The sun set behind a sea of pine trees and mountains. A brisk breeze shifted the evergreens and shrubbery, swaying back and forth. The tall stone-pillar could be seen off in the distance. The roc's corpse, still dormant, lay atop it visibly massive even from this distance.
Charlotte found a dry cave to set the tent under. It was very convenient that there happened to be a cave so close by, and it was even more convenient that the cave was placed beneath densely packed flora, acting as a natural wind-barrier.
Charlotte and I had taken turns going to the back of the cave to wash our bodies off with a wet down rag. After that, I had a change of clothing, exchanging the ones torn to smithereens for clean ones. Charlotte washed her clothes by pouring water on them and using her water purification to clean them instantly. They were most likely going to wrinkle when they fully dried, but it was better than her having to keep wearing clothes that smelled awful.
We were sat around a campfire, I fueled with saplings and bushes. It was very smoky, and it guzzled through the fuel fast, making me have to stoke it every few minutes or so, but we needed it to dry Charlotte's clothes off. Fortunately, there was no shortage of fuel as far as the eye could see, and her clothes had mostly dried by now. It was the camping bag I was worried more about than anything.
The camping bag was also water-cleaned by Charlotte. But unlike our thin clothes, the camping bag was thickly layered, and even when we rang out the water, it was still soaked. It seemed like she might end up having to sleep without it at this rate.
I learned a lot of new things about my new attributes and abilities while conversing with Charlotte. I relayed their usages to her, along with all the other quirks of my class and race.
My new ability, Survivor's Senses, was an odd one. Essentially what it did was let me sense danger. Theoretically, this would mean if I were about to be ambushed, I would feel it before it happened. It also meant if I picked a patch of poisonous berries, I would know that they weren't safe for consumption.
My other new ability, System Appraisal, was something I had seen many times in isekai. It allowed me to view the stats of things cataloged in the System's database. That included people, monsters, and apparently also minerals and plants. However, I tried it out on both minerals and plants but couldn't get either to work so far. I assumed the System wouldn't bullshit me, so I concluded that it meant that only certain minerals and plants were cataloged.
As far as my attributes went Body had increased from all the physical activity I'd gotten, which was nice, but I had also learned that my Mental attribute had also risen. The only reason I could surmise for why this happened was because of the damage I received to my brain, and if that were the case, it could also explain why my senses increased that one time after blacking out. It was definitely something that needed further investigation, especially because of my new inability to gain attribute points through quest rewards.
All five attribute points I put into Senses wholly vanished, and I could tell. It was like I had become myopic while simultaneously getting hearing damage. My Senses were now akin to that of an average human's, but I still couldn't help but worry about how I would increase my attribute in the imminent future.
We had enough stored food that Charlotte could eat for maybe a week, but then we would have to become sufficient off the land. I asked her about leaving, and she confessed that she thought it best to wait for summer. Though a little surprised, after careful consideration, I was inclined to agree.
All things considered, our first priority was making shelter that could keep us warm in this desolate alpine environment. The cave worked decently well for what it was, but if we were going to stay here, it would be needing some major improvements. After all, we only had so much propane left in stock.
Looking to Charlotte sitting on a rock beside the fire, I inquired, "So what is the power-class of a healer?"
She looked back at me, indecisively answering, "C-Class, I think."
C-Class was above average if I remembered correctly. That meant she might end up at least a B-Class later on, or at least I assumed. Nevertheless, I still couldn't be sure as I didn't even really understand how the class upgrade system worked or what it would take for me to upgrade classes.
---
[Help: To prevent power-gaming, the requirements for upgrading a class aren't revealed until they have been successfully reached. Also, the branching pathway of class upgrades are randomly limited so that specific upgrade paths won't always be available for every user of the class. This is to effectually force class diversity. Note that all class requirements are untied to levels meaning that it is technically possible to max out class upgrades while still being a low level. | While there are only 67 starting classes, there are nearly 15x as many Tier-2 classes, and of those, there are nearly 68x as many Tier-3 classes. It is highly recommended that users play normally and avoid focusing too much on achieving class upgrades.]
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There were nearly sixty-eight times as many Tier-3 classes than there were Tier-2 classes, yet I had only one possible upgrade. I guess I must've been very fortunate to have that only option also happen to be an SSS-Class, but the anticipation of unlocking it was killing me. Despite of the System's recommendation, I was simply dying to know I could attain this upgrade. Would it be easy? Would it be hard? Would I ever even find out? Only time could tell.
Looking over at Charlotte, I viewed her stats with System Appraisal.
---
[User: Charlotte Parker]
[Race: Halfling]
[Class: Healer]
[Lv: 5]
[Xp: 1165/1300]
[Body: 10]
[Mental: 12]
[Senses: 12]
[Magic: 75]
[Skills: Class ability (Life-Magic Knowledge), Class ability (Life-Magic Control)]
[Traits: n/a]
---
I had already used my ability to see this information, but it was nevertheless interesting to see that her class and race didn't come with any traits. If leveling and having altered stats were not considered a trait but not leveling and not having altered stats were, I'd be willing to bet that traits are designated solely to abnormalities.
Shrugging it off, I told Charlotte, "I'm gonna go for a walk. I wanna test out my new ability. You're free to come along?"
She shook her head and beamed, "Go on without me. I want to stay by the fire."
My hands clenched in response. I was worried about Charlotte's safety, but I also wanted to test out System Appraisal.
Gritting my teeth, I sighed, "Alright, I'll try to be back in an hour, but if I'm not back by then, don't come looking for me. Prioritize your own safety first and foremost."
She silently nodded as I waved my hand and turned to leave. Walking off into the woods, I began searching for plants or minerals that would show up with system appraisal.
***
Nearly thirty minutes had passed, and it was beginning to get dark. I couldn't see as well as in low-light conditions as I could before, so I thought it best to head back as I had found something interesting enough to have this have not been a waste of time.
Holding the item up in my hand, I viewed its stats.
---
[Item: Brain-rot Glowshroom]
[Type: Ingredient]
[Quality: High]
[Effects: Poison (Brain-Rot)]
---
When I found the mushroom, it glowed a low-intensity teal color. In that instant, I knew it was created by World Shatter. The mushroom had stopped glowing when I plucked it, revealing it to have a flaky teal cap and a ribbed white stalk. As I held the mushroom, I could feel that it was dangerous, just as the System had said I would.
Since there were now fantasy plants in this world, I began to wonder what else it could've added. System Appraisal described that it also recognized minerals, so maybe now there was mithril or other possibly other fantasy ores in this world.
Placing the glowing mushroom back in my pocket, I felt the sense of danger once again. I could feel it coming from where we were camped.
"Shit!"