NOVEL NEXT Chapter 3.2: New Normal
Aldrin blinked at the personal quest notification, wondering why he had never received one before. He added a mental note to ask around about it after he had found a cure for himself. He also chose not to invest his points in himself, knowing that it would be redundant when he learns the whereabouts of a cure.
He continued to look at his status in disbelief, more so at the 55 Skill Points he had accrued. Doing the math, knowing full well his Profession netted him 1 Skill Point, SP for the short version per level, which made up for the 24 Skill Points. He knew he had bought both Shapechanger and Blood Rage for 4 Skill Points total during his mindless rampage, taking that away from his Profession level. That left him with another 27 Skill Points unaccounted for. His Racial level was at 5, meaning that it gave him 7 Skill Points per level.
Aldrin whistled to himself again after doing the brief mental math. "If I didn't have to eat people to survive, this wouldn't be half bad to have," he said as he continued to stare at his character sheet. He moved to the third tab of his system interface titled Skill Trees.
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Race: Vampire Skill Tree* Sub-Race: Vampire Progenitor Skill Tree(Locked until Racial Level 10) Class: Null Profession: Lore Seeker* Unique Skill Tree* Resistances(Locked until Racial Level 10) |
Opening the Vampire Skill Tree first, he perused through the skills, letting reality sink in once more. He didn't realize that, unlike Humans, Vampires have their own unique skill tree.
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Vampire Skill Tree - 7 SP Per Level: Thirst - Passive Ability Level 1: Vampires lust for blood, even more so the newly turned vampires as they are slaves to their thirst. Level 2: As vampires transition from newborns to adolescent vampires their bloodlust lessens(4 SP)(Must be Juvenile Rank or higher) Bite - Passive Ability(Damage grows with Strength and Willpower) Level 1: Returns 25% damage as health or mana. Restores 2 Blood Counts Level 2: Returns 50% damage as health or mana. Restores 4 Blood Counts(4 SP) Claws - Passive Ability(Damage grows with strength and Dexterity) Level 1: Your claws are now able to rend light armors such as those made from cloth and leather. Level 2: Your claws are now able to rend medium armors and below, such as chainmail and hardened leather(4 SP) Charming Gaze(Chance to pass increases with Charisma and Willpower) Level 1: Subtly influence sentient and creatures' minds(Requires Racial Level 10) Strength of the Elders - Passive Ability(Reach Racial Level 50 to unlock) Level 1: 5% increase to all stats per level(Locked) Undead Body - Improved by Willpower and Vitality Level 1: Bodily functions are turned off i.e. hunger, sleep, energy and the need to breathe no longer affect you. Stamina no longer affects you. Level 2: Resistant to slashing, bludgeoning, and pierce from non magical weapons(4 SP) Regeneration - Passive only out of combat Level 1: A newborn vampire is able to heal small cuts and bruises since their body is still considered mostly mortal due to their transition to immortal. Level 2: Small appendages now grow back as the vampire ages into a Juvenile(4 SP) Supernatural Reflexes Level 1: 2 second time freeze if you are about to be killed instantly(2 SP) Vampiric Awareness Level 1: Night vision is granted; hearing and smell is improved. Level 2: Able to feel minor shifts of displaced air 10 feet around you(4 SP) Vampiric Agility Level 1: Ability to jump further than your pinnacle human. Level 2: You are now able to stick to any surface(4 SP) Shapechange Level 1: Able to change into a fog/mist OR a swarm of bats Level 2: Able to shapechange into the form of a direwolf or direbear(4 SP) Blood Curse Level 1: Create Zombie(2 Skill Points to unlock) Master of the Night Level 1: Grants communication with creatures of the night(2 SP) Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. |
Aldrin detested the skills presented to him as he read through them all. It only elevated the further reality that Vampires can't be left alone, otherwise their gains in power would become a snowball effect. He shuddered to think about choosing a class and the nasty skills that would come with whatever class he chose, let alone whatever the Vampire Progenitor Skill Tree presented itself with. Closing out of the Vampire Skill Tree interface, he mentally opened his profession skill tree.
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Profession: Lore Seeker - 1 SP Per Level Exploration Level 1: +10 exp gained for discovering new places(50/50 places found) Level 2: +20 exp gained for discovering new places(52/100 places found) Anatomy Level 1: +5 exp gained for killing monsters(250/250 slain monsters, beasts, and humanoids) Level 2: +10 exp gained for killing monsters(373/500 slain monsters, beasts, and humanoids) Biologist Level 1: +5 exp gained for discovery of new creatures(30/30 discovered) Level 2: +10 exp gained for discovery of new creatures(44/70 discovered) Botanist Level 1: +5 exp gained for discovery of new plants(25/25 harvested) Level 2: +10 exp gained for discovery of new plants(28/50 harvested) Book Smart Level 1: +25 exp more for turning in quests(100/100 completed) Level 2: +50 exp more for tuning in quests(166/200 completed) Historian Level 1: +100 more exp gained from solving mysteries of Grenora(0/10 solved) Traveler Level 1: +5 Dexterity boosts for walking and running (1,000/1,000) steps Level 2: +10 Dexterity boosts for walking and running (3,788/10,000) steps |
Aldrin breathed a sigh of relief as his profession skills didn't reset since to gain the perks of a Profession required actual usage of the perks you wanted. With his Profession being a gatherer, he needed to venture out into the world to gain the perks, whereas someone who holds a crafting Profession, a Blacksmith for example, only needs to work in a workshop to level the perks wanted. Next on the list was looking at the new sub-tab called the Unique Skill Tree
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Unique Skill Tree Blood Rage Level 1: Boost your stats by 2x for 30 seconds, leaves you craving for blood Level 2: Locked until Racial Level 10 |
Aldrin blanched when he opened it and read the skill. His stomach chose that time to make itself known as the pinprick feeling from before it started to rear its ugly head again. Without anything around, Aldrin feared losing control again, succumbing to whatever plagued his mind the last time. He wanted to chalk it up to him being a Newborn Vampire, but a part of him knew that whatever lurked beneath his subconscious was always going to be there if he didn't find a cure.
Trying his best to ignore the rising pinprick feeling that was forming in his stomach, he moved onwards to view his inventory. His heart froze, and despair took hold as he looked at his now empty inventory. Nothing was left, no money, no food or water not that he needed it, none of his own weapons and armor, and to top off the kick in the balls there were no spare clothes to change into from the bloody rags he now wore.
"Fuck!" Aldrin banged his head back against the cave wall he was sitting against, closing out of the Inventory screen.
With a deep sigh, he opened Quests from the tab, enabling him to see his two quests he had, which were to Find A Cure for your Vampirism and the Tier 6 Chain Quest, Return of the Night.
With no concrete idea of where to start, the quest given to him didn't provide any clues about where to begin. He debated contacting his sister and grandfather to let them know what happened. On the other hand, the more he thought about roping them in, he didn't want to put them in a position that would ultimately put them in danger from himself. He sighed into his hands coming to that conclusion, then moved onto his first goal, which was to cure himself and then contact his sister, at least.
Another realization of horror-struck him as the feeling of the cold silver band around his finger was no longer there. Meaning the enchanted ring that was meant to let each other know if someone was in danger or died had crumbled, leading to the realization that he really did die and was reborn in the body of a monster that looked like him.
"Adeline is definitely on her way here, and if she finds me or her men find me, I am dead for good," Aldrin resigned himself.
The system chime alerted him again to a choice he had to make, snapping him out of his depressive thoughts that spiraled and consumed his mind.
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Please Choose Your Class |
Out of sheer curiosity and nothing more, he viewed the new variants of Classes.
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Choose your class path; Class paths altered due to your Race change. Fighter ---> Bloodletter: Ah, the Bloodletters of vampire-kind, they are considered the lowest ranked melee combatant and are often associated with newborns; however, once the Bloodletters prove themselves worthy and advance, they have the potential to become nightmares for those that stand against them. Preferred Equipment: Heavy Armor, Medium Armor, Light Armor, Blades, and Blunt Preferred Stats: Strength, Dexterity, Vitality Minor Stats: Charisma, Willpower Preferred Use: Health & Magic Rogue ---> Stalker: The Stalkers are the vampires that embrace their heritage of being nighttime apex predators and take great delight at being the thing that goes bump in the night, however it will take time to get there if the Stalker survives long enough that is. Preferred Equipment: Medium Armor, Light Armor, Blades, Thrown weapons, Ranged weapons Preferred Stats: Dexterity, Vitality, Intelligence Minor Stats: Strength, Charisma Preferred Use: Magic & Health Mage ---> Acolyte: The vampire Acolytes are those who take the beginning steps of mastering their vampiric magics that are granted to them upon awakening, growing into the Lords and Ladies of the Night that we have all come to fear with their legions of minions and undead that heed their call. Be warned,the budding steps of the Acolyte path are hard, but well rewarded in the end. Preferred Equipment: Light Armor, Blunt Weapons, Staffs, Wands, Spellbooks, Talismans Preferred Stats: Intelligence, Willpower, Charisma Minor Stats: Dexterity, Vitality Preferred Use: Magic |
"Oh, definitely rest in pieces to me. I'm a dead-er man for sure with these options," Aldrin lamented as he closed out the Class option.
Throwing himself a pity party for another five minutes, he slapped his cheeks to regain focus. He recalled a city that housed many of the world's potion distribution, the city of Lor-Vold. His best bet would be to at least start there, but the worry of traveling during the day had caused him to pause. He would have to wait for nightfall tomorrow and hopefully make it to the nearest outpost town to "grab" some clothes and a weapon.
He stepped out of the cave, glancing at the three moons that loomed above. His breath caught in his throat as he could see the clarity of distant space and the stars that dotted the dark expanse. It reminded him of how far, far, far away this was from the Earth he briefly knew. Judging from the direction and orientation of the moons, he assumed it to be at least 3 in the morning. Grumbling to himself, he stomped back into the cave, debating with himself if he should scout for the next cave or wait.
The burning, gnawing sensation in his stomach made the choice for him. He needed to hunt and feed, a thought that made him flinch at the thought of draining someone. He has killed people before, bandits mostly, but it was over as quick as it started with little fanfare.
The idea struck him as his mind went back to bandits. Aldrin assumed that a few bandits dead wouldn't harm anybody but help as they wouldn't be causing any problems. His mind set on hunting bandits in the area, he strutted out of the cave with a newfound purpose, only to be struck with the sudden horror that he had no idea what to do with his new abilities.
"I guess it would be just like riding a bike?" Aldrin thought aloud as he explored the new abilities his new Race granted him as he began walking away from the cave.