After Frank spent way too long gawking at my new weapon, he used his new free spell to choose something that would make the weapon even better. With the [Grease] spell, Frank could make the entire crossbow function much smoother.
Before Frank had applied the spell, only lasting for a minute, the crossbow could fire roughly two and a half bolts per second. With the addition of the spell, which reduced the friction in the barrel, the crossbow had a 40% increase in reloading and firing speed.
It was now exactly four shots per second which should kill most targets instantly. Frank was excited that he was slowly getting closer and closer to a gun without having to use gunpowder. The ways that magic could compliment science was amazing.
Before he forgot, Frank pulled out his quest and finally took a look at it. He slightly frowned at the contents. The quest was for him to take out a camp of bandits. It was recommended for three copper parties to undertake, but in his anger, he had accepted it by himself.
"As long as I can snipe them all I should be fine, everything will be okay." Turning around to head back to town so he could buy some more supplies, Frank slowly made another change to the crossbow.
Frank added a leather strap so he could sling it over his shoulder. To him, it felt like he was walking around with a rifle, which was what he was going for. He also carved out a little symbol, one that would mark his works.
The symbol was a lithium atom, but it had an anvil as the nucleus and three circling elections. Nodding with a smile on his face, Frank continued his trip into town. Jena wasn't in the shop so he didn't bother making small talk with the man at the counter. He sold his bolts since his crossbow magically made them and then traveled to the stable to rent a mule and a cart for the next two days.
The mule and cart had cost him his last four gold, but Frank was sure he could recoup the losses easily. His current plan was to use [Shape Earth] for pop-up cover and mow down the bandits with bolts.
He just hoped they didn't have any mages. With everything he could possibly need—within his budget of course—Frank set off towards the location of the bandit camp. It was a two-hour ride away so he would hopefully be able to kill them all before the day was over.
Frank rode atop the cart directing the mule towards their destination, occasionally he would stop once he found mushrooms that caught his eye and added it to his backpack of holding. Because of this, the two-hour ride ended up taking Frank twice as long.
It was still bright out and Frank decided that it might be better if he waited for night. He wasn't sure how many people had [Low Light Vision] but he had hoped it wasn't nearly as easy to get as he had.
"It's because I'm an otherworlder, yeah that's it." Frank rationalized the decision to himself and about a mile out from where the bandit camp was supposed to be he made camp. He tied the mule down to a tree and used [Shape Earth] to dig into the ground.
Once deep enough, Frank made himself a little cave. With it just big enough to move, turn around, and lay down in, Frank closed the entrance. He then made himself a small tunnel that led away and up to a small hole so he could breathe.
Frank then proceeded to get comfortable and took a nap.
…
Waking up, Frank sat up and stretched. He wasn't sure if he even slept long enough for it to be nighttime yet but he was hungry. He opened up his bag, which was serving as his pillow previously, and rummaged around for the few edible mushrooms he had.
Finishing up those in a few bites, Frank opened up the 'cave' he had made and exited. The world was still gray so it was sufficiently dark enough outside to activate his skill. Checking briefly on the mule to make sure it was okay, Frank moved towards the camp.
His enchanted armor got rid of the sounds he made and boosted his speed. Thanks to it, Frank was able to run to the outskirts of the camp quickly and silently. The added bonus of increasing his constitution showed itself as Frank wasn't even winded from the mile run.
"Okay, let's hope I don't throw up again." Frank mentally prayed for himself and crept into the camp. He looked around and honestly felt bad for the bandits. They lived in tents that had holes in them and they only had two guards.
As far as Frank could tell, they were lax. Maybe it was their numbers, but Frank would never have only two guards on watch. They were his first targets and once he was within roughly 80 feet behind the first he moved his crossbow from his back into his hands and took aim.
He was used to shooting guns but had never shot a crossbow. He just hoped the drop wasn't too bad. Once Frank had the first guard in his sights he pulled the trigger as fast as he could. He managed to fire off five shots and watched them quickly sail towards their target.
As three bolts hit, one in the chest, one in the arm, and the other in the leg, Frank received two notifications.
[????, [Warrior lvl. 10] killed]
[[Marksmanship lvl. 1] acquired]
Not wanting to waste time, Frank turned and shot at the other guard. He was much further, about 200ft, so Frank fired many more shots. Panicking, Frank's adrenaline-filled body spasmed and Frank continued to pull the trigger about 20 times before he realized he had already received a notification.
[????, [Warrior lvl. 11] killed]
Frank let out a breath he didn't know he was holding and noticed he was much calmer than he was when he had killed the goblins. Before that changed, Frank decided to move. He would have to get much closer than he would have liked, but this way it would be faster.
Moving from tent to tent, unloading an untold amount of bolts into the sleeping forms on the floor and cots, it had taken him about an hour of slow-moving to kill what he believed to be every last one of the bandits.
As he walked through the camp, Frank heard something moving from behind. He quickly turned, pointing his crossbow at whatever it might be. He saw nothing in the darkness. Frank continued to search with his eyes and once he lowered his guard after confirming there was nothing he heard it again.
"You'll fucking pay for killing my men!" A large man charged Frank with nothing but a large axe.
The man looked like a lumberjack, his shirtless form covered in what looked like tribal tattoos. His face was contorted in anger and he barreled towards Frank with reckless abandon.
Frank panicked and began to shoot arrow after arrow. His trembling hand caused a few shots to go wide and the rage-filled man continued onward even after being hit by three bolts. Frank's mind started to race with possible solutions and had an idea.
He trusted in his skills and concentrated on the ground. He willed it to move up and out from under the man, causing him to lose his balance. Taking advantage of that, Frank unleashed four more bolts into the man.
What seemed to be in slow motion, Frank watched as one bolt crept towards the now prone man's head. It found purchase and as it sunk in the man finally went limp. Frank took a moment to gather himself as he stood in the middle of the camp he had just slaughtered.
Frank inhaled the copper scent all around him and set his eyes on the notifications.
[????, [Warrior lvl. 11] killed]
[????, [Warrior lvl. 12] killed]
[????, [Warrior lvl. 10] killed]
[????, [Warrior lvl. 15] killed]
[????, [Warrior lvl. 9] killed]
…
[Level up!]
[Level up!]
[Level up!]
[Level up!]
[[Low Light Vision] has become lvl.2]
[[Marksmanship] has become lvl.4]
[New skills available]
[New spells available]
[New trait available]
[[Murderer] title acquired]
[[Herokiller] has absorbed the resentment of those you have killed!]
Frank waved away the staggering number of kill notifications and quickly distributed his points. With a health of 152, his mana at 310, and his regen rate at 14.5 mpm, Frank grinned for a moment before frowning.
The system was essentially Pavloving him. He killed people and monsters and in turn, he was rewarded. "It was wrong-no, right. Everything was how it should be." Frank paused, "Did…my thoughts just change?"
A shiver traveled up Frank's spine as the realization hit him. The system was changing him and it was more than just physical. He would have to think about this when he was much safer and preferably with a few goblets of wine down in him.
Using his shaking hands to brush his hair out of his face, Frank moved out of the camp and created another 'cave' so he could continue going through everything new. He started by inspecting [Marksmanship].
[Marksmanship: Improves accuracy. The current boost is 20%]
"Much needed. I can't just keep spraying and praying." Frank nodded and moved on to the new title, [Murderer].
[Murderer: 5% bonus to killing intelligent species.]
Frank cringed at the description and decided to move on. It was the newest option and what really caught his attention.
[Select (1) option(s)]
[Demonification I: +10% to all stats, race slowly changes from human to a demon as you level.
Second Chance: +25% XP in exchange for all of your memories.
Master Crafter: -10% combat xp in exchange for +10% crafting xp.
Borrowed Time: One time, you are allowed to invoke this ability. Allows the user to possess the abilities of themselves in a year's time for 1 minute.]
Looking at the choices laid out in front of him, Frank instantly disregarded [Second Chance]. Unless he had something that could retain his memories for him or somehow get them back right after there was no chance he would pick it.
The next he ruled out was [Demonification I]. While it looked nice, he would slowly become a demon. He was too low-leveled and too weak to protect himself in a world where he didn't even know the max level.
That left Frank with [Borrowed Time] and [Master Crafter]. The former seemed like the most obvious answer but a temporary trait rubbed Frank the wrong way. Sure it was a boon that could save his life but he was in no real danger now.
"Maybe next time." Already having made up his time, Frank chose [Master Crafter].
[Trait selected, please review class before answering the second prompt.]
[Select (1) option(s)]
[Reset level to 1, and pick a new class.
Add an additional class.
Continue with only your current class.]
"I can do what now?"