A rush of notifications came into Ian's view. He leveled up to level 9 instantly gaining 18 stat points.
'Almost to level 10. Tutorial is almost over'
Suprisingly he also gained a skill from this [Weakspot Detection]. It seemed to show him the weak points of an enemy as long as they were equal or weaker than him. On stronger opponents it didn't work as well and only showed vulnerable areas but not the specific weakspot.
'This will be super useful.'
Ian grinned looking at the skills description. Moving on from that he decided to hurry and skin the bear.
Skillfully moving his knife the bear was skinned and processed in 3 hours. Ian bundled up what he thought would be useful like its claws, fur, and fangs.
Leaving behind the rest if it to the local animals and beasts to take care of he hurried home. In the sky a hawk swooped down and started munching on the bears remains it's eyes locked on Ian as he left.
Still running Ian didn't realize and just left the area behind. It took him 2 days to reach Ron's house because of his injury but he had finally made it.
Limping to the door Ian opened it and walken into the kitchen looking for something to eat. Surprisingly Ron was there, sitting at the table much like the forst day when Ian woke up here.
"Hey Ron, I'm back"
Ian said with a casual smile on his face as he found and started eating some jerky.
"Ya made it kid. I starting to think ya didn't succeed."
"Come on! Me fail? Please Ron you knew U would make it!"
Ian laughed.
"That I did. Ya just took longer than expected is all."
"I hurt my leg a bit during the battle so I couldn't return as quick."
"Come, show me. I'll patch ya up"
Ian walked over to the table and sat next to Ron showing him hid wound.
"Ya call this a 'bit hurt'! Ya got bigger balls than I thought ya did kid."
"Hahaha It's but a flesh wound!"
Ian laughed before wincing as Ron applied a potion on his leg.
After healing his leg Ian brought out everything he took from the bear.
"Here you go Ron. I got its fur, claws, and fangs for you."
When he presented everything a window appeared.
_________________________________________
Hidden Quest Complete!!
[Reward] Iron Skin Cloak, 200xp
Congratulations Ian you have completed Ron's test
_________________________________________
"Oh this is great kid. I'm givin this to the leatherworker in town and have him fashion you a cloak from the fur"
"Thank you Ron, I really do appreciate all you've done for me."
"Don't mention it kid. Ya show promise and I look forward to what ya do from now on"
"For now I'm just gonna go rest. That bear did a number on me."
Alone in his room Ian claimed his rewards leveling up onve more. Now at level ten. Light streamed around him as a more profound change was happening this time compared to before.
He felt a hot but refreshing energy being absorbed by his body. It tore through his body searching for its place eventually finding it in Ian's heart. The energy formed a core and finally stabilized.
His body stopped leaking energy and he could now feel the fantasy. He had mana! Finally he reached the iron rank and became superhuman.
With the level up came not only the regular stat points but a skill point. Every ten levels you get one to either enhance or get a new skill.
Ian contemplated the choice for a minute. He could enhance his best skill [Hawk Eyes] but he could bare manage it now if he enhances its powers he might not be able to use it at all. Too much power might harm his current abilities.
In the end he decided that instead of enhancing any skill he would get a new one. All his other skills could be improved later anyway.
He opened the skill menu used the skill point. A wheel suddenly appeared in front of him. There were multiple skills he could gain at this level. He saw archery skills, a stealth skill, a trap setting skill, etc. These were all things that would add to hus arsenal no doubt.
Without hesitation Ian spun the wheel. It spun for 10 seconds. An excruciating and nerve wracking 10 seconds. As it stopped spinning Ian could see what it landed on.
[Animal Friendship]
A skill that enhanced his affinity to animals and made taming them easier.
'That could be cool I guess. Not what I was hoping for but I can work with this'
Ian thought to himself while reading that description. Indeed it wasn't something he particularly wanted but you have to admit a ranger with a companion is just kind of cool.
Next he took the time to apply his stat points. This time he had 21 points to spend it would be a pretty substantial enhancement.
These were his current stats.
_________________________________________
Stats:
STR-11
DEX-15
INT-9
CHA-8
VIT-11
_________________________________________
He decided to round out his DEX at 20. STR rose to 15 as did VIT. INT rose to 15 and CHA rose to 10.
Feeling his body change was always novel. He stretched and moved his body to get used to it as fast as possible.
The next day was spent in the training ground just feeling his body out. The quick progress forced him to take time to get used to the changes and adjust.
After coming inside from training he waited for Ron. He had gone into town the day before to commission the leatherworker and would be back today with the cloak in hand.
Ian sat at the table, like Rom had done multiple times before, and waited. When he heard the door open he almost shot up in excitement. New equipment was worth being excited about especially the reward for a hidden quest.
Ron finally walked in with a black cloak in his hands. He went over to Ian and put it down in fornt of him.
"Here it is kid. Your reward... Great work, ya deserve this."
"Thanks Ron."
Ian picked up the cloak and immediately equipped it, taking off his old cloak. As he put it on he looked at its effects.
_________________________________________
Name: Iron Skin Cloak
Effect: Increases resistance to stabbing and slashing attacks by 45%
Durability:200/200
_________________________________________
'This is sick'
_________________________________________
Chapter 5!! Was this cool? Did you enjoy? What do you think of the new skill? What kind of pet should he have? JK i already picked one but you'll see soon