Homesteading in a fantasy world

It was time to dive back into my adventurer class. The first thing that greeted me was a message, starting consolidation. This took a few moments and then my body skill started to upgrade. First, it went to the basic body then to the body eventually ending in advanced body level 6. Then it paused for another few moments and I got two new notifications.

You have gained a new ability: body enhancement (E)

You have gained a new ability: energy compression

There was no choice given and I did not expect one. I was just happy that the abilities that I got seemed useful. It was now time to look at what else I got for the level-up. I was still at level one because I needed to choose stats. I was quite happy to find that I had access to all the stats that I had unlocked and that I can get quite a lot of stat points about the same as my other epic classes.

This was good news as it meant that the path I have chosen was a good one. The most points I could put into the starting three stats strength, dexterity, and vitality. If I just put points into those, I could get six for each a level. But energy storage was a really tempting choice.

Unfortunately, I could only put six points into it if I only chose that stat. What I was surprised about after some testing was that there actually was an optimal choice. I could put four points into strength, dexterity, vitality, and energy storage and that seemed to be the best bang for my buck.

If I just put one more point into energy storage, then I could get only two points in the other three. This exchange rate for value was constant for any other start that wasn't the three main ones, so the energy storage was nothing special at least in the eyes of the system, for me it was the most important one. But I didn’t want to lose out on so many other stats so losing two energy storage stats a level but gaining a total of 12 in the other three was completely acceptable.

The choice made I finally got the notification that my adventurer class reached level 2, but it didn’t stop there because as I learned the class still gathered all the EXP. On the next level, I was given a choice to get the skill beginner fist fighting, or I could take the stat distribution that I chose during the first level.

This seemed to be the biggest problem with making your own class the fact that you didn’t get a choice on what you were offered. Unfortunately, I was not looking for skills that I could get on my own but if there was a rare one to choose I might take it. But during the first levels, there was no chance of that.

Picking the stat points I moved on and unfortunately I had to move on until level 8 when I was offered druidic magic as a skill, but I know that this skill could not be learned by yourselves or at least it would take a long long time.

So once again I skipped getting the stat points instead. To my surprise, I had enough experience to get to level 10 which meant I now got the stats, and I could also choose a skill that I wanted like the first level.

Again, there was a massive list to choose from but this time I had something in mind. Just in case I looked over the list and hit the random button a few more times to see if anything else grab my attention.

I looked for anything to do with energy cultivation but there wasn’t anything close to what I was looking for. So, after some more searching but not finding anything of interest I went to my original idea and chose the skill called mind.

Why did I choose that? At the start, with the body skill, my idea was to make myself stronger but after some time I thought of the trinity so often referred to in fantasy books and that’s body, mind and soul.

Now for the soul skill, I didn’t find anything but last time there was no mind at least I think there wasn’t so hopefully it will be unlocked if I get my mind skill high enough. Although I was happy that I got this skill I was quite disappointed that I didn’t get any other good skill or ability along the way, but I guess at least this helped me get faster to a higher level.

When I stopped focusing on my adventurer class there were a few more notifications waiting for me. It turns out that picking so many stat points comes with another benefit. I had been close to my stat milestones with dexterity and vitality and now I was able to get new traits and a surprise.

Achievement gained ‘completed body’ you have activated and started to strengthen all your talents.

You gain 20 free stat points for achievement: completed body

All the free stats went into energy storage. The first trait I got was for dexterity, and it was called perfect body control. With this one, I didn’t need any more information about what it did the name was quite clear. But the next one was for vitality and was a bit more vague. Enriched body, what does that even mean?

It was at that moment that cold sweat covered my entire body. It felt like every molecule in my body was trying to break free and I started to get a bit lightheaded. Clamp down with my willpower I quickly went into meditation.

The new trait was trying to do something to my body but it didn't have a lot of energy so it started to eat all my fat reserves but there wasn't much of that in my body. Luckily after a few moments, it started to slow down its process and tried to find new sources of fuel from the outside world. It did start to absorb something from outside, but this process was slow and I could tell that it wouldn't be able to complete what it wanted fast or correctly.

My mind worked quickly and came up with a solution. And that was to quickly connect this new trait with my energy core so it could supply better nourishment for it to use. But doing this fast was not easy but I beared down on it with my willpower and push myself further than I ever had before.

I was feeling ravenous, but I pushed that aside and continued. I also noticed that giant amongst men was trying to absorb this trait, but it was having a hard time almost like they were at a similar power level to each other.

So, I added another burden to my mind and helped giant amongst men absorb this trait and combine it into itself. Even then in about an hour I had managed to get half done but it started to get easier now as the energy core started to be connected and it was able to slowly give energy to the trait making my job a little bit easier. Still, it took another hour before I was done. I was completely spent not only was the floor around me completely wet with sweat I felt like I hadn’t eaten in a whole month.

When I was finally able to stuff myself full of food another problem occurred. That damned trait wasn’t satisfied with the amount of energy inside the small core that was in my body. It had almost emptied it.

I quickly went back into meditation to hopefully be able to transfer energy from my energy body's core which was a lot bigger and had a lot more high-tier energy in it into my body core and hopefully stop this stupid trait from consuming everything I had.

It was incredibly hard to do this, and my body was constantly shaking similar to when someone is freezing. And this process took a few hours until the trait seemed to be satisfied and only pulled a small stream of energy from my body core. The amount it was now pulling from my body core was about a quarter it was able to produce so it seems the crisis is over.

The problem was my energy-body core high-tier energy was never meant to interact with my physical body and not only was I incredibly cold there were lacerations and bruising all over and when I went to look at my face I had trails of blood coming from both my eyes and nose and even one of my ears.

“What the fuck was that. Perhaps I should have just let it slow down the consumption as it did with my body?” Did I make a mistake? The trait did seem to slow down when there was no more fuel to get from my body, so perhaps it would have done the same with the core.

But I was too rattled to think clearly. It is true what they say that the unknown is the scariest thing in the world. I remembered my first battle and how scared I was not knowing what would happen if I would live or die. But as time went by it was no longer unknown it didn't scare me the same as I know what to expect. Now I know better what happened so I will not panic the next time.

Still, this was quite a crazy event. It seems that I got my body skill levelled three more times doing this and my mind skill upgraded six times. That was some crazy levelling, but I did learn a lot from this and not knowing what else to do I sat back down and also connected my other trait to the core. It acted normally and was quickly absorbed by giant amongst man so I only needed to nudge it a bit and I thanked it for being normal.

With a quick confirmation, perfect body control truly did what it said and I now was perfectly in sync with my mind and body, but it seems after a bit more testing my body would still have trouble keeping up if I pushed it too hard.

But even now I still had no idea what enriched body actually did. I started to meditate some more but it was a bit harder to get to the knowledge because the trait was now inside giant amongst men but I was still able to get the information.

But I didn't just rely on that but tried to look and understand how it changed my body. In the end, the word enriched was truly correct. It felt like my entire body was supercharged like every cell wanted to move, wanted to do something. The best way I could describe it, it felt like I was on drugs and a lot of them.

The feeling I got from the trait was of limitless potential of constant growth and the need to improve. It almost screamed the last part like it was a child that wanted its toy now and would do anything to get it. It looks like I got one of the temperamental traits that needed some education. Giant amongst men was already working on that as well as my energy core but putting my will behind not specifically controlling but guiding this trait might be the best solution.

So, I dedicated some of my willpower to try to tamp down the traits let's call them fits. But my body also needed attention as controlling it was hard. It constantly wanted to move. I honestly wished that I had some hardcore music to dance to so I could spend some of this energy, but then I remembered that it was Monday, and I could go into the dungeon. The hurting from before was almost completely gone but I still know that I was quite beat up it’s just that now I just couldn’t feel it anymore.

I really needed to control myself because I wanted to run into the dungeon and fight with my bare hands, but I still had some control. If anyone with less willpower than me got the trait it would probably have taken over turning them quite crazy.

When I was finally out of the dungeon, I could breathe a little bit better. The feeling wasn’t gone but it was a lot more manageable now. I continued mostly on autopilot as I needed to focus almost everything, I had on trying to stay calm and control the traits desires.

The next day went by in a daze as we did some more logging. This time I did go to the training and had another lesson from Bert. After that, I also did a lot more training at home and a lot more running in the snow to calm down my constantly screaming body that wanted to move.

The next Monday when I was training, I started to feel some displeasure coming my way while I was attending sword training with everyone else. This helped distract me a bit but I was still quite out of it.

Then it was Wednesday. I was starting to feel a lot better when I woke up perhaps another dungeon run that I did on Monday helped, but I think the trait is starting to understand what it’s doing wrong.

Now that my mind was a lot clearer, I was able to understand the problem I felt in the last training. The problem was my skill with the sword or more specifically the lack of it. I was honestly awful with it. I had come a long way but everyone else had left me behind quite easily including Arthur who was one of the best in the class now. It didn't bother most of the instructors but the students especially the good ones seemed to now despise me.

---

“Falyr, I want to ask you something.” Asked the head instructors. When he got a nod in return he continued. “You told us to be cordial to the outsiders and I could understand it with Arthur he has the capability of becoming truly great with the sword, but Rich I can count on one hand the people that I’ve seen are worse than him with this amount of training.”

He hoped for an explanation but when he didn't get any he continued. “Why are we extending a hand to him? I could understand why we made the deal with him for the dungeon but now that we know he isn't really a fighter why continue this farce?”

Falyr just looked at him with disgust, but he didn’t show it on his face. “I have come to understand something about people who master a certain weapon.” There was a big pause before he continued. “For some reason, they think if someone doesn't master their weapon that the person doesn't know how to fight or is useless in a fight.”

He now showed disappointment on his face as he looked towards his head instructor. The instructor didn't take this well. He could not accept that this farmer could be any good in a fight. His pride as a sword grandmaster hurt every time, he watched this person train.

“Then I will show you how useless that person actually is.” He said it with so much venom that Falyr was surprised his face didn’t turn into a snake. The instructor quickly did a hand movement and one of his best students that was currently sparring with Rich understood immediately. Instead of the practice moves that they were supposed to do, he sped up and delivered multiple quick strikes with his bastard sword against Rich trying to draw blood.

Falyr shook his head, but he didn't stop what was about to happen. He had to admit to himself that he was also curious and he didn't think that Rich would kill his opponent. Rich was a bit surprised at the first attacks but those weren't anything special. But the speed and strength continue to ramp up and he found himself constantly having to back up.

Everyone heard and understood that something was different as the sounds of metal ringing was getting louder and faster. Quickly everyone started to back away from the fight that was going on between Rich and the best student.

To the surprise of everyone Rich was able to keep up although he was completely in defence. He didn’t do any fancy movements he didn't even swing just held out his two-handed sword and adjusted it with hand movements to block everything thrown at him.

The other instructors were amazed at how solid his defence was, but they also understood that he didn’t have any answer to the attack and could only defend. As time went by the strikes got closer and closer.

Finally, the first blood was drawn with a small nick on Rich’s bicep after that Rich stopped and spoke. “That was quite splendid thanks...” But he didn't get any further because another attack aimed at his face was coming quickly.

He was able to block it, but it left a cut on his cheek. His smile vanished and when another attack came for his throat, he no longer wished to play this game. A sudden chill fell onto the entire area and all the other students could see was the student’s sword being cut in half and Rich’s sword being just millimetres away from the youth's throat.

“I suggest that you don’t play other people’s games for their benefit,” Rich said in a low voice and then a moment later the oppressive atmosphere vanished and to everyone's surprise Rich smiled and asked if the lesson is over for today.

The head instructor almost pulled his own sword and rushed to kill Rich, but Falyr put his hand on his shoulder and stopped him. “You have caused enough trouble and will be leaving with the next portal. You are lucky that Rich seems to be a truly nice person because your stunt could have gotten your student killed.”

“I hope you’ve learned that not everyone needs to be a master of the sword to be able to kill.” It seems that Rich has some more secrets and a lot more power that he can apply than I expected thought Falyr.