4

There were a few culture clashes as he got used to life in the village. One of them being shared bathing, there was only one large bath-house in the village that everyone used. Male and female alike, it had shocked him when he first saw it but he had quickly gotten used to it. Even back home there had been something similar in spas and the like. Seeing Weira strip in front of him still made him stutter however, he was not at all prepared at the time.

This world was a lot more open-minded about nudity. Polygamy was also more common than back home. Not that he wanted anything to do with the practice, trying to keep up with one woman was more than enough trouble. Especially the type he favoured, he didn't just happen to 'find' the crazier types, he was attracted to them. He had this strange urge to help them improve, even if they did not need it. It was part of who they were after all. He knew that in his head but he could not help himself.

He glanced at Weira who was currently lying in the grass next to the palisade. Weira despite her muteness was normal. Well.. sort of. She had a playful streak and made a lot of sarcastic comments. How did one make these sarcastic comments when mute you ask? Well the power of a wiggling eyebrow and a grin could do wonders.

Jace opened his stat sheet, he'd been in the village for five days and had some progress for his effort. He had gained some points in endurance, strength and agility from the training he did. His Sword mastery as well as his Shield mastery had already reached the novice level. His shield mastery was growing faster than his sword mastery, he focused a lot more on his shield. It felt more natural to him than the sword did, he had a bit of a talent for it according to gran.

The rest of the day was spent the same as the last, training, eating and relaxing. The days melded into weeks and then months, his skills were growing slowly but steadily. He had asked everyone he could a lot of pointed questions once he figured out the language and got more fluent. The way levels and tiers worked and such.

One of the most important features in his mind was how classes evolved, a class at the first tier warrior for instance could become sword-fighter once you reached level 100. It would increase the bonus stats received per level up to the relevant stats as well as improve the quality of skills both passive and active. Another thing of note was that passive skills were not called passive skills as he expected, they were called traits. It made sense to him but it would still take some getting used to it.

Then he realised he may have figured out a way to gain strength and stats without leveling up as all the others did. Something that would help Weira as well, he glanced at her. They were both on guard duty and were sitting on the chairs in one of the watchtowers. He opened his mouth, prepared to explain his plan and bring her into it. They had grown close over the last few months and he would hate to lose her.

"So the elder told us about how your mastery level increases much faster in combat and even faster when your fighting with something stronger than yourself right?"

A nod

"And the fact that there are titles for killing creatures above your level and titles for clearing dungeons above your level that give you stats."

Another nod.

"So what if instead of leveling up like the others we focus on gathering those titles, as I hear it clearing a dungeon ten levels higher than your own would give you two titles. One for beating the boss which would give you ten stats in each attribute. Another for beating the dungeon giving you another ten stat points in all attributes."

Weira glanced at him curiously an eyebrow raised.

"This title according to gran can upgrade, if you beat a dungeon and kill the boss when they are twenty levels above your own you get twenty stat points per title. Sure a level up would give someone five points, not including the bonus of their class. So fourty stat points for beating something twenty levels over yours would only equal eight levels worth of points."

Weira was interested now and considering his idea, she tilted her head. Then her eyes widened.

"Yep you got the key point." He grinned at her, "Our mastery will rise exponentially the further we get in the title progression. Where others fight with skills and levels, we fight with mastery. We train until we are more skilled than any of our opponents and we get the stats from the titles. Most importantly you don't need to access the sheets for getting a title, which means you can grow."

I smiled as her face started glowing and she got all excited. Well at least for now he had a plan. But gods knows how long it would take to put to fruition.

Our guard shift had ended and we were jogging back to the central house. He thought it would have a name of sorts but everyone simply referred to it as the central house. He glanced at Weira, she was easily keeping pace with her halberd slung over her shoulder.

The two spent so much time together that he could generally pick up on her mood and what she wished to say with a simple glance. The conversations as one sided as they might seem to outsiders were a full-out argument in truth. The things this girl could tell him with a sarcastic raise of an eyebrow was depressing.

As for why they headed to their current destination it was to ask permission to head into the closest dungeon. One of the reasons the villagers had chosen to settle in this particular spot was a dungeon that had five layers. The inhabitants started at around level ten and then moved up into level sixty. A perfect dungeon for them to train their children and make sure everyone in the village had some fighting experience. Both Jace and Weira had not been allowed to enter the dungeon, the reason being. They were level zero, they had no class to call their own as these were only received at level ten.

But today he planned to either convince the elder or sneak of and enter it ourselves. They had waited long enough and both of were skilled fighters. Even among the other guards in pure skill few could beat them now. He stared at the center building and felt his stomach flutter slightly. Yes, he had to admit that he was nervous, the Elder was a scary woman. Even if in general she had become something of a grandmother to him. More of a mother really with her vitality. Which reminded him of one of the most surprising and game changing things he had learned over the months. Vitality is a key point here, each point in vitality increases the lifespan by a year. Although that differed per race, elves would recieve an extra fifteen years per points, and dwarves received five. However you can only put a hundred points in the attribute till it locked.

If you wanted more vitality then you would have to get them from the class bonuses or titles. Another reason why he thought his title farming plan was worth the effort. They could add years to their lives simply by farming the dungeon. When he had first excitedly told his plan to Gran she had eyed him with amusement. Asking him if she thought that he was truly the first to come up with the idea. Honestly Jace thought he had been, different perspective from another world maybe? But nope it was a strategy that many had tried. The risk was high, the lack of skills was what truly made it so difficult.

Mastery is great and all but what good is skill against a Skill that sends a wave of energy from the blade of your sword strong enough to cut through stone. Mastery of your weapon won't save you from that. He realised the problem but he had a solution of his own, magic! In a world where mana and magic existed you needed stats to grow your supply of mana. Intelligence grew your raw magic power and the amount of magic you had while Wisdom was your control of magic and the speed it regenerated at. If they could farm stats like he expected they we could become spellblades of sorts.

Make up for that gap with spells they created themselves. Creating your own spells however, was no simple thing. You needed at least thirty intelligence to even acces your mana. A bridge he would cross when he reached it. He looked up at the building then at Weira, he stared into her icy blue eyes before nodding to myself, taking a deep breath and stepping inside.

The following discussion surprised him, gran had agreed easier than he had expected. As if she had been prepared for it to come. However unwilling she still was, she did however make a point that she would be going with them for the first dive just in case. She wanted to watch out for them and would not take no for an answer. Honestly Jace didn't mind in the least, having someone experienced watch over you for your first foray into danger was something he had come to appreciate from his army days.