have been what had started the fire in the first place. It was so far away on the other side of the redwood forest that we didn't feel or hear the eruption. It did seem that the fires were getting more distant the longer the night went on. I woke up Grim for the last shift and he would use that time to also get breakfast ready. We would probably all do our own thing in the morning so a good meal and some supplies would be needed. After another couple of hours, Grim woke me up and we had venison again. the last bits of what was left. Getting a bit tired of it I decided to spend most of the day fishing in the river. Aura said she would work on her automatons now that she had some actual wolf cubs to use as inspiration. To be fair I think she just wanted to play with the cubs. Grim would do some foraging and hunting. I gave him the crossbow that Aura had made for me and gave him command of all the skeletons for hauling. he would also work on getting us a good amount of firewood, as everything flammable on the other side of the river would probably be gone. I got my rod out of the trunk and spent a quiet day sitting on the edge of the bridge fishing. Midway through the day, I summoned Luna from the medallion to see how she was doing. She curled up behind me and let me rest against her. “Did you get some good rest Luna?” I asked while stroking her fur. “I did thank you. Time flows a little bit different for me while I'm in the medallion. For you, it's been a day. For me, it's been nearly a month. I can sense what's going on outside though. I'm still not back to full strength but I am getting there.” “If time goes much faster for you there, how does that work with ageing and things like food?” “The magic of the medallion sustains me so I don't feel hunger or thirst while inside. Age-wise, spirit wolves stop ageing when they get a bondmate. So as you are immortal so am I. the amulet will respawn with you. One more reason why I chose you.” She quickly fell asleep and I went back to fishing again. At the end of the day, I took a small walk to the other side of the river. But the ground was still hot enough that it would hurt the horses' feet if they walked on it for too long. So for the next couple of days that was our schedule. Grim and I switched off between hunting, fishing and gathering wood. I even got some pointers on cooking from Grim. I got a good amount of gains. Skills gained Hunting 2/2 (5) Tracking 2/2 (5) Fishing 2/2 (5) Cooking 2/2 (5) Crossbow 2/2 (5) Axe 2/2 (6) Lumberjacking 2/2 (5) Aura did what work she could on her automatons, but she was missing more parts that would have to wait until we were back. So she spent some time designing me some leather armour using the skins from whatever we had hunted. She also made some rabbitskin leather helmets for the skeletons. Wich was hilarious to see. Skeletons with little bunny ears and a fluffy white tail at the back of the head. Once the ground had cooled down we packed everything up and would try to make our way to the village if it was still left standing.