Worthy

E stepped into the new room he rented. It was large compared to his room from the night previous. There were a total of five beds in here. One large mattress and two bunk beds. Being on the second floor he actually got a window this time and the toilet was actually in it's own small bathroom. E played Bean down on the lower bunk bed. He lay passed out and didn't wake at all through the journey here. E wished he had because he got some strange looks carrying a goblin over his shoulder and a camp stove in his other hand.

E let Bean rest and lay out his spoils in front of him. " Well done Bean. I know you're asleep now but these are here for when you wake up." A camp stove, some dogwood, which is a campfire tinder made of the hardened sappy chucks of wood from a tree, and a whole bag of trail rations. " With that Bean has his own bag now and the rations are much better than just jerky, some hardened breads, small pack of grains, and even dehydrated nuts and berries."

E put down his things and decided he would check out his class menu. He wanted to use some of his time to get more familiar with it there was still a half hour before the wrestling tournament, even though he was on rough terms with Mae he still wanted to show up and support her. E opened his Ranger tab this time.

Class - Ranger

A ranged fighter with a mix of basic martial skills, arcane affinity in the medium category.

HP - 12

MP - 5

Constitution - 12

Dexterity - 18

Strength - 12

Wisdom - 12

Intelligence -9

Charisma - 12

Class Skills : Long shot, Called Shot, Up close and Deadly

Proficiencies : Herbalism, Hunting, Medium armor, Martial Weapons Lv 1, Bow Lv 2, Handle Animal Lv 1

Racial Bonus: 'New feat available' , Low light vision, Light step.

E was somewhat overwhelmed. When he looked at this menu before he had to quickly skim and answer questions for the gnome. With little understanding he decided to check what his skills meant. He had a guess but wanted to confirm. He decided to press Long Shot.

Skill - Long shot

Use of a bow over long distances with decent accuracy, less chance to miss against a non-moving target. Use available on shots over one hundred meters for 1 MP. Against a moving target accuracy drop but each additional MP consumed will increase chances by 5%

" Whoa I can do that. I've trained to hit far off targets but I never knew the distance. This definitely something Dad drilled into me. Hmm what about Called shot"

Skill - Called shot

Make an audible announcement as to a section of a target to hit. Upon contact with the appropriate area can increase chance for a critical blow by up to 50% the closer the target is to you. Activate at the cost of 1 MP, If the target dies 50% chance to recover MP used.

" The bottle game. Dad would place bottles on a pole and have a contest with me. Was he a Knight that could use a bow to a large degree? He should have taught me his swordmanship more! But still this is really useful. I can really pack in some damage with this skill. Okay last but not least."

Skill - Up close and Deadly

Fire 3 successive arrowa at a target withing 20 meters shattering arrows against their armor, tough hide, or weapons. Fragments have a high chance to cut and cause bleeding. Any member of the party in the vicinity are at high risk for collateral damage. For each member of the party close to the target increase Critical chance by 5%. Activation cost 2 MP

" Whoa this is a scary one. I better be careful with this one or I can harm my teammates. But this will surely help wittle down an enemy." E started to understand how he earned his skills. These were things put into practice through his grueling training. Skill cost MP but They drastically increased the amount of damage or success of certain tactics.

E inspected his proficiencies with the same mindset and understood that it was likely the same for those things. He had a basic run through of most simple weapons and how to use them with his Father. It was only when he showed promise with the bow that his dad leaned into teaching what he could about them. "Perhaps dad only trained me that way to try and breed in me these skills...did he think I was unfit for a Knight? Or maybe he just played to my strong suits... I definitely don't have his physique, I guess that's the cards I was dealt."

E shed a single tear. It was obvious his Dad hid this fact from him, he knew E wanted to follow in his footsteps. " It's fine, I will make my own path.. Hmm.. Handle Animal level one? We didn't have pets." E pressed this proficiency.

Handle Animal Lv 1

The user is able to express emotions and certain actions to animals. Attempting to befriend an animal or make enemies of one is increased by 10% per level to a maximum of level 4.

" Huh. I guess the farewell prayer Mom taught me. Oh shit wait.." E had completely forgotten about his mother's potion she made. She told him to drink it after his class was given to him. He searched through his bag and found it.

"Well here goes." He swallowed it in all of its bitter gritty disgust. He quickly followed it up with a emptying his water skin.

" Yuck the heck Mom. What was that even for." Moments later a new skill popped on his menu " Whaaa??"

Skill - Wild Empathy

A ranger can improve the initial attitude of an animal. Upon activation the typical domestic animal will now have a starting attitude of indifferent, while wild animals are usually unfriendly. Mp cost of 4

To use wild empathy, the ranger and the animal must be within 30 feet of one another under normal visibility conditions and have a clear goal of the interaction with the animal. Generally, influencing an animal in this way takes 1 minute, but, as with influencing people, it might take more or less time. The ranger can also use this ability to influence a magical beast. Activation cost 3 MP.

" Well that is something. I guess mom really did know what I would end up being. I may be able to win over some animals now. If I can win over Topher we may just luck out hopefully they will sell him cheap!" E was ecstatic. Even if Topher wouldn't join him he might be able to tame a wild animal. Perhaps he would look for a quest that would take them to a plains in the coming spring.

" Okay well what is there left to check." He kept scrolling through his menu. " Racial bonus... New feat available?" He pressed it. In front of him on his menu a Giant wheel appeared with a lever.

Use Racial bonus token [ Yes / No ]

He pressed yes and the wheel began to wurr. He couldn't make out the words that span around and after a few second it slowed to a stop.

+2 To a save bonus - Select Bonus Below

Fortitude

Reflexes

Will

At the same time this happened E looked up on his menu to notice a new section appear under his stats.

Fortitude - 1

Reflexes - 4

Will - 2

" Hmm how are these calculated? And what are they for? I better find Mae she might know." E closed his menu without making a selection. He left Bean to sleep and went to find the wrestling tournament.

.....

Mae had been pissed off all day. " Stupid little trickster of an elf. Can't believe he would use a pirate tactic to sign me onto his crew. Look at this dumb name!" Mae look down at her guild card with it's newly stamped " The Wood Knights" emboldened on it. " If it weren't for the backlash I would receive I would wring his neck. On the otherhand though...That little goblin sure is cute. Awwww I could still just squeeze him. He's just a baby." Mae shook her head " He's gonna pay 50.. no 80 percent of the quests I carry them through." Mae shook her fist. She had been browsing shops all day after winning coin and drinks at the bar last night. She counted her coin.. "Hmm 7 gold 4 silvers. I'm still so far from getting armor. Ughhh. If that last party didn't kick me out on our way back to turn in that quest I'd be rolling in gold right now. They used me! If I find them again so help me. Ah well except Charity she was nice and didn't want to kick me out I guess she's fine. But the rest of them are dead, I just have to make sure it's when I'm stronger I can't take on three at once right now." Mae had been mumbling to herself as she walked up the road. A few passers by made way as she was scary at moments.

She walked over to an area just passed the far gates where a large ring had been fenced off. The snow was cleared and the ground had been tilled up and tamped down to make a makeshift ring. A large group of people entered a staircase to watch from high on the wall and many others brought out some chairs. Ruined hay bales we're stacked in a circle around the ring for seating and they began to slowly become filled with spectators. It was time for Mae to let off some steam.