The Legend of Randidly Ghosthound

Raised voices eventually distracted Randidly from his farming, and he looked up with a frown. As he trudged up towards the Newbie Village, Randidly used the 2 PP he had earned from Farming levels, and the 1 Root Manipulation skill levels to open and instantly complete Monster Slayer II

Congratulations! You have completed the Monster Hunter II Path! +2 stat(s) +1 to Health, Mana, and Stamina. Sometimes the path you walk is stained by the blood of those who would stand against you, but you cannot hesitate.

Snorting at the tiny gains, Randidly threw the points into agility and walked towards the source of the commotion.

To Randidly’s surprise, there actually hadn’t been that many people who turned up at the pillar of light, seeking the ability to get a class. But perhaps he had underestimated and overestimated humanity, simultaneously.

First, underestimated how much of a pack animal they really were. If there was a large group, it was sufficient to send a small group to investigate.

Second, overestimated humanity’s ability to cope with huge changes in their situation, and appreciate how necessary the thing called “Classes” would be. Or at least, their potential

There were several gaunt eyed and bloody people standing in the outskirts, looking on warily. These were likely the lone wolves who had killed the monsters before, and came to seek more power. But they were not the source of the noise.

The Newbie Village couldn’t really be called a village, it was simply a large building, seeming to be an Inn, next to a statue. In a slightly disturbing twist, that statue was Donny, hefting his sword and shield, looking quite a lot more mature and capable than he really was.

Standing in front of the statue was Donny, who glared at a tall, well muscled, dark-skinned man.

That man also happened to have an assault rifle strapped to his back.

“I’m just saying, what do you expect.” The man said with a shrug. “Sure son, what you did was very admirable, and we are all very curious about what having a class means for the world, but, didn’t you also recognize the danger? If in a week, bigger and stronger monsters come, you-”

“Will kill them effortlessly! I’m going to level up before then and handle it. And if you want to get a class from my village, you need to agree that I am your boss beforehand. That’s all I’m saying.” Donny added pompously, continuing to glare at the man.

“Look, kid,” The man said, finally losing his patience and stepping forward. “I’ve tried being nice. And I know a lot has happened in the past few days, so I’m willing to look the other way on some things. But don’t be unreasonable. The Shellton Police Department has the situation controlled inside the town. Now we are looking into ways to protect the citizens. It seems like gaining a class is an effective one. So I’ll ask you again: will you let me see this class thing, without any of your stupid-”

Donny just turned away. “Hmph, you’ll be back.”

Scowling, the well muscled man turned and walked away. Several of the more even looking loners around the Newbie Village hurried over to him, and began to speak with him as he left.

“He’s right about one thing.” The old man muttered. He had walked quietly over to Randidly when he had come up. “They certainly will be back. Especially as that 7 day window closes.

Randidly grunted, warily eyeing the rest of the loners. There was one in particular that caught his eye, and as he examined him, that one was walking forward, with a small smile on his face. He was an almost skeletally skinny man with greasy red hair. From his shirt, he worked in a fast food chain before the system changed things.

“Excuse me, are you the guy who founded the first Newbie Village?” His voice came out high and nasally, but Donny visibly puffed up in front of his attentions.

“Hahaha, yes I am. I’m actually looking for capable subordinates to handle some of the lesser matters, if you think you have what it takes.” Donny grinned.

The greasy man gave him a cheesy smile back. “Oh, I’ll do anything if it means working with you boss.”

Clapping him on the back with a happy laugh Donny took the man over towards Nul. As he did so, several of the seedier looking men who were standing around the outside of the clearing exchanged glances, and then trailed after them towards the central building.

Randidly had a strange feeling about the group, but set it aside for now. Instead, he turned to the old man, a question at the tip of his tongue. But then he paused, and asked a different one. “...What’s your name?”

“Sam.” The old man answered simply. Randidly nodded.

“What do you plan on doing then, Sam? Choosing the class, or waiting? I cannot give any guidance on whether any advantages you can get by waiting will be worth it.”

Sam grunted, and then spat to the side. “...at any rate, for now, I can afford to take my time. Raise some skill levels. Sound out the surrounding area. Those police types will be back, and honestly we might need it. A certain type of person thrives in this sort of environment and…. Makes it more difficult for others.”

Silently, Randidly remembered the 3 hooded figures he had seen in the back of Sam’s truck.

“Are you just going to let them go like that?” Sam asked, tilting his head towards the gaggle of hungry and violent looking men that were around Donny.

Randidly shrugged. “He deals with them so I don’t have to. If he can’t handle it, I’ll find someone else.

Sam gave Randidly a long look. “Some would say that’s a very cold view to take.

Again, Randidly shrugged. “Some people are welcome not to take it.”

***

As night fell, Randidly began to move. Although he hadn’t necessarily been slacking, being around other, normal people who bothered to sit and rest had made Randidly stop training so frantically. That stopped tonight.

Randidly had a spear in one hand, spinning his spear around in Spear Deflect, while his other hand punched against a tree, utilizing Heavy Blow. His eyes constantly sharpened with Eyes of the Spear Phantom. During all of this, due to his high level of meditation, he continued to meditate, increasing the rate of Stamina regeneration by 26%.

Meanwhile, Randidly alternated between Arcane Orbs and Mana bolts, shooting his projectiles high up into the sky in order to keep the noise to a minimum.

When his mana or stamina ran low, he would pause and work his way through the forms taught to him by Shal, depicting the moves of a true spearman.

While he was training, Randidly pondered whether saving up and waiting for a class really was worth it. Sure, best case scenario he would have the points from his large skill list while reaching a high level, and it would give him a definite advantage when it came to fighting someone of a similar level, but what about the people who had been leveling while he was training up his foundation?

It really depended what kind of RPG game the system was based on, and how high the level cap was. His experience with Shal raised more questions than it answered. Based on the difference in results, Shal had stats much higher than Randidly’s current physical stats. Especially in Agility and Vitality. It was awe inspiring how quickly that man could have worked his spear, and how serious of injuries he could recover from faster than should be possible.

But that also might have been exacerbated by the difference in skill levels. His current Spear Mastery Lvl 38 demonstrated nowhere near his finesse with the spear.

And that clearly wasn’t something that could be made up with class levels.

Sighing, Randidly switched from Spear Deflect to practicing Sweep. It was comically easy for him to exert himself all night, carefully studying these different moves and improving them. It was now becoming evident to Randidly that it wasn’t just knowledge and capability that raised skill level, and skill level raising capability. It was a little of both. And him, training now with some skill in the spear made these spear based skills increase by leaps and bounds.

An hour before dawn, Randidly’s eyes snapped open.

He had gained 1 skill point in Mana Shield, 2 in Arcane Orb, 1 in Root Manipulation, 1 in Meditation, 2 in Eyes of the Spear Phantom, 3 in Heavy Blow, 1 in Physical Fitness, 4 in Spear Deflect and 6 in Sweep.

But Randidly just put those PP on reserve for now, and stood, glowering at the darkness.

Monsters were coming. And there were a lot of them.