Another health boost was always beneficial although it was probably less useful that straight stats But increasing level up gains would be useful for him Hopefully
Eventually
Randidly then went back to his path screen a sinking feeling in his chest But as he looked at all the greyed out selections a notification popped up before him
Continue using paths to explore this world Remember there will always be a path open to you Please select one of the paths below for your continued journey
Trainee Path 0/15
0/20
Randidly considered Although the second one was effectively random it seemed like a higher level path because it would take more PP It had the same amount as Basic Physical Fitness Still Trainee path seemed like the natural continuation of the Newbie path and that had granted him skills
Deciding to play it safe Randidly selected trainee pouring his remaining 12 PP into it To his surprise he received a bonus every level which made him quite happy But he was stopped after putting his 5th point in
Congratulations You have earned +3 to Health
Congratulations You have earned +2 to Mana
Congratulations You have earned +1 all Stamina
Congratulations You have earned +1 stat
Congratulations You have encountered a branching path Choose either +4 Stamina and the skill Mighty Leap or +10 Mana and the skill Entangling Roots Warning your choice will affect the remainder of this path
Frowning Randidly weighed his options Essentially he had to choose whether to proceed down a Mana or a Stamina build The obvious choice was Stamina but Randidly was pulled towards mana for two reasons First a Stamina build would require more direct confrontations which Randidly did not yet have much experience with Especially when he considered those acid spitting frogs it seemed like it would be a bad idea
2nd the associated skill was much more desirable Entangling Roots sounded like Crowd Control which could hopefully tie down the frogs or Howler Monkeys enabling him to escape
In addition Randidly was very tempted by the 10 mana bonus from learning the skill
With these things in mind he selected the Entangling Roots option
Entangling Roots Summon roots from the ground to tie down opponents Costs 35 mana Duration of roots depends on skill level Strength and size of roots depend on skill level and intelligence Accuracy of roots depends on control
Immediately he felt an intense regret 35 mana cost His total mana was only 42 And even with the bonus from the safe zone his mana regen per hour was just 42 It would take him almost an hour and a half to get enough mana to use it again
Sighing Randidly entered in the next 7 PPs emptying himself out But those notifications brought some measure of optimist back to his heart
Congratulations You have earned +1 to Mana Regeneration
Congratulations You have earned +1 Stat
Congratulations You have learned the active skill Mana Shield Lvl 1
Mana Shield Conjure a thin shield of mana Effective against both magical and physical attacks Will block 20 damage plus the skill level x 5 Costs 20 mana
After putting the two stat points he had earned from the Trainee Path into wisdom and boosting his mana regen Randidly felt much better His mana pool was now at 51 and his regeneration at 17 per hour In the room that was 51 just above the casting cost of Entangling roots Training it up 1 per hour alternating with Mana Bolts was just barely enough for him to stomach
Closing the menus Randidly considered his options What was the best method to ensure his survival here
Chapter 7
One of the items he obtained in the bag was a map and after touching it the map option in his menu screen became selectable Inside there was a general outline of the dungeon which was simply called The Underground Jungle
Ultimately what he saw made Randidly’s heart sink The dungeon he was in was simply too big He was situated in the safe room halfway across the southern wall It was equidistant from the entrance and the boss room
But that distance appeared to be something near 20 miles
More disturbingly while the bosses chambers appeared to be in the Southeastern Corner the entrance was in the Northwestern corner meaning Randidly would need to cross through at least some portion of the forest in order to get there
Sighing Randidly dismissed the menu He had a long way to go before having any confidence in crossing the forest Randidly looked at his stats one more time before laying down for a nap
Health(/R per hour) 138/138 (53 25)
Mana(/R per hour) 50/51 (17)
Stam(/R per min) 66/67 (20)
Vit 15
End 17
Str 6
Agi 13
Perception 10
Reaction 8
Resistance 8
Willpower 8
Inteligence 8
Wisdom 11
Control 12
Focus 8
Paths Newbie 7/7 P Def 10/10 M Supp 10/10 Risk Taker 15/15 Basic Physical Fitness 20/20 Trainee 12/15
Skills Running Lvl 7 Physical Fitness Lvl 10 Sneak Lvl 4 Farming Lvl 11 Mana Bolt Lvl 7 Heavy Blow Lvl 9 Acid Resistance Lvl 4 Poison Resistance Lvl 4 Sprinting Lvl 6 Iron Skin Lvl 6 Equip Lvl 7 Plant Breeding Lvl 2 Meditation Lvl 4 Dagger Mastery Lvl 5 Entangling Roots Lvl 1 Mana Shield
After careful consideration Randidly found himself sneaking back over towards the Howler Monkey area There were two reasons for this trip One was to stop by the nut banana and weird crystal trees and stock up on more food and the other
Was to actually engage the Howler Monkeys
Well hopefully to lure one away and then bind it with Entangling roots and then something
The more Randidly thought about it the worse the idea seemed but he also knew that grinding was done for the explicit purpose of going out after and getting some actual experience He needed to be able to use his skills
Additionally the Howler Monkeys had only been scary within the treeline Outside of it they were slow enough that even a Randidly without all of his skills and stats was only slightly slower He was now confident that his 13 Agility would be enough to outrun them
Unfortunately there were only 2 or 3 glowing crystals that had grown back but there was several dozen nuts and bananas he had missed the first time After filling his satchel he began creeping back towards the monkey area To his surprise he gained a level in both Sneaking and Equip
He was still unable to see the level of the dagger or the gloves but the two PP let him almost finish off the Trainee Class which Randidly did huddled up against a tree
The fact that the stat point went directly into Agi probably was evidence of Randidly’s nerves With that done he continued creeping forward aiming to the Howler Monkey’s area
As he approached Randidly noticed what he didn’t previously that in that area the trees changed their crowns stretching higher their trunks farther apart Also the area was thick with vines
Feeling slightly foolish Randidly came out of his crouching position in the ferns and walked boldly past
Randidly scratched his head Last time had been so much easier
A blur at the edge of his vision was all the warning he had Had it been the him of a few days ago it probably would have ended with him wounded But the threat of danger and stat increases had sharpened his senses As soon as he noticed the projectile he summoned a Mana Shield
It smashed against Randidly’s shield slowing it only briefly and a stone the size of an apple crashed into him sending Randidly staggering His head whipped around and he saw a monkey standing in the tree chittering with laughter as it hefted another stone Furious Randidly raised his hand and pointed a mana bolt shooting out
With Randidly’s improved control his attack flew true striking the Howler Monkey in the chest With a squawk it was dislodged from its position on the branch falling to the ground Howling it then rumbled up towards him
With not enough mana left to cast Entangling Roots Randidly fled returning to the safe room
As he unpacked and sorted the gathered food Randidly viewed the notifications he had with serious eyes First the stone had pierced through his mana shield with enough force to do a little over 30 damage That means the stone itself thrown by the monkey would be about 55