Chapter 10

"Calm down, will ya?! You're damn annoying."

Ryzer had backed off, sipping the last drops of his final potion. His other hand held his dagger, the last weapon he had. Taking a deep breath, he prepared himself to run in once more. His eyes flashed across the battlefield, leaving him with no choice but to sigh as he slipped the dagger back into the small sheath.

"I killed... seventeen... phew!"

Laying back, Ryzer felt his eyes growing agitated. He rubbed them until a sudden screen emerged.

[You have achieved the Inspiration: Novice

Requirements:

-Equip 5 different weapon types (x)

-Attune to 2 different magic catalysts (x)

-Sell or buy 5 times (x)

-Cook, clean or craft 5 times (x)

-Kill 5 creatures (x)

You will be forced into REM sleep to allow your body to acclimate the complexity of your abilities, as well as allocate the experiences you have accumulated. This will be the only forced REM sleep.

You have two minutes to proceed to a safe space.]

Ryzer bolted upright, thinking to use his Hero's Warp to leave, but a nagging feeling kept him in place. His eyes shifted to the dead Shadow Leo, which hadn't begun to vanish yet.

"Oh boy."

In the name of his safety, Ryzer used his knife to cut open the dead beast. Steaming blood should had fell out, yet the beast was practically drained of it's blood. Even the organs were missing.

"Is this what happens when they die? Or before? Whatever..."

He curled himself up, crawling inside. Though the blood was missing, he was coated in the blood from his seventeen kills. As soon as he felt somewhat safe, his eyes fell closed. Time seemed to drag by for him as sleep took hold.

-

"Where am I?"

Ryzer felt his eyes slowly open. To his surprise, a dark pit inside of a dead beast wasn't what he saw. To his surprise, a woman stood ahead of him. Her back was towards him, but the sound of his voice seemed to call to her.

"R-Ryzer? My sweet baby!"

In the next instant, Ryzer felt the warm embrace of his mother for the first time in years. Tears filled his eyes as he grabbed onto her.

"Y-you should be twenty now! Why haven't you grown?! Did that bastard...err your father not feed you?"

As she released him, Ryzer explained his story to her. Though her features were hazy, her voice came out in a way Ryzer had never heard. Rage and animosity began to shake their surroundings as she dug her fingers into the ground.

"If I ever see that prick again, I'll tear out his fucking throat!"

Ryzer stared wide eyed for a moment before breaking out into laughter.

"I missed this. Your silly double sided personality."

His mother tapped the top of his head, her laughter beginning to calm him.

"So how did you get here? This isn't a place you should be entering yet."

Ryzer frowned.

"I... I don't know. I guess I got my first Inspiration, then it out me to sleep. Now I'm here."

She nodded in understanding before sitting Ryzer and herself down.

"So how much do you know? I would assume very little, especially since certain people don't know of it themselves. Even I only know because of my mother."

Ryzer tilted his head.

"Still tilting, huh? Always a curious and quiet boy. Hmm... I'll explain more when you reach your second inspiration. For now, that prick isn't your father. He stole me, while I was pregnant with you. I did all I could to keep you safe... yet I failed."

Ryzer felt a strange burden fade off of his shoulders, yet fury burned inside his heart.

"You didn't fail, mother. That... monster killed you. You were the core of my strength, alongside my best friend. The two of you kept me moving... until everything happened."

Ryzer felt tears dripping onto his head as his mother embraced him. She held him for a while before breaking free.

"So girls."

Ryzer felt his face burn bright as she spoke.

"I can feel three that are seriously connected to you. Are they cute? Are they nice? Are you treating them well? Will there be children?"

Ryzer shook his head as he felt flames chewing his face.

"M-mom! Yes, yes and yes! But they aren't human, so..."

She nodded slowly.

"Meh. That is small potatoes. You'll grow passed it eventually, so have fun with them a bit. Just don't break them... too quickly. Gotta have them addicted to you."

Ryzer could feel his mother's sinister smirk as he buried his face.

"I'll let you know when it isn't safe to well... but you need to be getting back now. I can feel some power welling within you, but you'll need a better place to sleep than a monster's stomach for what's coming."

Before he could complain, Ryzer realized he was back inside the dead Shadow Leo. Crawling out, he got to his feet and stretched.

"How long was I in there?"

He looked around, all of his kills still laying around.

"Well I can't measure time with that..."

He sighed and stretched some more before letting his status appear.

"Something should have changed... oh."

[Name: Ryzer Urd Vale

Race: Human

Age: 20

C. Lvl: 5 -> 9

Class: Villager, Lvl 5 -> Novice, Lvl 4

Str: 9 -> 13

End: 9 -> 13

Agi: 5 -> 9

Mag/Fth: 0 -> 4

Dex: 9 -> 13

Luk/Chr: 0 -> 4

You have mastered and surpassed the Class: Villager. Passive trait will be granted.

Passive: Stamina Regeneration

-You recover quickly from exertion of any physical sort.

You have attained the power of the Class: Novice. Active skills, Spells and Passive traits will be granted.

-Novice Skills

--Abilities that drain Stamina. These include combat abilities with common weapons, gathering, crafting and bartering. This may grow based on User's knowledge of Tier 1 Classes. Ex. Swordsman's Dual Slash.

-Novice Spells

--Abilities that drain Mana. These include combat abilities with magical catalysts or mediums. This may grow based on User's knowledge of Tier 1 Classes. Ex. Priest's Light Magic (Lesser Heal)

-Novice Passives

--Abilities that activate based upon set circumstances, or are continuously active. These include abilities based on parameter increase, elemental increase or more. They have no cost. This may grow based on the User's knowledge of Tier 1 Classes. Ex. Beginner Hunter's Prey Sensing]

Each set of abilities had a list of skills, spells or passives that Ryzer could take hold of and use.

"What the hell is all of this? So much has changed. And these double stats? Erm... Mister or Miss Discerning Eye... what are they?"

[Mag/Fth: Magic and Faith. Interchangeable stats that affect attack and support magic. Only appears for rare breeds of classes.

Luk/Chr: Luck and Charisma. Special stats that became bound to one another. These stats are uncommonly grown, yet used in even simple activities.]

"That explains some of it... I better get out of here."

Ryzer looked around once more, regret coming in as he had to abandon his kills.

[18 confirmed corpses. 17 Leo's. 1 Shadow Leo(Abandoned). Discerning Eye recommendation: Hunter Class's Active Skill: Harvest(Beast)]

"Wait, this skill will reccomend stuff?! That's awesome!"

Filled with glee, Ryzer closed in on the nearest Leo.

"So how do I... Harvest?"

He instinctively reached towards the beast as he spoke. With a small flash, the corpse vanished and in it's place was a pelt, a claw and a fang.

"Hmm. It's instant too. I guess this should make things faster."

---

Thank you,

Anna Haig!