Chapter 152: CHPT 152: Rats will be Rats.
Claude reached the gates into SkyHaven sometime after midnight. The effect of the cold made itself clear on the guards' reddened noses and cheeks as they shivered slightly when they moved to let him inside.
The cold that bit at their extremities and made them all want to huddle around a fire was increasingly feeling more relaxing to him. Every time the wind howled and blew through the dark unattended alley ways of the city towards him, he welcomed the lowered temperatures that bit at his hot skin.
"[Now that we're away from all the chaos. I think it's a good time to spend your Skill Points.]" Arne said.
Claude's eyes widened in shock for a moment, "I completely forgot." He said before pulling up his stats, thinking of what aspects of his abilities he was going to increase in power.
***
Name: Claude Gray
Title: Disciple of Fenrir
Level: 14 (400/1500)
Stat Points: 7
HP: 300/350
MP: 300/300
Stamina: 31
Strength: 26
Will Power: 16
Intelligence: 10
Accuracy: 11
Agility/Speed: 23
***
"[You've come a long way. I remember when you were just at Level 5.]" Arne commented dramatically as Claude thought about what stats he should increase.
"Well. The initial plan is to get my Speed to 30 and go from there. But would it be idiotic to put all my stat points into one category like that?" He thought out loud to himself while he passed a loud bar.
"[It all depends on how you fight. What do you rely on the most among these stats? What are your sore spots? Think about your past battles and imagine how much better you could do depending on the stat you upgrade.]" Arne commented.
Claude thought over the battles that were easiest to remember in detail while he looked over his stats.
"Ok. I want to start using spears more— but I don't need to upgrade my Accuracy right now since I can hold my targets in place as long as they're on natural ground. My strength isn't a problem yet, neither is my stamina.....But, I can't take hits like I should be able to— a little more health would definitely be nice." He said before raising his Health stat by one point, which changed it from 350 to 405.
Claude moved on after raising his HP and continued considering different fights and brief exchanges.
"What does intelligence do?" He asked after a few seconds.
"[Its related to combat recall, memorization, and unlocking the contents within Scrolls and Grimoires. It's a stat heavily focused on by Mages since a spell is the whole basis of whether you're a good Mage or a bad one— that isn't to say an impressive array of spells wouldn't benefit any Hero.]"
"Hm. Well, I think that the stats many uses will make it important— just not as important as my other stats at the moment. I haven't even seen a Scroll yet."
"[I agree. But don't put it off for too long. I'd hate to see you find a strong Nature based spell that you couldn't acquire right away.]"
"Noted." Claude replied as his eyes fell on the remaining stats that he would benefit most from upgrading.
***
By the time he reached the SkyLight Guildhall, he'd decided on where to allocate his stat points, which resulted in him spending three on Speed, two on Strength and one on MP.
"This should do me some good." He thought before closing the system screen and entering the building with Frosty close at his side.
Upon entering the well lit Guildhall full of returning and just entering Night Runners, he hugged his ragged black cloak around his body that was recently ripped again to supply him with another face mask. Despite it being able to hide the new cuts and ripped pants he wore, he couldn't do anything about the loud clomping of his split shoes that opened like a pair of rubber jaws every time his feet came off the clean polished wood floors.
"[Tomorrow, we're going to buy new armor and clothing. This is pitiful. Your ragged appearance is starting to draw more attention than the fact that you selectively do Infested Areas.]" Arne commented.
"I hate shopping." Claude said as he approached the front desk and met Ilka's never tiring bright blue eyes.
"Goodnight Allblack!" She said cheerily, once again contrasting completely with the vibe of the area.
"Goodnight, Ilka." Claude replied, deciding to go along with the inside joke made among the Night Runners.
"Another Infested Area finished?" She asked while she watched him dig the Quest Entry out of his pockets.
"Yea. Here." He said before handing her the folded up paper.
She flipped through some papers at her desk and stamped the entry Claude gave her while she spoke to him. "Anything out of the norm out there? It can get dangerous that far from civilization— at least that's what I've read."
"Nope. All fine aside from the Kobolds." Claude lied.
"You know....Based on how many Infested Areas you've completed in the time you've been here is pretty impressive. Once you find your ID and register, a few startup Guilds will probably try to recruit you..."
"I doubt it. I haven't done much." Claude said— failing to fully hide his disgust, having learned that no Heroes or Guilds cared much for Infested Area completion rates— especially at the Bronze level.
"Well. I respect what your doing and I think the world could use some more Heroes that.....actually save people." She whispered the last part with a glimmer of enthusiasm in her eyes as if the subject meant an incredible deal to her. "In fact, I could talk some sense into my father and possibly get you into the SkyLight Guild?" She said calmly— as if she didn't just reveal a crucial bit of information.
Claude shifted his feet inside his spacious broken shoes and cleared his throat with intense unease. "Erhm. Your father? Is he the Leader of the SkyLight Guild?"
"Pfft, no! My fathers the Guild Manager, he works alongside the Leader, focusing on the business and logistics portion of it all. He just also happens to have an eye for talent when it comes to Heroes. I have it too though— I see everything.." she said as she animatedly pointed to her eyes with smooth dainty fingers marked with black ink.
"I hope not." Claude muttered.
"But I'm serious. I didn't think I had it for the longest. Then I noticed your like the people my father points out. But your also not...." She said, sounding confused as she leaned over the desk to look at him more closely. "I don't get it to be honest. Your different from the rest like the big time Heroes my father talks about— but your also not like them.....Anyway! People like that have a spot on the SkyLight Guild, would you take it if it was offered?" She asked.
"I'd prefer not to be affiliated with anybody at the moment." Claude replied immediately.
Ilka sighed and let her shoulders sink for a moment. "Very well."
He gave her a quick nod, received his payment for the Infested Area and headed back to the board at the end of the large room filled with Night Runners drinking and talking amongst eachother at tables.
"Son of a bitch. I just can't keep up." Claude commented after he lifted the Tangent Quest entries and scanned over the new Infested Areas that must've been posted while he was out.
"What are you hungry for, Frosty? Goblins?.....Ogres?...Satyrs?— whatever that is....Ske—" Before he could finish reading off the entries, Frosty actually chose one to his surprise.
He noticed the wet outline of a thick nose appear on a Quest Entry to the right of him at the bottom of the board where the invisible PitWolf pressed his snout into it.
"Hm. DireRats South of SkyHaven suspected to be inhabiting and breeding inside an Old World Subway System."
"[Ah. I see why that one's so old. This Quest may be dangerous, Claude.]" Arne commented as he snatched the paper and exited the Guildhall.
"Aren't they all?"
Once he hit the streets and read over the paper, he kept thinking about one thing that he didn't understand. He racked his brain for things he read and memories of different areas he been to but he had nothing.
"What the hell is a Subway System?"
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_Avatar0FFury_ Hey thanks for reading! Leave a review and let me know what you think! Also I’m gonna drop another chapter today since I didn’t yesterday and I think you’ll like it. Thanks for the powerstones frenandoi, alex99, WarriorWolf, krissch__, MythiqueReader, Ominous_Reader, Yam_Yam, Deadea606 and Fenrir712!
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