Chapter 15: Insight and Growth

Kaius just managed to preventTrackingandSneakfrom merging, the skills rattling against his control as his soul touchedTrapfinding.Instantly the previous two skills settled down, no longer having an easy route to merge their energies through the conduit of his soul.

Trapfindingtasted of tension and exploration. The joy of exploring new mechanisms, and the fear of the deadly payload they held. A thousand sights washed through his mind, most of them hidden deep within the Depths. But not all. Bank vaults, siege defences. Mechanisms, physical, magical and biological. How to identify likely placements. A suspicious mound of disturbed earth, or a flagstone not quite flush.

A necessary skill for those who would delve where they were unwelcome. Those who sought to survive, andthrivewhere others dared not to tread. His soul threaded his comprehension into the previous two. However, the link felt incomplete. A kit with missing tools.

Next he reached out toOrienteering. Something for one to feel at home in the depths, and the vast wilds that coated the world above it. The stars above, the way water flowed, distant scents carried on the air, and an ever growing mental map. So many things to be used to centre oneself in an expansive world, to always know the way forward, and the way home.

It slotted into his growing picture, fitting like a glove. A way to find his path.

Another thread of his soul reached out, connecting toHerbalism. It represented a wealth of resources to be found. Not just food, but restoratives, mending balms, and a million different ailes soothed. A way to keep the journey going, and a reward in addition to the simple beauty of the journey itself.

The skill clicked into place. Kaius couldn't help himself from sighing in relief, before returning to his measured meditation breathwork.

“Just a few more.”He thought to himself.

The burning fire of his soul sent out its sixth flickering thread, connecting withCooking.

The smell of roasting meat over a campfire. Freshly baked bread steaming as it left the oven. The roaring cacophony of an overworked kitchen as hands blurred, layering a dish of exquisite beauty.Cookingwas something universal, something that the poorest beggar and the richest king relied on every day of their life. It represented succour, a revitalisation. A way for a weary traveller to rest, recharge, and reflect on the last leg of their journey. It tasted of exotic spices, discovered in the furthest reaches. Of comfort, of experimentation. Something that brought a little bit of home with you on a long expedition.

The skill snapped in place, flaring as it joined the growing chain of power.

Sense Weaknessfelt different from the rest. A ruthless edge and undercurrent. A quality of violence. Eyes that sought the rhythmic pulse of an artery, that spotted the idle strap that left a gap in the armour. No journey was free of danger, Kaius thought. Stepping into the unknown required surety of your own capabilities, a mindset to strike fast, strike hard, and know that you would succeed against all odds. The Depths was the greatest frontier of them all, and any who delved its reaches without an awareness of what they faced was a fool.

This skill brought that to the table. Afterall, everything has a weakness.

A thrum resonated through the chain of skills, falling just short of a crescendo as the seven linked nodules of power flared with an internal light.

Kaius couldn't stop a grin from forming on his face. Just one more and he would be done.

Kaius reached out a soul thread toPhysical Conditioning, the link of power snapping directly to the skill as if magnetised. Impressions flooded through him. The burn of exerted muscles. A heart slamming in his chest as it pushed oxygenated blood through his veins, fuelling the vehicle of his power. An untiring body, unfailing through a lengthy journey. Never failing. Never stopping. Just step after measured step, taking him to the next horizon.

A soft chime resonated through his soul space, all eight of his linked skills flaring with light. They pulsed in his internal mind's eye, slowly sliding together. Their inexorable attraction was inevitable. Even if he wanted to, he was sure he didn't have the mental control to stop their conglomeration.

Individually they were useful tools. Together, they represented a breadth. Something that would support him through any journey or exploration he went on. Helping him find his way, like it had for his family for generations.

It wasn't as flashy, or as combat driven as many of his other skills would be. Instead it was dependable, something that would support him in the background for many years to come.

AnExplorers Toolkit.

**Ding! Skill Merge Detected! Would you like to proceed?**

Kaius’s eyes flashed open, his cheeks aching as his smile spread even wider.

“Yes.”he thought at the prompt, urging it to continue.

He felt the skill nodules orbiting his soul draw ever closer together, flashes of energy buffeting his soul as they began to brush together. Some force outside of his control flooded through him, aiding the mixing of disparate forms as the balls of contained energy dispersed. Threads began to extrude from the vacuous gas that emanated from the site of his prior skills, weaving into a new, denser orb.

It began to spin, slow at first, but quickly accelerating to rotate at a speed that caused his mind to ache when he attempted to comprehend it. With each revolution it drew in more from the remnants of his eight former skills. Threads of meaning and gaseous power flooded the new creation, a sudden flare causing it to burst into light.

The shockwave buffeted him, hitting his mind like the spike of an ice pick. Slowly the new skill slowed, drifting down to join his other merged skills in orbit around his soul.

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**Ding! Skill Merged! Explorer’s Toolkit obtained!**

Immediately he pulled up the description of his latest skill, eager to see it in person. His father had given him some rough descriptions, but apparently it was something of a tradition to keep the exact wording away from the youngest of the family.

Explorer’s Toolkit:

Level 1

Unusual

Explorers are a rare breed. Always seeking the next horizon, the next unseen sight, regardless of the challenges and dangers that lie between here and there. Rarely do they make it without sufficient skill and preparation. Luckily, you have a toolkit.

Skill that improves a wide array of capabilities that are useful for wilderness survival, and makes the user at home in most environments. Efficacy of the skill is reduced in inhabited environments.

Each level moderately increases wayfinding capabilities.

Each level moderately increases awareness of hazards, and how to neutralise them.

Each level moderately increases awareness of useful forage and reagents, and how they might be utilised.

Each level moderately decreases perceptibility while engaging in stealth.

Each level moderately decreases the stamina cost of physical activity

Each level slightly increases positive effects of reagents and self-created consumables, and aids in their creation.

Each level infinitesimally adjusts the user's surroundings to support their needs.

Merged from: Tracking, Sneak, Trap Finding, Orienteering, Herbalism, Cooking, Sense Weakness, Physical Conditioning

Kaius whistled as he read his latest skill’s description. It wasbroad. He had known that already thanks to what his father had told him. Yet it was something else entirely to see it laid out so plainly.

Explorer's Toolkitwas an exceptionally flexible example of a legacy skill indeed. His father had expounded on this in great depths to him. Take ‘awareness of hazards’, an expansion ofTrap Finding. Not only would it cover explicitly laid traps, but also would warn of poisonous plants, or a valley that was particularly susceptible to flash flooding. ‘Neutralising’ covered everything from detecting an open guard, to how best cross a raging river. Hells, ‘self made consumables’ includedfood, meaning even if he never picked up alchemy his meals would keep him fuller for longer. Eventually, with magically active ingredients and a high enough skill level, it would let him make meals that would provide long lasting buffs.

Individually they would be lacklustre. A poor man'sAlchemistryorWayfinding. Together, they represented a flexibility and breadth that was a vital addition to his limited skill slots. Afterall, general skills were usually best used in a supportive function. This single skill alone would help him cover a dozen different bases without stretching his foundation too thin, and while inevitably flavouring his class with a certain level of self sufficiency.

All in all, he couldn't have been more happy with the result. Practically fizzing with excitement, Kaius opened hisStatusfor the first time in over a week.

Status:

Name: Kaius

Dynasty: Unterstern

Age: 18

Class Selection: 1 Year, 48 weeks, 4 days

Race: Human (Dynastic) - +1 free stats per level

Layer Reached: 2

Resources:

Health - 200/200 (2/min)

Stamina - 200/200 (2/min)

Mana - 120/120 (2/min)

Stats:

Endurance - 20

Vitality - 20

Strength - 20

Dexterity - 20

Intelligence - 12

Willpower: - 20

Stat Points: 0

Class Skills (0/10):

N/a

General Skills (3/10):

Rapid Adaptation (Heroic) - 13

Warforged (Unique) -18

Explorer’s Toolkit (Unusual) - 1

It was strange to see so many empty spaces in his general skill list, after so many months of it being cluttered with a random hodgepodge of survivalist skills.

His next goal would be much more focused, something more immediately useful for his survival in this danger ridden hellhole people called the Depths. Something that would shore up his defences.

Adamant Body

He couldn't wait to get started.

But first, dinner. And then a nap. He wasexhausted.

Kaius peered out from behind a tree, watching two undead foot soldiers that ambled around a burnt out campfire. Surprisingly, it had taken him barely fifteen minutes of walking deeper towards the centre of the glade to stumble across them.Explorer’s Toolkithad started to show its value quickly, highlighting the sounds of clumsy movements over leaf litter against the constant background noise of the forest.

The undead would serve his purposes well. Each was garbed in a chain hauberk and tabard, a crow eating carrion emblazoned on their chests. Thankfully both were free from any metal helms that would serve as true armour for the cursed creatures. They carried lightly rusted arming swords, something he was more than confident handling with the extended reach of his longsword.

Before he burst from behind his hiding spot Kaius took a moment to centre himself. It had become something of a pre-battle ritual, falling into a mindset of focus and flow. Emptying his mind of distractions and limiting his world view to the single moment that was to come.

One of flowing blood and whirling steel.

He kicked off, launching away from the trunk. As always, he was unable to catch the undead flat footed. They simply turned towards him placidly, raising their swords as soon as they detected his approach.

His own blade flew free of his scabbard as he brought it forward into a close guard, the hilt pulled in tight to his waist. The ground between him and the closest undead flew by. Raising its arming sword, the footman cut towards him, its blow fast but ungainly.

Kaius brought his sword up, aligning his edge to catch the blade in a bind. Rather than try to turn the undead’s sword with a quick parry and riposte like he normally did he defended with a straight block, twisting his whole body into the action to brace against the collision.

The arming sword crashed against his own, the dreadful sound of shearing metal hammering into his ears. The infernal strength of the undead ground against him. Before it could batter through his guard, Kaius stepped back and disengaged, whirling his sword into a heavy overhead that tore through the footman's crown.

**Ding! level 17 Undead Armsman slain**

Kaius turned on the remaining soldier, blade flicking out to turn the blow that had been heading for his undefended flank. His parry created the opening that he needed to slay the undead, but he held himself back. That wasn’t what he was here for.

He waited, settling comfortably into a mid guard. The undead corralled itself quickly, cutting towards him once more. Kaius blocked the strike, gritting his teeth as the impact stung his palms and rattled his shoulder. He lashed out, pushing the undead back with a front kick before settling back into his guard.

Again, the undead swung, and Kaius blocked, the enhanced steel of his blade taking a chip out of the edge of the creature's lesser weapon with a screech of fury. The footman pulled back, hammering his guard again. Kaius’s shoulder began to ache, tiring quickly from defending with matched force against a stronger opponent.

“C’mon… It shouldn't be long now. It’s only Common”He thought to himself, sweat streaming down his back as the thick ropes of muscle that lined his spine stood out in stark relief as he pushed back against the undead’s blade.

The footman began to hammer his guard, giving up on trying to find a way around his ironclad defence in favour of simply smashing through it. Every blow struck his sword like a blacksmith's hammer as it rang in defiance of the abuse.

A final smash caused him to buckle at the knee, his guard slipping.

The undead pulled back for a killing stroke.

**Ding! General Skill Available! Would you like to learn: Block?**