“Eve, about those black screen I made you remove, can you bring them up again?”

[No problem, John.]

I commanded Eve through my mind to bring up the black screen again. The fight was finished and so they wouldn't be a disturbance or nuisance at all. I was also quite surprised to have gained another class, and I wondered what it was. Preferably something that could increase my strength.

After the split of a second, a black screen shined up.

Swordsman

– Across the continent, the first choice of weaponry has always been the sword. Simple, efficient and cheap to craft. The knowledge of the sword has continued to broaden under hundreds of years, and a common saying is that it takes a second to pick up a sword, but ten years to master one. Swordsmen are wielders of swords and most commonly found within the human kingdom where the weapon itself originated from.

Rarity: Common

Effects: 5% permanent increase in strength and agility,

I read the black screen and was pleasantly surprised. Then came the skill selection...

[ Swordsman Class Passive Skill Selection. Please choose one... ]

– [ Speed reigns supreme: You believe in absolute speed. 10% increased agility.

– [ Strength overcomes all: You believe in absolute strength. 10% increased strength.

– [ Moderation is key: You believe in an even mix. 5% increased agility and 5% increased strength.

I looked through my options. The three options all had their unique benefits. However, since I now understood the connection between strength and agility, It was an easy choice. I tapped the Speed Reigns Supreme Passive Skill. A light coolness spread throughout my bones and I could feel how my speed was a lot faster than before. If I had chosen the strength option, I would have become slower since the density of my bones would increase. And the heavier I was, the harder it would be to move my body. Although my strength would improve, we were right now fleeing and I didn't dare to risk it. Therefore, choosing agility was at this very moment the best choice I could make.

Now, to the Active Skill Selection...

[Swordsman Class Active Skill Selection. Please choose one...]

– [Quick draw: a 120% faster sword draw. Requirements: 10 mana. Sword must be sheathed upon use. 1 minutes cooldown]

– [Weak spot: Highlight a weakness in the opponent’s defence. Requirements: 50 mana. 2 minutes cooldown]

– [ Cannibalism: Can regenerate health by eating the flesh of dead foes.] Requirements: Noone. 2 hours cooldown.)

Wow. Compared to the active skill selection for the blacksmith, this one was a lot more defined. The advantages and disadvantages were easier to notice. I determined that the best ability was the weak spot one. On the other hand, it possessed the disadvantage of using a huge sum of mana point. I currently had twenty points for distribution. If I put all those on intellect, that would give me two hundred mana. I could then use weak point four times before running out of mana. However, was it worth it? On the other hand, Quick Draw was much more suited for me at the moment. While Weak spot would probably be a better ability as I became stronger, it currently had no value for me. It was the same with cannibalism since I had a good health regen either way. Quick Draw's cost was merely a low amount of mana.

What was most important for me now was to be able to protect myself. There was no use in future potential if my bones already were disintegrated. Therefore, I picked Quick Draw and finished the skill selections.

[You have received an item.]

[You have received 10 stat points.]

Johnny's sword

–Johnny was once the son of a famous Earl in the human kingdom. One day, the young man was out adventuring with a few friends when he happened to stumble upon a party of mercenaries who held anything but kind intentions. He fought bravely but was eventually killed. His sword has been lost ever since...

Quality: Common

Effects: It's sharper than most swords...?

The sword that materialised in thin air like the dwarf's hammer did in the forge startled Ezra. The old vampire gave me a weird look. In return, I could do nothing but shrug and strap the sword on my back like I did with the bone sword and stake-shield. As I was thinking of how to distributing my points, we could both hear a horn blow across the desert.

Ezra swore. "Ten minutes. That's how long it will take unless we can increase our pace."

"Try your best to keep up." he said.

Ezra shot away like the wind. His feet left visible tracks in the sand. I guessed that was their primary way of tracking us. Well, along with those incredible noses of their prairie dogs' which could smell someone's scent from miles away. As the night grew darker, and the minutes passed, the vampire had left me in the dust.

If I had a lip, I would have bitten a hole in it by now. I could hear the beastmen's thrumming pursuit behind and how they constantly sounded the horn to keep the morale its best. Fine, there was no other option. I had to put my unused point on agility. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to catch up to the vampire. I flicked up my status screen and looked.

John Jackson

Level: 1

Race: Skeleton

Classes: Blacksmith, Swordsman

Titles: Skeleton Blacksmith, Bonesmith

Passive skills: Bonesmith (Rank 1), Basic One-hand Sword Stance (Rank 1), Twisting Power (Rank 1).

Active skills: Lucky Throw (Rank 1), Diagonal Slash (Rank 1), Pierce (Rank 1), Parry (Rank 1), Sidestep (Rank 1).

Health: 100

Mana: 20

Unused stat points: 32

Strenght: 9,45 (9)

Agility: 9,04 (8)

Stamina: 10

Intellect: 3

Wisdom: 23

Quests: [Conquer the World, Punish the Living!], [Nightfall Camp]

I noticed that my speed and strength was higher than before. I took a deep readying breath and tapped the crossed box to increase agility. In a flash, sixteen points were gone, down the drain. BAM! The surge of cool air within my bones was beyond my imagination. I crossed more than double the distance I did before per second. After a minute, I could see the vampire's back figure more clearly. I gritted my teeth and burst forward with even more speed.

"You caught up?" Ezra was taken aback as I caught up with him.

I smiled, inwardly crying for all the points I had to put on agility for this. Well, it wasn't in vain. I would probably have done it anyways, but it still felt tilting to be forced to do it. "Why, you didn't think I could?" I asked.

"No– actually not." the vampire laughed. "But I guess it's better like this. Now I won't have to return with the tragic news of your death to master."

"I see."

"Look, it's not like I doubt you, it's just th– the vampire suddenly stopped.

"What?" I asked Ezra.

The old vampire drew his hand over his face and sighed. "I just discovered something... stupid."

I tilted my head.

"Look ahead, can you see something?"

"Look ahead? What do you mea– eh?" my chin dropped. "Is that a– wall?"

A towering white loomed in the distance. Mist shackled the mountain's ankle, or I had the feeling it would have escaped into the sky. That's how tall it was. Its peaks were like roaring beasts trying to escape their shackles. I now understood why the mountain reigners had such an unshakable position as a faction. The reason was simple. No one could conquer the mountains. No one could advance their troops over the mountains and then face the dwarves in their fortresses.

"A wall, yes. Also known as the Kurama Mountain Chain. The largest mountains here in the endless wasteland. It's on the border of the dwarven territory and stretches for several miles." Ezra explained in a self-apologetic voice. "After our fight with the beastmen, I must have navigated wrong and made us walk too far west. If we want to get to the camp we must go toward the east. But by doing so, they will catch up to us. Hmm, we are in a bit of a problematic situation."

"Then what can we do?"

"Two options." the vampire said grimly. "We can fight, or we can hide in the mountains."

I nodded solemnly.

"So what do you say? Do you think your bones can withstand the cold?" Ezra asked. "Because I can tell you, we got no chance in a straight up fight."

"Not sure," I said with uncertainty." I know I can take on heat pretty well. The flaming abyss down the first layer was quite warm after all. But cold?" I shook my head. "I truly don't know."

"Well, it seems like we've got no choice," Ezra said. "I'd rather bet everything on a slim chance than to take suicide by fighting a whole beastman squad all by myself. After all, they are bound to be stronger than the scouts."

"By yourself? I'm here too, you know."

"Yeah– well– that's no very reassuring. Sorry."

As I heard the vampire's answer, I swore to myself to become stronger to prove him wrong.

We could hear the beastmen from behind as we ran toward the wall of white. I decided to save the last few points for later in case I needed them. An additional thought that came into my mind was about stamina. If stamina increased my size, wouldn't that increase the length of my legs and therefore my steps? And would the increase of size have an impact on the density of my bones? If not, wouldn't putting points on stamina increase my speed additionally?

The beastmen's mounts howled as they pursued our tracks. It was soon dawn, and we had long last arrived at the foot of the mountains. As I looked up, I felt as if they really pierced the sky. Standing at the foot, there was absolutely no way for me to see the end of how long they stretched.

"Don't just stand there. Come!"

Ezra urged me to get a move on. I took one last glance and then advanced up the mountains.

Manja

"Commander, this is really, really bad," I said to Skia as we sat on out wolves, the rest of the squad behind us. She showed no reaction to me and just kept staring at the mountains. I bit my lips and bared my fangs. "If they discover the ca–"

"Then we will have nowhere to go, and our race's extinction will be imminent. I know that already, Vice Commander Manja. Don't remind me." she said and turned around. I cowered back. The commander always made me step back when she was angry. She reminded me of my mother. Fiery but yet– so beautiful. I would have loved to be embraced by her white wings.

"Noted," I said and nodded, inwardly smiling in bliss. Her fiery temperament just made her even more attractive. Maybe I could try my luck with her in the next mating ceremony.

"Vice Commander Manja, sound the horn," Skia ordered.

I smiled and blew the horn. The hunt had begun.